“Conservatism is not for individual rights or personal liberty; rather, it is for religious values (euphemistically called ‘traditional values’ or ‘family values’) and a government that enforces them. Although conservatism calls for some economic liberties, it simultaneously demands various violations of individual rights in order to support certain aspects of the welfare state (e.g., Social Security and government-run schools), in order to shackle or control ‘greedy’ businessmen (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley and anti-immigration laws), and in order to forbid certain ‘immoral’ acts or relationships (e.g., drug use and gay marriage). Thus, conservatism is utterly at odds with capitalism. . . . “We who advocate freedom—whether we call ourselves Objectivists or laissez-faire capitalists or classical liberals or Tea Partiers or whatever—should claim the political right as our own. And we should let conservatives who advocate any kind or degree of rights violations know that their proper place on the political spectrum is somewhere in the mushy, unprincipled middle with their modern ‘liberal’ brethren. Perhaps such notice and company will cause them to think about what’s right. “The political right properly belongs to those who uphold the principle of rights—not merely in theory, but also in practice.” —Craig Biddle
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 22:53:52 +0000
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