In today?s Daily Journal our fearless leader John Hood offers and defends a ?rule of thumb? for distinguishing liberals from conservatives. John states, ?one group [conservatives] thinks it is wrong to steal. The other group [liberals] thinks that the morality of stealing depends on who the perpetrator is, who the victim is, and what the situation is.? Let me suggest that neither group ?thinks it is wrong to steal? and that is why we have seen the development of a libertarian movement over the last 40 years that is distinct from mainstream conservatism.
During the 1960s the modern libertarian movement gained momentum on the right because of fundamental differences with traditional conservatives over the morality of theft. It became clear to many that traditional conservatives believed, like liberals, that ?the morality of stealing depends?on what the situation is.? At the time the most pervasive and egregious form of theft was the military draft. It denied the most basic and fundamental of all property rights?the right to self-ownership. While some conservatives at the time, William F. Buckley for example, gave some lip service to an anti-draft position, conservatives in general tended to see draft resisters and not the government as the ones who were pursuing an immoral course of action. But the divide also has come on a number of other issues where libertarians believe conservatives accept the morality of stealing. Recently, while interviewing George McGovern on her radio show, conservative commentator Monica Crowley said that conservatives now accept the idea of a Social Security system, which, through FICA taxes, is based on stealing from people, allegedly for their own good. Even a so-called privatized system does not avoid theft. It still constitutes a denial of property rights since it coerces people into allocating their income in a government prescribed way. Other ?situations? where conservatives accept theft as a moral means to their ends include, but is not limited to, the provision of a ?social safety net,? the prohibition of illicit drugs and prostitution, and the provision of k-12 and higher education.
I do think that John is correct to argue that the political spectrum should be viewed in terms of the extent to which ideologies accept theft as a legitimate way to accomplish goals. On the extreme left are socialists/ communists/ and fascists who see property rights as no moral obstacle at all and on the extreme right are anarcho-capitalist libertarians who believe that the denial of one?s property rights by another is only legitimate for defensive purposes. Basically, both mainstream liberals and conservatives hold a more nuanced, non-absolutist position. They believe that the ?morality of stealing depends on who the perpetrator is, who the victim is, and what the situation is.?
