Jon Caldara & Nick Gillespie: 'Nanny State & The Libertarian/Conservative Riff'

Source:Devils Advocate- talking to Reason Magazine editor Nick Gillespie.

"On this week's Devils Advocate, Jon Caldara goes one on one with Reason Magazine editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie.  Nick gives his take on the emergence of new media and how his Reason.tv  is leading the charge and the growing libertarian - conservative riff. With Jon's encouragement, Nick pulls no punches when discussing his distaste for the nanny state or why conservatives and libertarians should wear leather jackets." 

From the Devils Advocate 

I hate to sound like one of those so-called sports pundits on TV when asked who do they think is going to win a certain game and the person says something like: "It depends on this and that. And if this happens, I think that team will win. But if it doesn't happen, I think the other team will win." But it depends on what you mean by Conservative and Libertarian. So I'll give you my views on what it means to be a Conservative and Liberal and you can see what you think about that. And then I'll give you an idea of where Conservatives and Libertarians are actually different and what they have in common. 

"Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values.[1][2] The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in which it appears. In Western culture, depending on the particular nation, conservatives seek to promote a range of social institutions such as the nuclear family, organized religion, the military, property rights, and monarchy. Conservatives tend to favor institutions and practices that guarantee stability and evolved gradually.[2] Adherents of conservatism often oppose certain aspects of modernity (for example mass culture and secularism) and seek a return to traditional values, though different groups of conservatives may choose different traditional values to preserve.[" 

From Wikipedia

"Goldwater's maverick and direct style had made him extremely popular with the Republican Party's suburban conservative voters, based in the South and the senator's native West. Following the success of Conscience of a Conservative, Goldwater became the frontrunner for the GOP Presidential nomination to run against his close friend John F. Kennedy.[72] Despite their disagreements on politics, Goldwater and Kennedy had grown to become close friends during the eight years they served alongside each other in the Senate. With Goldwater the clear GOP frontrunner, he and Kennedy began planning to campaign together, holding Lincoln-Douglas style debates across the country and avoiding a race defined by the kind of negative attacks that were increasingly coming to define American politics." 

From Wikipedia

"Libertarianism (from French: libertaire, "libertarian"; from Latin: libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value.[1][2][3][4] Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's encroachment on and violations of individual liberties; emphasizing the rule of law, pluralism, cosmopolitanism, cooperation, civil and political rights, bodily autonomy, free association, free trade, freedom of expression, freedom of choice, freedom of movement, individualism, and voluntary association.[3][4][5] Libertarians are often skeptical of or opposed to authority, state power, warfare, militarism and nationalism, but some libertarians diverge on the scope of their opposition to existing economic and political systems. Various schools of Libertarian thought offer a range of views regarding the legitimate functions of state and private power, often calling for the restriction or dissolution of coercive social institutions. Different categorizations have been used to distinguish various forms of Libertarianism.[4][6][7] Scholars distinguish libertarian views on the nature of property and capital, usually along left–right or socialist–capitalist lines.[8] Libertarians of various schools were influenced by liberal ideas." 

From Wikipedia

When I think of conservatism, I think of a philosophy that's based on conserving: conserving the status quo, conserving what works. When I think of a political Conservative, I think of Barry Goldwater, someone who was a Constitutional Conservative. 

When I think of Conservative, I don't think of someone whose so religiously fundamentalist and not just nationalistic, but thinks so much of their religion, culture, lifestyle. and even ethnicity and race, (when you really look at the Far-Right) that their values and culture should be forced on everyone else by government. And that everyone who disagrees with them and perhaps doesn't even look like them, is Un-American and not entitled to the same constitutional rights and protections as their own people. Meaning people who are already on their side. 

When I think of Libertarian, I can't improve on the Wikipedia definition. It's about maximizing the freedom and choice of individuals to live their own lives as they see fit, short of hurting any innocent person with what they're doing. 

As a Liberal, agree with Classical Libertarians (let's say) on almost everything, except I do believe in a public safety net for people who truly need it and I tend to be more hawkish and less isolationist on foreign policy and national security, and a regulatory state to protect consumers and workers. When I think of Libertarians, I don't think of people who are basically Anarchists, but who don't want to use that label to describe on their own politics.

When you talk about property rights, certainly economic but even personal property rights, when you look at the Barry Goldwater's of the world who might say they don't approve of this personal behavior or that one, but they don't believe should go to jail for doing that, or the Federal Government shouldn't be locking people up for it, I think Classical Conservatives and Classical Libertarians, actually have a lot in common.