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To: kjvail

I'd say that conservatives and libertarians begin at opposite ends. Their goals may be very similar, but conservatives begin with what is and ask how they could preserve what's good about it and improve things, while libertarians with what could be, and ask how they can realize the dream. So of course they'll disagree. It's the difference between realism and idealism or utopianism, between taking people and the world as it is right now, and recreating them from the drawing board.


213 posted on 03/04/2005 5:37:46 PM PST by x
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To: x
Excellent and quite accurate reply from a conservative perspective. Now I offer back to you your same reply rewritten from a libertarian perspective.

I'd say that conservatives and libertarians begin at opposite ends. Conservatives begin with what could have been and ask how they can get back to that one possible past so as to preserve what's good about it and improve things. Libertarians on the other hand, start with what is, and ask how they can realize their dream of what could be. So of course we will disagree. It's the difference between what could have been for the conservative, and what can be for the libertarian. That is between taking people and the world as they were perceived to be in the past, and taking people as they are while looking at potential for what people can achieve in the future.

221 posted on 03/06/2005 2:29:05 AM PST by jackbob
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