Are Republicans and Libertarians two peas in a pod?
Political commentators have led many students of American politics to believe that the two groups have tons in common. After all, they usually want to keep the government’s greedy paws from people’s checkbooks and don’t like the idea of politicians spending like drunken sailors.
At a surface level, these political factions’ shared beliefs on limited government, free market principles, and individual responsibility makes said alliance a no-brainer. So, what’s the hold up?
In politics, it’s wise for us to not assume too much. These two factions part ways on questions of national security, civil liberties, and certain economic issues such as central banking. As a result, there lie fundamental differences between the two groups, which lead them to form distinct political organizations to further advance their goals.
What is a Libertarian?One must remember that libertarianism did not emerge in a vacuum. It is ultimately the product of centuries of classical liberal thought and arguably the logical conclusion of classical liberalism.
A desire to uphold individual liberties and the freedom of association are hallmarks of any serious lover of liberty. These characteristics make liberty supporters firm opponents of the current state of affairs in Western politics. This is a time that is marked by big government, high taxes, big spending, and an activist defense policy.
Cutting taxes and burdensome regulations are how libertarians would handle economic affairs. Freeing the economy from state control allows for business to expand their operations and hire more people, thus raising living standards. Conservatives in the Republican Party largely agree with this position on taxes as well.
From the liberty perspective, economic subsidies that prop up certain industries are wasteful and reward inefficient industries that could potentially be corrupted by constant government injections of money. The free-market advocate believes that people can manage their own lives without the government holding their hands. Similarly, the conventional right-winger is in agreement with this take on subsidies.
On education, libertarians believe that the state plays too much of a role. Instead, market forces should shape the way education is delivered. In their view, the current education model favors administrators and bureaucrats. Parents and children are completely left out of the equation, while the state shapes the way education is administered.
Reforms such as school choice, making it easier to set up private schooling initiatives by removing barriers to entry, and allowing homeschooling to operate without much interference are the best ways to tackle this problem.
What is a Republican?The modern-day Republican Party traces its origins to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, who sought to preserve the Union in a time of great sectional strife. Its origin was more pragmatic in nature, dealing with a Civil War that threatened the integrity of the American state.
Since then, conservatism has evolved into a philosophy that is skeptical of radical change and seeks to nominally preserve America’s traditional system of limited government. Additionally, the party of Lincoln tends to favor traditional values such as the sanctity of life and traditional marriage. Some factions of conservatism would go as far as to have the state enforce these values
Conservatives are in favor of markets, but in a generic sense. They want to reform policies around the margin by pushing for tax cuts and having some deregulation here and there.
In reality, most on the right side of the spectrum do not seem enthusiastic about rolling back any of the expansions in government that activists during the Progressive Era, New Deal, and Great Society brought about. In a sense, they serve as a false opposition to liberal counterparts in the Democratic Party.
To continue reading Libertarian vs Republican, please visit Thought Grenades, the blog on Libertas Bella.
