Why I Am A Libertarian and Not A Conservative

Unfortunately many of the people I interact with in Scotland in my daily life are unfamiliar with the philosophy of libertarianism. So when having political discussions with people I begin to put forward my views I am very often branded “conservative” or sometimes bizarrely even “neoconservative” (which considering the libertarian anti-war stance makes absolutely no sense). Now, to anyone who understands libertarianism these conservative labels are not accurate and I would like to point out why (in my own view) this is.

Before we go on I should point out that the reason why I have called this article “Why I'm a Libertarian and Not A Conservative” opposed to “Why I'm a Libertarian and Not A Liberal” is that (if we leave aside the fact that the word liberalism has been twisted so many times over the years to mean different things and use it as it is currently understood in the mainstream vernacular) frankly in many parts of the People's Republic of Scotland “conservative” is a rather dirty word (especially in Glasgow). So if I talk to someone and mention that I'm anti-war, pro drug decriminalization, for limiting government spending and free markets many people seem to filter out the parts they would call “liberal” and jump on the ones they would call “conservative”. Because to them being a conservative is just downright bad. But this aside, let's continue.
 

Like most ideologies what we call conservative in the mainstream and what being a true conservative is are radically different things. In my opinion no true conservative would call David Cameron and his band of followers conservative. So what do I mean when I talk about conservatism?
 

I'm usually accused of being a conservative when I mention my economic preferences for (ideally no government whatsoever) but realistically a very small one, which would entail massive cuts in public spending (which is associated with conservatism in the minds of many). So I would abolish (or radically slash) welfare, the NHS and even privatise public roads. Now my preferences are actually more radical than most conservatives because I believe having a truly free market minus a state. But you can see that there are similarities between libertarians and conservatives when it comes to free markets and small government. But when it comes to social policy things start to look very different.

To me conservatism is really about either retaining traditional social norms and values (as we have them in this country) or going back further to previous norms and values. Why I do not identify with this school of thought is because to me it seems like imposing your own morality on everyone else. Before I go further it should be mentioned that most conservatives feel this way because they genuinely believe this line of thought keeps social order and is generally good for society. But my problem is that (like most libertarians) I don't want to impose my values on anyone else. Many conservatives in the UK are against things like gay marriage, drugs decriminalization and legalizing prostitution. But - coming at this from a libertarian perspective - I personally don't care what consenting adults do as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. I also don't think that these things destroy the “social fabric” that many are so obsessed with preserving (for more in depth on why see my articles “The Gay Marriage Distraction” and “Legalize All Drugs!”). To libertarians, wasting tax payers money prosecuting victimless crimes like smoking a joint or visiting a hooker is madness. I simply want to leave people alone who are not hurting anyone and I want people to leave me alone as long as I'm not hurting anyone. It really is that simple.
 

In a recent interview Caity and I did on the Greening Out Podcast with Dr Sean Gabb, director of the Libertarian Alliance UK he explained that in the past in libertarians in the UK allied themselves with the Conservative Party (something they do not do now). So that may be one reason for some people's confusion of the terms. But I think another is simply that libertarian ideas are not widely discussed in the mainstream in the UK so as soon as someone who leans left, shall we say, hears about cuts in government they think “AHH CONSERVATIVES!” In the same way when a conservative hears about gay marriage and drugs etc and being anti-war then the reaction is “Bloody liberals! You want to destroy our society.” Many people simply attribute different policies to where they fit in to their left-right political mind box.
 

The way I understand and espouse libertarianism is that it takes good ideas, some we attribute to the right wingers (free markets and slashing government spending) and some the left (drugs decriminalization and being anti-war) and moulds them into a coherent philosophy which is all it's own. It is my own personal view that if we can spread libertarian ideas as widely as possible then we can begin to dispense with this left-right tribal rubbish and actually talk about what will increase freedom for all.

 

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