” If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.
Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy. I believe there are legitimate government functions. There is a legitimate need in an orderly society for some government to maintain freedom or we will have tyranny by individuals. The strongest man on the block will run the neighborhood. We have government to insure that we don’t each one of us have to carry a club to defend ourselves. But again, I stand on my statement that I think that libertarianism and conservatism are travelling the same path.”.....Ronald Reagan Reason magazine 1975.
What a nutcase(by FR’s definition)
Talking to yourself is a sign of impending mental collapse.
Started off pretty good but the conclusion is not correct. Liberal and Conservative aren't badly defined but the link with libertarianism is stretched too far.
It's true that the fundamental "desires" are/were mostly the same but ignores the need for the fundamental cohesiveness necessary to make society work. In the USA, even when it was at war with itself, that cohesion came from shared Judeo-Christian principles.
No matter how often a libertarian may attend church services, today's Big L practitioners seem to have given up those principles in favor of mere license (disclaimer: I'm not a big churchgoer).
Maybe your screen name provides you with insulation from that license and, surely, there is a fundamental agreement in individual rights and limited government, but don't let it run away with you.