On January 18-19, The Heartland Institute is coordinating the 2002 Chicago Conservative Conference. (See page 6 for more on this event.) Our high profile at last year’s CCC and now this one has led some to ask where Heartland stands on the issues that divide conservatives and libertarians.
What’s a Conservative?
Friedrich Hayek, the late great libertarian thinker and Nobel Prize-winning economist, ended his 1970 classic, The Constitution of Liberty, with a postscript titled “Why I Am Not a Conservative.” In it, he observed “those who cherish freedom are likely to expend their energies in opposition” to proposals that encroach on individual liberty, and consequently “they find themselves much of the time on the same side as those who habitually resist change. In matters of current policies today they generally have little choice but to support the conservative parties.”
Conservatives seek to prevent or at least slow down the pace of social and economic change in order to preserve some of the beneficial aspects of the past. They are attracted to collectivism; that is, they tend to identify groups rather than individuals as the basic unit of society to which rights and obligations can be attributed. A conservative, to quote Hayek again, “does not object to coercion or arbitrary power so long as it is used for what he regards as the right purposes.”
Conservatives have made major contributions to our theoretical understanding of political freedom. Their opposition to communism saved billions of people from despotic oppression. They often courageously oppose popular calls for more government-bestowed rights and privileges, purchased at the cost of lost freedoms and a growing state presence in our lives.
Libertarians respect conservative insights into the institutions of freedom and acknowledge the important and difficult role conservatives play in politics, where compromise and pragmatism seem more effective than strong principles. But libertarians call for a more aggressive stand against government intervention. They observe the grotesquely enlarged government presence in the U.S. today and see little that should be preserved. In areas where state policies restrict or distort voluntary action, libertarians seek rapid and radical change.
Libertarians cringe when conservatives advocate the use of government force in the name of “strengthening democratic values,” providing “a sense of community rootedness,” preserving “the goals, values, habits, and institutions of a good society,” and so on. Libertarians don’t think government intervention is necessary or effective in the pursuit of those goals.
Libertarians and Anarchy
Conservatives may be prone to err on the side of too much government meddling, but even libertarians do not oppose every government intervention. There is “a wide and unquestioned field for state activity,” according to Hayek. “In no system that could be rationally defended would the state just do nothing.”
Adam Smith, whose 1776 treatise, The Wealth of Nations, may entitle him to be called the first libertarian, found plenty for governments to do, including building roads, bridges, canals, and harbors, and subsidizing (though not directly providing) schooling for low-income students. Milton Friedman, today’s best-known libertarian, says “the need for government . . . arises because absolute freedom is impossible. However attractive anarchy may be as a philosophy, it is not feasible in a world of imperfect men.”
Libertarians believe government has an important role to play, but it must be kept from interfering with the key institutions of private property, markets, and the Rule of Law. As Henry Hazlitt wrote, “It is the proper sphere of government to create and enforce a framework of law that prohibits force and fraud. But it must refrain from specific economic interventions. Government’s main economic function is to encourage and preserve a free market.”
Libertarians and Values
Conservatives correctly observe that contemporary liberals often disparage traditional values and ignore the corrosive effect government programs can have on such values. Some conservatives suspect that libertarians, too, disrespect traditional values when they call for legalizing drugs and pornography and for tolerance of homosexuality and other lifestyle choices.
Libertarians are not oblivious to the threat posed by individual freedom to the morals and good conduct of their fellow men. But unlike conservatives, libertarians do not allow fear of uncertain outcomes lead them to call for government actions that limit freedom. A government powerful enough to ban certain drugs or reading material is powerful enough to violate the sanctity of one’s home or church and to dictate how and what our children are taught. Worse, such a state is powerful enough to restrict criticism of and opposition to its decisions. Historically, such power has always been abused.
Libertarians and the Religious Right
From time to time, religious conservatives have tried to exert a greater influence on politics by organizing as a movement separate from the two main political parties. Their latest effort is often called the “Religious Right.” Its positions on social issues arise from a conservative theology rooted in the Bible. This set of beliefs does not favor or disfavor supporting capitalist institutions as the means of organizing production in society.
An on-again, off-again alliance between the Religious Right and libertarians arose during the 1980s and 1990s when liberals sought government intervention to create new rights and privileges for favored groups such as gays, lesbians, and ethnic minorities, and to limit parents’ authority over their children in matters of schooling and discipline. Libertarians opposed those government interventions on different grounds, but by working together the two movements had greater success than they could have had they acted alone.
Liberal critics of both libertarianism and the Religious Right frequently point out the differing ideals of the two movements and confidently predict the collapse of their alliances. Such predictions, though, assume the two parties are unaware of their disagreements. In fact, both sides are keenly aware of them, and work together despite them.
Limits of Libertarianism
Libertarianism is not a theory of how we should live our lives. It is no substitute for religious faith, patriotism, commitment to family, or other important areas of concern addressed by conservatism. Libertarianism is only a theory of the proper role of government in a free society. Many conservatives are libertarians on many or most matters, and many libertarians are conservatives on many social matters. There are also more than a few libertarian liberals and liberal libertarians.
Libertarians admit capitalism and democracy require an educated and moral populace if they are to produce freedom and prosperity. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, written in 1771, contains a moral code most libertarians would embrace.
According to libertarians, capitalism enables those engaged in the necessary activities of production and distribution to conduct themselves with dignity and integrity, to discover their latent talents, and to find pleasure in providing service to others. But in the end, its reach is bounded by its purpose. If Utopia and redemption are to be accomplished, it won’t be via markets.
Heartland’s Position
The Heartland Institute is a coalition of libertarians and conservatives working to reduce the size and cost of government. The alliance works so long as we focus on areas of agreement and common interest.
Conservatives should know Heartland will not advocate government intervention, even in areas the conservatives think it may be necessary. Libertarians should recognize Heartland will not engage in debate over certain values and ideals, the achievement of which lie outside the institutions of capitalism.
Events like the Chicago Conservative Conference advance our goal of creating a broad-based social movement in support of ideas—such as privatization, tax cuts, and deregulation—that empower people by limiting government. Whether you are a libertarian or a conservative, I hope you’ll agree that’s a good goal to aim for.
