Why I’m a Conservative, Not a Libertarian

conservativehqI don’t agree with everything in the article but Ben Hart makes some good points over at Conservative HQ:

I am a William F. Buckely, Jr. conservative. This means I believe in limited Constitutional government.

WFB and Ronald ReaganI am not a libertarian. The Constitution is not a libertarian document.

The Constitution has a presumption in favor of liberty. But the Constitution is also a practical charter for government.

The Constitution allows the government to put a road through your property if it serves the “general welfare” of the country.

[…]

Conservatives believe government to be essential — essential, as the preamble to the Constitution says, to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.”

Conservatives are anti-ideological. Conservatives are guided by principles — the principles outlined in America’s Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.

Conservatives are also guided by facts — the empirical data. Conservatives favor what works best.

Conservatives defend Western Civilization because Western Civilization has produced, through time and trial and error, the best overall product in terms of human progress and respect for the individual.

The libertarian ideology advances the thesis that the free-market can solve all, or almost all problems.

But that’s clearly not the case.

Read the entire article…

Click here for part 2: We Do Need a Social Safety Net

Here’s part 3: What a Conservative Social Safety Net Would Look Like

Part 4: The Guiding Theme of American Conservatism

Part 5: True Conservatism Must Be Grounded in Reality