©1969 by National Review, Inc., 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016. Reprinted with permission Libertarianism or Libertinism? Frank S. MeyerNational Review, 1969 Principles and Heresies The development of contemporary American conservatism has been marked, on the theoretical level, by a continuing tension between a traditionalist emphasis and a libertarian emphasis. Over the years I have argued that these positions are in fact not incompatible opposites, but complementary poles of a tension and balance which, both in theory and practice, define American conservatism as it has come into being at midcentury. If anything, I have stressed the libertarian emphasis...
