The Libertarian Alliance’ s 2009 Chris R. Tame Memorial Prize Competition was on the subject “Can a Libertarian Also Be a Conservative?” The winning essay, by Antoine Clarke, is now online. (CHT Joel Schlosberg.) It’s a mix of claims I agree with and claims I don’t: the best part is his section on an “Act of Parliament for Table Manners” (wherein he skewers the spontaneous-order pretensions of contemporary conservatives), but I can’t agree with his implicit suggestion that libertarianism and conservatism have little to disagree about on strictly economic matters, or that the fraying of the libertarian/conservative alliance is something to be regretted.
My favourite line in it is a quote from the drearily conservative philosopher Roger Scruton: “the constant questioning of established beliefs and authorities has set us upon a path that has anarchy as its only destination.” Oh noes!
If only!