Lately, I’ve sensed an undercurrent in the blogosphere, a small rift between a few well reasoned bloggers trading barbs pertaining to the “isms” of Conservative and Libertarian. While I don’t presume to know the minds of said thinkers, I will offer a quick thought on the topic. Perhaps someone fresh into the fray can offer a new perspective or a reminder as to a common goal.

In describing methods of rule or governance, some scholars have done so pictorially, using a line with anarchy on one end and tyranny on the other. They go on to break the line into levels of governance, such as monarchy, theocracy, democracy, communism, socialism etc., as they reside on the line of how much or how little government and what type it is. A friend once told me, when we were discussing the difference between Conservative and Libertarian thought, that he sees his role as a Libertarian as to pull for the least possible government in order to balance the extreme left’s argument for the most government. This, in my thinking, would place Conservatives just to the left of Libertarians on that line, but at least standing side by side.

This is the tug of war we find ourselves in, with many factions of thought hanging on to the same rope, each of them tugging with differing amount of force. It has always been the case to some extent. Hamilton and Jefferson were at odds over the allowable reach of Federal government, arguing some of the same points we wrangle with today. Jefferson and Adams also, close friends as they were, found themselves divided in the middle of their lives over their basic beliefs, at last to reach a sketchy reconciliation in their later years through a famous series of letters.

All this is to say that it would be a shame for such a fissure to develop between the Libertarian and Conservative camps at this moment in time. The way I see it, if you and I are holding the same rope, and we are pulling in the same direction against an opponent, there is no intelligent way for me to justify turning around to face you and begin pulling the other way. To do so only helps our common enemy.

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