The whole idea of conservatism had been linked to traditional moral issues, and only in the past couple decades has it been delineated as fiscal or moral or both. I agree with this writer. You cannot divorce the moral values from fiscal conservatism and it continue to be considered conservative for very long before the immoral values of the person corrupt the whole. One of the reasons I had for quitting the libertarians was for this reason. They espoused fiscal issues and the Catholic writers were great writers on many conservative issues, but when it came to actually supporting traditional values, the libertarians vote with the Communists....all the way down the line. Their argument was that the “state” should not be having anything to say or do with moral issues, which I totally could agree with except for this one fine point: Once the state has already ruled on an issue, how does one get it back to just the local states to deal with, unless you bring the issue to vote and overturn the immoral law? They could NOT ANSWER that for me. Once the State (federal government) has its say, then they were unwilling to do ANYTHING to help undo that horrific law. ONe would have to conclude that they are okay with abortion, same-sex marriage, and any number of sins that have become prominent. I cannot go back to supporting libertarians again. The difference between them and Communists is one issue alone..that one being fiscal conservatism. They might as well say they are fiscally conservative Communists.
You are generally correct.
Conservatives of the last century often weren’t economic liberals. Chesterton and his circle advocated semi-socialist policies, and of course we Catholics have Rerum Novarum and its later teachings. 19th century conservatives were even less libertarian. If you will recall, Bastiat’s most famous work is a response to Thiers, who supported high tariffs. Thiers was the man who crushed the Paris Commune.
You are generally correct.
Conservatives of the last century often weren’t economic liberals. Chesterton and his circle advocated semi-socialist policies, and of course we Catholics have Rerum Novarum and its later teachings. 19th century conservatives were even less libertarian. If you will recall, Bastiat’s most famous work is a response to Thiers, who supported high tariffs. Thiers was the man who crushed the Paris Commune.