I Might Have This Liberal/Conservative Thing Figured

Ever since I became aware of politics, I’ve been confused by the labels Liberal and Conservative. Just what do they mean? Are they anything other than labels that exist merely to say, “We aren’t them!”? I think I finally hit on the main difference over this past weekend.

Arnold Kling wrote an article in Tech Central Station making several points on one of my key topics: Freedom and Responsibility. He poses the following questions and analysis of the answers:

For each statement below, indicate whether you mostly agree, mostly disagree, or are uncertain.
1. I wish that the government in Washington would take more aggressive steps to provide health care and education to all.
2. I wish that the government in Washington would take more aggressive steps to punish pornography and recreational drug use.
I would answer "mostly disagree" to both questions. That also happens to be the libertarian answer.
Most of my liberal friends would answer "mostly agree" to more government provision of health care and education and "mostly disagree" to a war on pornography and recreational drug use. Conversely, the traditional conservative position is to "mostly agree" with a war on porn and drug use and to "mostly disagree" with government provision of health care and education.

I got to thinking about what principles would allow for the answers to fall out they way they do. What I realized is that there are two types of liberty, each implied in one of the above questions. The two types of liberty are liberty over one’s person and liberty over one’s property. Whichever one a person considers to be more worthy of protection will determine their Conservative or Liberal leanings. (It should go without saying that this is vastly simplified.)

The preference of Liberty over one’s Person is indicative of the Liberal position. Attitudes toward homosexuality, drug use, and gender/racial equality are defined by allowing each person to decide for themselves what is the best use of their personal freedom.

Government is best employed, in the view of the Liberal, to prevent any condition that would deny the individual full use of their Liberty of Person. These conditions include illness, want, and ignorance, thus the Liberal would be vastly in favor of Government funded healthcare, welfare, and education.

An individual’s Liberty of Person, to a Liberal, is superior to any individual’s Liberty of Property. All people should share such a view, and those who do not should still pay their fair share and be required to surrender property (in the form of taxes) for the good of society as determined by the Government.

The preference of Liberty over one’s Property is indicative of the Conservative position. Attitudes toward morality, law, and societal structure are defined by allowing each person to decide for themselves what is the best use of their economic freedom.

Government is best employed, in the view of the Conservative, to prevent any condition that would deny the individual full use of their Liberty of Property. These conditions include social instability, theft, and taxation, thus the Conservative would be vastly in favor of Government spending on the military, law enforcement, and little else.

An individual’s Liberty of Property, to a Conservative, is superior to any individual’s Liberty of Person. All people should share such a view, and those who do not should still live by the laws and be required to surrender liberties (in the form of prohibitions) for the good of society as determined by the Government.

As a Libertarian, I hold both Liberties as sacrosanct. Neither is more important and just as important are anyone else’s Liberties. That is reflexive, my Liberties are as important as everyone else’s. My Liberty of Property can not be negated merely because someone else has a need to fully develop their Liberty of Person. Similarly, my Liberty of Person can not be negated merely because someone else has a need to fully develop their Liberty of Property.

Later, I will go into why I think that Government should only be used minimally to ensure rights and that the majority of the power to defend rights should rest with individuals.