The trouble with libertarianism is that it is not a single thing.
“Libertarianism is a classification of political philosophies that uphold liberty as their principal objective.
“Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and freedom of choice, emphasizing political freedom, voluntary association and the primacy of individual judgment.
“While libertarians share a skepticism of authority, they diverge on the scope of their opposition to existing political and economic systems.
“Various schools of libertarian thought offer a range of views regarding the legitimate functions of state and private power, often calling to restrict or even to wholly dissolve pervasive social institutions.
“Rather than embodying a singular, rigid systematic theory or ideology, libertarianism has been applied as an umbrella term to a wide range of sometimes discordant political ideas.”
Importantly, to understand libertarianism, it also helps to understand that conservatism is also not monolithic in its view. Various major branches of conservatism include:
1) “True definition” or “status quo” conservatives, who are apprehensive about radical change in any direction. They believe that change in any direction must be slow and methodical, a process of half-steps, lest it make things markedly worse from where they are right now.
2) “Classical” or “pragmatic” conservatives see *recent* change as having been for the worse, so wish to rescind it. They are not reactionaries, but regard change as experimental, that should be reversed if it fails.
3) Truly reactionary conservatives are so staggered by the magnitude of government overgrowth and failure that they want to substantially prune decades of bad policies. The left is frightened of them, because they could undo much of what the left has created, so they have tried to demean the word “reactionary”, to make it sound impossible or radical.
4) The “Military-Corporate-Intelligence-Law Enforcement” conservatives, who are willing to pour vast amounts of money into these four things, at the expense of all other government functions. They are not really conservatives, but rally with them.
5) “Faith” or “Social” conservatives, who want to reverse the harm caused by government to religions and morality. They see the purpose of government through this lens, which is their right.
6) Other forms of conservatism and blends of the above.
Fair enough. I think, though, that there are two major brands of people who call themselves libertarians:
1. Traditional. Seeks to minimize government and infringement on civil liberties.
2. Cultural (not really libertarians but that’s how they self-label). In favor of abortion, gay marriage, and drug legalization. Don’t have any particular thoughts about reducing other government programs.
Interesting thoughts. Most self proclaimed conservatives do not see that. I do however think that fiscal conservatives should be in that list as well as non or minimal interventionists.
You might also mention the burning hatred that some of these groups have for each other.