David Brooks, the commentator, has offered an interesting frame for what is happening to conservatism. He says that the Reagan era conservatism was focused on resisting liberal social policies and limiting the role of government while retaining traditional social norms and standards. He suggests the new conservatism is focused on resisting professional and elitist intrusion into the process of governing. The press is the liberal elite. Intellectuals are the liberal elite. Scientists are the liberal elite. A conservative therefore prefers blunt opinion untrammeled with nuance. Billionaires and big business are not the threat – snobbish and confusing academic elitists are.
I think he’s right. But what does that mean for libertarians. We want to close ranks against intrusion by liberal social policies that take away our individual freedom and options. So, we are conservative, but we like to pontificate and reference our founding documents and principles. We are suspiciously like the press in our tone. It breaks my heart. We lose even more traction in this Trump era.