Why the libertarian boom is bad for traditional conservatives

Many conservatives derive their political ideology from their faith. That can make it tricky to quickly articulate. Many liberals and libertarians, on the other hand, can explain any position based on a few words, such as “equality” and “freedom.” It is dramatically more difficult to explain unintended consequences — to warn that slowly chipping away at our nation’s moral foundation might, over the course of years or even centuries, undermine freedom and equality in the long run.

We’re all fighting for as much equality and freedom as we can safely preserve. We just disagree about how much is too much. As historian Christopher Lasch noted, to some degree, “liberal democracy has lived off the borrowed capital of moral and religious traditions antedating the rise of liberalism.” The same applies to today’s libertarian ethos. And the question is this: How long can we continue? The answer is most definitely not forever.