The conservative-liberal alliance against freedom.

AuthorFish, Jefferson M.
PositionREFLECTIONS

The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.

--John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Political language--and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists--is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

--George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language"

Conservatives and liberals make different assumptions about the ways in which social policy affects the behavior of individuals. In their interpretations of these assumptions, however, those I shall refer to as libertarian conservatives and civil liberties liberals have a common interest in promoting individual freedom. Unfortunately for anyone interested in the preservation of individual freedoms, libertarian conservatives are a minority among conservatives, and civil liberties liberals are a minority among liberals. Concomitantly, an often overlooked convergence of action between the social conservative and social liberal majorities (as I refer to them here) results in ever-increasing limitations on personal freedom in the United States.

The culture wars have so polarized discourse between conservatives and liberals that it is difficult to step back from the fray and see a pattern in the ways supposed opponents on both sides of many issues have actually been cooperating (implicitly or explicitly) to achieve common ends. My point in this article is to draw attention to this pattern--as Gestalt psychologists would say, "to bring the ground into the figure." I write in the hope that besides helping readers see matters in a different perspective, I might lead some conservatives to give greater weight to their libertarian inclinations and some liberals to strengthen their commitment to civil liberties. (1)

Four Ideological Types

Here, in schematic form, are simplified descriptions of the four positions on individual freedom relevant to understanding the alliances: (2)

Libertarian conservatives believe that attempts to restrict individuals' freedom are counterproductive and that we should not intervene to help those who make poor choices because such intervention only protects them from the consequences of their actions. Civil liberties liberals believe that we should allow people the freedom to experiment and that we should intervene, with a social safety net, only to protect them from destitution. Social conservatives believe that we should intervene systematically to punish people for poor choices so that others will not imitate them. Social liberals believe that we should protect people by intervening Systematically to punish those who are potentially harmful influences. As these descriptions make clear, libertarian conservatives and civil liberties liberals agree on maximizing individual freedom (though for different reasons, including differences on economic policy). The descriptions also call attention to the less obvious agreement between the social conservative and social liberal majorities on the punitive use of governmental coercion to limit freedom (though they, too, differ on economic policy). (3)

Ideological Convergence in Support of the Drug War

I first became aware of what appeared to be a political anomaly nearly a decade ago while working with a disparate group of colleagues to seek alternatives to our current drug policy (Fish 1998, 2000). To my surprise, despite differing political philosophies, party affiliations, social class origins, educational backgrounds, and personal lifestyles, we all shared a common view of the counterproductive nature of the war on drugs. (In a nutshell: the great majority of ills ascribed to "drugs" are actually caused by the black market created by drug prohibition; the more successful the war on drugs is in making the drug trade a dangerous business, the greater are the profits because of the increased prices and hence the greater the incidence of disease, corruption, social disorder, and death.) Drug policy seemed to be an isolated island where conservatives and liberals shared common beliefs and values and could work together in harmony toward common ends.

After a while, however, I began to reconceptualize our conservative-liberal unity as existing in opposition to a broad prohibitionist social consensus. We were not simply a minority in opposition to the rest of the...

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