"Generally speaking, American conservatives prioritize liberty over equality. They understand liberty as a set of privileges; a major part of the value of liberty comes from the fact that others are denied those privileges. Equality is an inherent threat to liberty." – Hattem, The Memory of '76
I am reminded of a video I saw outlining the idea of "liberty" held by the Roman Patricians, as well as the quote by Frank Wilhoit about conservatism. "There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
I've wondered if you've read much of Alan Taylor's work and what you think of it.
That doesn't make much sense to me. Throughout history, many Americans were denied liberty for not having the right skin color, heritage, gender, or sexual orientation. How is guaranteeing liberty for everyone, equality, a threat to liberty as a concept?
*their own liberty
Exactly. Conservatives aren't in favor of individual liberty in any meaningful sense; even the idea that they prioritize it above equality is mostly propaganda. No ‘libertarian’ worthy of the name (and most aren't worthy of it) is on the right.
Sounds like it's not so much about having liberty as much as they don't want responsability over any liberty they have 🤫