Conservatism and Libertarianism are ideological allies

I thank Con for initiating the debate Conservatism Conservatism is grounded on the abiding principles of America liberty, proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and promulgated by the United States Constitution. The principle defines the nation as the land of freedom. To a certain extent, it is not inappropriate to say that conservatism find its meaning by appealing to the value of traditional institution and practices. Conservatism is, in general, composed of five distinctive yet complementary principles with personal liberty celebrated as its core tenet: free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American value, and a strong national defense.[1] Libertarianism Libertarianism is the belief that each person has the right to live his/her life as he/she choses as long as he/she respects the equal right of others. Libertarians defend each person"s right to life, liberty, and property. In the libertarian view, if there is no good reason to forbid something, it should be allowed.[2] In other words, force should be reserved for prohibiting or punishing those who may threat others" rights only. Government, which is expected to live in the same code of ethics as most people do, should not use their powers to censorship speech or prohibit voluntary exchange, the gold standard of human relationships.[2] In the political sphere, libertarians usually advocate free enterprise, limited government, and individual freedom.[2] A French-term, Laissez-faire, meaning "let us do" or "allow to do", is also used to describe libertarianism.[3] Common Goal Build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish. Similarity vs. Difference By definition, both conservatism and libertarianism hold personal liberty as paramount. In a broad sense, both ideologies support free enterprise, personal liberty, and limited government. The quasi-disagreement on the issue such as the role of traditional American value and a strong national defense played, according to many, separates conservatism from libertarianism.[4] A closer examination, however, suggests that the conservatism need not adopt an antagonistic attitude toward libertarianism, and vice versa. Traditional American Value Both ideologies support personal liberty, an essential pillar of the traditional American values. The purported difference is primarily manifested on the social front with abortion and gay marriage as two leading issues. Strong support of abortion and gay marriage, among many libertarians, suggests that they believe personal liberty trumps government interference. They likewise believe that two ideologies are irreconcilable. In reality, however, one need not be a social social liberal to be a libertarian.[4] In other words, a libertarian with a conservative social view lies perfectly within the definition of libertarianism. P.S. Due to space constraint, only abortion would be analyzed in detail. Abortion Libertarianism does not categorically proscribe the tradition American value. On the contrary, libertarianism embraces it. Unlike most conservatives, who unequivocally reject the notion of abortion, libertarians are largely divided. The different responses with respect to abortion is not rooted in its principle however; the rather agnostic altitude is primarily owing to a different understanding of the right of unborn child. For those pro-life libertarians, they tend to believe that the state has a legitimate interest in protecting unborn child from being denied the right to life would abortion be performed. To these libertarians, state"s intervention is justified. For those pro-choice libertarians, their argument is that pregnancy is a personal choice and a mother"s right to liberty should not be infringed just because she is pregnant. The difference therefore is not in principle, but in a different interpretation and the application of the principle. As a result, at least on the issue of abortion, libertarianism is not incompatible with conservatism. Gay Marriage Given the fact that gay marriage issue is not dissimilar from abortion, the above analysis is equally applicable in the case of gay marriage. National Defense When it comes to national defense, most conservatives favors a strong national defense while libertarians" attitudes, once again, are divided. The fact that personal liberty is the lynchpin of libertarianism renders many libertarians to believe that the government should not interfere with one"s business unless one"s right is in a grave danger. Many libertarians are on the dovish side, who want the United States to minimize its commitments, and, as much as possible, dismantle the national-security state. Others may align themselves with their conservative counterpart. Again, the difference is the direct result of the distinctive interpretation of liberal principle. For instance, many libertarians tend to support a strong nation defense because they believe without a strong national defense, their rights would be inexorably violated by the threats oversea. They argue that, Iran, for example, attempts to bid regional hegemony by acquiring nuclear weapons and the regional instability may result in a full-scale war if the United States does not act in advance. The ever escalating conflict between Hamas and Israel, ostensibly, is an extension of the war happened four-year ago, the real culprits, they suggest, are in Tehran (the capital of Iran), the principal supporter of money and weapons of Hamas. The increasing in Iran boldness and aggressiveness toward the Western civilization, especially the United States, necessitates a strong national defense. Without it, they argue, liberty would be in peril. Other libertarians hold that the strategic goal of the foreign police (including national defense) is to reduce America"s costs and risks overseas by limiting U.S. Commitments wherever and whenever possible. Large military budgets, they argue, would invariably divert resources from pressing domestic needs thereby undermining personal liberty at home. Again, personal liberty is the key to both sides, and the only difference is how each ideology perceives it or how to incorporate it in politics. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to tentatively conclude that conservatism is not incompatible with libertarianism. Conclusion The foregoing analysis is by no means exhaustive. Both ideologies hold the personal liberty direly and both prefer free enterprise and limited government to unlimited government. In terms of social issue and national security, libertarianism does not preclude conservatism. As President Ronald Reagan once said: "If you analyze it, I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." [5] Thank you. References [1]. http://www.heritage.org... [2]. http://www.libertarianism.org... [3]. http://oxforddictionaries.com... [4]. http://www.americanthinker.com... [5]. http://reason.com...