| Ideas

Why Do Some Conservatives Think They're Libertarian?

In American Politics, the two often find themselves being used in completely contradictory situations.

By Nicholas Just, December 26, 2020

   I often find it bewildering that many Conservatives like to fly the “Don’t Tread on Me” or Gadsden flag under their Trump flag. There is no obvious relation to Neo-Conservatism and Libertarianism in the US. One could even go as far as to say that Libertarianism is left-centered ideology, with the only difference being that Libertarians are still upholding private property as a key part of their ideology. It’s interesting that such a seemingly free ideology is so closely related to one that is centered around regulation and constriction to tradition among Americans.  

I decided to talk to and interact with some Americans who identify as “Conservative Libertarians” to see what connects an ideology which is closer to authoritarianism in practice than to any idea of a liberal democracy, and an ideology centered on the very concept of personal freedom.

The interviews brought to me to some interesting conclusions and some predictable ones, among younger Conservative Libertarians, I was surprised and pleased to see that they were often open minded and promoted engaging in discourse. This staunch contrast to older Conservative Libertarians is pleasing, as many of them are locked in their echo-chambers leaving them to develop their ideology without being subjected to criticism. These people can be considered “far gone” as they are detached from reality and thus they will not be told differently from their delusional world view, one Conservative we approached chose not to be interviewed based on our physical appearances alone. I was pleased to see that these younger Conservative Libertarians are not locked in such isolation and are free to evolve. It’s important that we should try to set the standard to create discourse that is not “us versus them” but all of us seeking the truth together as to not lock conservatives in their echo-chambers. 

Obviously, that’s not to say you can’t punch Nazis. If you can, try not to condescend or attack them if you want them to open up to your ideology.  

Out of all those we encountered, half said they support the G.O.P. Young Conservatives were more likely to reject the Republican Party; in fact, about two thirds answered that they do not support them. Older Libertarian Conservatives are much more likely to support the G.O.P. and when asked if they think the Republican establishment is a fitting representation of Libertarian’s ideology they overwhelmingly agreed. Again, contradicting their younger counterparts, about 75% of younger Conservative Libertarians correctly responded that the G.O.P. does not represent Libertarian’s. This clearly shows us that there is a strong echo-chamber built around the older Conservative Libertarians mindset as the G.O.P. obviously does not represent Libertarianism at all. 

When asked to define their ideology, there were clear connections to be made between their Libertarianism and Conservatism that is not so plain to the leftist eye, while these are not actually true connections, they do bring an explanation as to why the young Libertarian also identifies as a Conservative while the mature Conservatives also identify as Libertarians.

The Young Libertarian Conservative is actually just a Libertarian. Drawing a parallel with the left, some leftists who are in the early stages of developing their knowledge of ideology mistakenly identify themselves as “liberal socialists.” This is because the overarching American political divide is between Liberals and Conservatives over a small set of controversial issues. This set of controversial issues might have been their introduction to politics, the young leftists may only know Liberals for their stance on abortion and thus they define Liberals by being pro-choice and feel they with their platform. It is this limited knowledge of the definition of Conservatism or Liberalism that allows for Libertarians and Socialists to identify with either of these lines of thought despite them being a completely separate ideology that doesn’t allow for the marriage of the two. This may often happen because they are generally unaware of the characteristics barring them from the combination of the two ideologies. I assume that when they evolve their understanding of Conservatives and Libertarians, they will recognize the incompatibility between the two and identify with only one. Based on my experience, I also see that the younger Libertarian Conservative demographic will more likely favor Libertarianism over Conservatism.

When you ask a Libertarian Conservative that is older than 30 if they had to pick one ideology, chances are they wouldn’t leave you with a definitive answer. Instead of asking them yourself we can tell you: They are almost always just Conservatives. Sadly, there are no traces of Libertarianism in older Conservative Libertarians, it seems that they think the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag is just a reiteration of the same platform as their Trump flag. It is important to note that the Gadsden flag is often appropriated by the NRA, we learned this when we approached a woman flying both the Gadsden flag and the Trump flag simultaneously, seemingly an obvious Conservative Libertarian, we were taken back when she gave us a funny look when we asked if she was a Libertarian. The older Conservatives will not be told anything, we were once looked dead in the eyes and told that they couldn’t define libertarianism and then when we tried to give them a super simple explanation, they grew furious and we were dismissed. It’s easy to say that they are too far gone and relinquish our efforts to connect with them, but they have built those echo-chambers for a reason. Altogether they are tired of being told that all they believe is a lie. 

While they aren’t Libertarians, and they don’t know what Libertarianism is they will not recognize that coming from someone who they see as their enemy. Consequently when confronting people who are “far gone”,  it’s more effective to act as though you are their equal simply trying to engage in discussion and not a condescending wannabe pundit trying to win a debate.