Letters to a Libertarian

I don’t know when it happened, but at some point I became a conservative.

At least that’s what the Conservative Book Club thinks. I got a letter a few weeks ago from them offering to a copy of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History if I sign up for their organization. From what I understand, the Guide is actually a pretty good book and tells some economic truths about the New Deal and the Marshal Plan.

That’s not all because this is where things get strange. By now I’m used to being thought of as a conservative for those who don’t know what a libertarian is, but this is the first time someone thought books authored by Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and David Limbaugh would be a tempting offer. That’s right. I can get great deals on books by those who advise shouting matches rather than calm communication with liberals, believe the Patriot Act doesn’t violate civil liberties and insist marrying whomever you wish isn’t a right, respectively.

As usual in politics, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing because a few days ago I got a letter asking me to subscribe to the American Free Press, a liberal newspaper. The AFP piece tried to sell me with phrases like “corporate elite” and “Media Monopoly” (their capitalization).

Here’s a bit of free advice: if you are an organization that proudly advocates one side of the aisle or the other, then focus on economic liberty (for the right) or civic liberty (for the left) to get the libertarian dollars. If you want to paint yourself as freedom-loving in general, then stop it because you’re both pretty crappy at it.