Are there as many factions of libertarianism as there are in conservatism? I ask because I thought that the majority of libertarians were pretty much on the same page.
Thanx.
1) Minarchists -- Those who believe in strictly (not to mention severely) limited government.
2) Anarchists -- That is, anarchocapitalists, who believe that all "services" presently provided by government can be provided by the private sector, including defense.
But these two groups are not really relevant, not since the early 1970s, when the two groups in the Libertarian Party decided to call a truce and agree to disagree. But that just meant that the factions took on different colorations:
1) The "Berglandistas" -- This is the group centered, originally, around David Bergland, the LP Presidential candidate in 1984. This group inherited the LP after the Cato group left. Ideologically orthodox.
2) Cato Institute -- This group used to be associated with the LP, but left in 1983, after a tumultuous party convention at which their candidate for President (Earl Ravenal) lost by 3 votes. Ideologically chamleon-like, and obsessed with "respectability," these guys are sell-outs.
3) The Objectivists -- Followers of Ayn Rand. These guys are loony, for the most part, and one could make the argument that they are a cult. They are also fractured into at least 2 mutually antagonistic groups. The splits are supposedly over ideology, but of course it's all personalities.... Oh, and by the way, they hate the libertarians.
4) The Galambosians -- Followers of the late Andrew J. Galambos, who believed ... well, nobody can say what they believe because a central tenet of Galambosianism is that people OWN their ideas, and you don't have the right to repeat them unless you PAY them. So, aside from this one tenet, not much is known about the Galambos philosophy ....
5) The Anti-Party "left" libetarians -- These are people who refused to join the Libertarian Party when it was organized, back in the 1970s, and haven't done much of anything since ... except, of course, criticize the LP.
6) The various factions in the Libertarian Party are beyond my scope, since I am no longer active in LP circles. However, based on past experience, you can be sure there are at least several....
7) Finally, there are the Rothbardians. These are followers of the late economist-philosopher Murray N. Rothbard, author of many books and the original founder of the Cato Institute. He split with Cato in 1983, and with the LP in the late 80s. Rothbardians are radical anti-statists, "isolationist" in foreign policy, and look to their Old Right heritage in the conservative movement prior to the cold war. The Ludwig von Mises Institute, in Auburn, Alabama, is the Rothbardian thinktank. Antiwar.com is directly inspired by Rothbard.
I'm sure I've left a lot out -- I describe a new, pro-war neocon-dominated faction in the above article -- but this should serve as a broad outline.