Conservatives, Libertarians, and Big Ideas

EconoLog: Conservatives, Libertarians, and Big Ideas

Stephen Bainbridge writes,

it is the Libertarians and the progressives who are Big Idea people. Despite their obvious differences in philosophy, they share the absurd belief that if only their big idea(s) came to pass, society would inexorably progress towards some ideal.

...“A people’s historic continuity of experience, says the conservative, offers a guide to policy far better than the abstract designs of coffee-house philosophers,” as Russell Kirk aptly put it.

Pointer from Megan McArdle, who comments,

Conservatives need to figure out how they are going to roll back the bad ideas and prevent new bad ones from getting through. For that, they need a proposal a bit more eloquent than "Stop!"

It is probably fair to say that libertarians and most conservatives agree that big government causes harm. However, they disagree when it comes to methods for changing it. Libertarians are revolutionaries, while conservatives are...conservative.

The question here is whether Big Ideas are good or bad for those of us who prefer smaller government. ...

Comments

[VanSkaamper]

Check out self-described liberal Maxine Waters' latest BIG IDEA (which she struggles to articulate on her own...poor woman must be feeling a bit intoxicated with her power):

http://tinyurl.com/5egm2t

This is genuinely frightening...this is what third-world dictators do...threaten an industry with a government takeover. When the phone rings at 3am at the Waters' home, it's Hugo Chavez on the other end.

Really wish conservatives and libertarians could unite around enough common principles to effectively communicate why Maxine and her ilk are downright dangerous to the interests of every US citizen.