Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Recent Entries
Hobby Thread - Sept 7, 2024 [TRex]
Ace of Spades Pet Thread, September 7 Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Sept. 7 The "rules-based international order" vs. free speech? The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival Daily Tech News 7 September 2024 The Bric, The Brac, The Craic & All, Lets Call It An ONT TGIF Cafe The Week In Woke Dick Cheney Is Voting for Kamala Harris Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Wednesday Morning News Dump |
Main
| Former Wisconsin Prosecutor: Hyperpartisan Wife, Hyperpartisan Prosecutor, Hyperpartisan Staff Drove the Walker Investigation »
September 10, 2014
To L(l)ibertarian Or Not? That Is The QuestionI never had much use for the GOP and have always identified as a conservative. But now I’m not so sure I’m even a political (which can be different from a philosophical) conservative by today’s standards. And so I’ve found myself flirting more and more with the recognition I may be more than a “libertarian leaning conservative” but an outright libertarian. I still subscribe to the philosophical tenets of conservatism….man is inherently flawed and no amount of tinkering is going to change that, if you are going to change things be careful and realize things are the way they are for a reason and it’s impossible to know them or predict the events change may unleash and things like that. To consider the contradictions between conservatism and libertarianism, as well as the areas of overlap, I talked to friend of the blog and podcast, Scott Lincicome. Scott is a self-identified libertarian (as opposed to a Libertarian for reasons we discuss) who is a lecturer at Duke Law and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. I try to keep these one on one podcasts to 25-30 minutes but this one…got away from me. It’s closer to an hour. I wanted to have this discussion not just to help me clarify my personal thoughts but because much as there’s a fight for the soul and control of the GOP today there’s a similar fight (which overlaps in spots) to define the conservative political project. Via Jason Hart, take for example this definition of conservatism from Jennifer Rubin (laugh all you will at her but she’s the mouthpiece for much for the GOP’s establishment wing). However, his [John Kasich, Republican Governor of Ohio] expansion of Medicaid did not sit well with many conservatives. And he has been rapped for proposing a “round of tax increases; including higher taxes on tobacco products, e-cigarette/vapor products, higher oil and gas severance tax, and a hike in the Commercial Activity Tax (CAT). ” (Anti-tax groups nevertheless praised him for income-tax cuts.) In short, he illustrates the difference between a fiscal conservative and a libertarian. In contrast to the sort of tea party candidates who wiped out in the Senate primaries, Kasich doesn’t see government as the enemy. As a governor he’s been expected to improve government, not dismantle it. At a time when reform conservatives are getting attention, he may be in keeping with the current Zeitgeist in the GOP. If this big government version of conservatism wins the day, then I’m clearly not a conservative. On the other hand, there is a more libertarian strain battling back against the statists masquerading as conservatives. It is no accident that unlike most Libertarian Party candidates, every libertarian-leaning Republican elected over the past several years—including Mike Lee in Utah, Justin Amash in Michigan and Thomas Massie in Kentucky—is strongly pro-life. Their brand of heartland libertarianism is not at odds with limited government conservatism or Christian belief; instead it accepts the Lockean view of natural rights at the basis of the American founding. Ron Paul himself made this view explicit in a 2012 ad campaign, arguing that “unless… we understand that we must protect life, we can’t protect liberty.” This is a view of natural rights and the Declaration of Independence that eliminates a litmus-test issue that would bar many Christian conservatives from voting for a candidate like Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, the pro-choice former governor of New Mexico. It is an approach that expands the appeal of libertarianism, attracting supporters who in prior generations might have been lock-step Republicans and traditional churchgoing social conservatives, but have instead reconsidered whether compassionate conservatism and nation building was a good idea after all. To me this battle for the soul of “conservatism” and control of the GOP is far more important than any election this fall. It’s why I can’t see myself voting for any big government/establishment Republican. They are as much my political foe as any Democrat. | Recent Comments
gp:
"111 Concur. ..."
gp: "110 I was mainly worried that I had offended the w ..." NaCly Dog: "Last week as I was approaching the house I had a b ..." USA: "Thistle would give me heartburn. I'm sure of it. ..." gabapentin drug price: "You really make it appear so easy with your presen ..." Aviator: ">>I assume the site blacklists certain IP addresse ..." Way,Way Downriver[/i][/b]: "@96 Rufus T. has got it. Somewhere in your normal ..." Stateless: "Thanks Kindlot! He seems good as can be. Aft ..." Aviator: ">>Aviator, hope you are both well. Posted by: B ..." gp: ""I had that problem when using a VPN." That may ..." Eromero: "102 "Did you use your Indian name?" gp stands f ..." Ben Had: "Aviator, hope you are both well. ..." Recent Entries
Hobby Thread - Sept 7, 2024 [TRex]
Ace of Spades Pet Thread, September 7 Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Sept. 7 The "rules-based international order" vs. free speech? The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival Daily Tech News 7 September 2024 The Bric, The Brac, The Craic & All, Lets Call It An ONT TGIF Cafe The Week In Woke Dick Cheney Is Voting for Kamala Harris Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |