What is the opposite of a libertarian?

If a libertarian is someone who is socially liberal but economically conservative, what do you call someone who is socially conservative but economically liberal? And would it be fair to say a lot of the 'Old Left' could be classed as this? People such a trade unionist and miners. They may be socialists in economic terms, but I doubt very much a LGBT group would be too popular in a former mining town.

Reply 1

MalteseMalteser

Original post by sammynorton90

If a libertarian is someone who is socially liberal but economically conservative, what do you call someone who is socially conservative but economically liberal? And would it be fair to say a lot of the 'Old Left' could be classed as this? People such a trade unionist and miners. They may be socialists in economic terms, but I doubt very much a LGBT group would be too popular in a former mining town.

Neo-conservative?

Anyone want to back me up on this/correct me?

Reply 2

Picnic1

19

Margaret Thatcher.

It's a weird thing how Old Labour, who did not allow laissez faire economics, was regarded as spendthrift for allowing strikes whilst the Conservative party that presided during the period of a financial crash in 1987 leading to a recession, partly thanks to the laissez faire economics that they supported, were regarded as economically sound.

The period when Old Labour were in power in the 60s was an interesting time for students. The massive expansion of university education , not just by mere numbers but by several self contained 'plate glass' campuses e.g. Warwick, York.
It was this kind of expenditure on what amounts to 'culture and education' that the Conservatives would cut back on. They certainly didn't build any new universities. Mind you, neither did Labour really in the 70s.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 3

anonstudent1

13

Original post by sammynorton90

what do you call someone who is socially conservative but economically liberal?

Isn't that what the U.S has been up until quite recently?
Another example would be the British Empire (for some periods), I remember studying the Irish famine, one of the reasons that there were so many deaths was that the British government were massive believers in free trade, so wouldn't act to protect the poor. No big taxes, or any real social security to protect the poor. And they were obviously very socially conservative too. I'm not sure there's a specific name for someone who is socially conservative and economically liberal though.
Maybe neo-conservative fits the description best.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 4

milkytea

16

I'd say that the true ideological opposite of a libertarian is a statist. By that I mean somebody who thinks that the state should play a large role both in the economy and in people's lives in general. That would be socially conservative and economically anti-market, pro-government regulation. That's pretty broad, though. Historically one might say that Stalin was the absolute anti-libertarian, but of course it's perfectly possible to be socially conservative and economically anti- free market without being a totalitarian (just as it is perfectly possible to be a libertarian without being an anarcho-capitalist). It's really a question of degree, which is often the case in politics, and this is something that broad labels such as "libertarian" utterly fail to capture.

I'd add that "neo-conservative" doesn't really fit the bill, though. That's something usually used for pro-market types. The closest thing to anti-libertarian we have in British politics at the moment is Blue Labour, which professes social conservatism as well as anti-free market economic ideals.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

anonstudent1

13

Original post by milkytea

I'd say that the true ideological opposite of a libertarian is a statist. By that I mean somebody who thinks that the state should play a large role both in the economy and in people's lives in general. That would be socially conservative and economically anti-market, pro-government regulation. That's pretty broad, though. Historically one might say that Stalin was the absolute anti-libertarian, but of course it's perfectly possible to be socially conservative and economically anti- free market without being a totalitarian (just as it is perfectly possible to be a libertarian without being an anarcho-capitalist). It's really a question of degree, which is often the case in politics, and this is something that broad labels such as "libertarian" utterly fail to capture.

I'd add that "neo-conservative" doesn't really fit the bill, though. That's something usually used for pro-market types. The closest thing to anti-libertarian we have in British politics at the moment is Blue Labour, which professes social conservatism as well as anti-free market economic ideals.

Great points, but just pointing out his question was saying is there a name for people/parties who share libertarians belief of being economically liberal (which I take to mean as minimal taxes, regulation or any other state interference in the economy), but who are socially conservative (which I take to mean government interference in peoples lives, i.e marriage laws, drug laws, invasions of privacy etc etc), rather then asking for a polar opposite to libertarians.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

Bobifier

13

A conservatarian, I suppose.

Reply 7

milkytea

16

Original post by anonstudent1

Great points, but just pointing out his question was saying is there a name for people/parties who share libertarians belief of being economically liberal (which I take to mean as minimal taxes, regulation or any other state interference in the economy), but who are socially conservative (which I take to mean government interference in peoples lives, i.e marriage laws, drug laws, invasions of privacy etc etc), rather then asking for a polar opposite to libertarians.

Actually I don't think that's what the OP was asking, although I grant you that it was a slightly confusing post, owing to the varying uses and meanings of the word "liberal". The OP described libertarians as "economically conservative", which can be a way of saying pro-market, owing to the fact that conservative parties are usually pro-market. Because of that I think he used "economically liberal" in the American sense - that is, pro-government regulation (i.e. the sense in which the US Democratic Party is "liberal").

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 8

sammynorton90

OP

8

Original post by milkytea

Actually I don't think that's what the OP was asking, although I grant you that it was a slightly confusing post, owing to the varying uses and meanings of the word "liberal". The OP described libertarians as "economically conservative", which can be a way of saying pro-market, owing to the fact that conservative parties are usually pro-market. Because of that I think he used "economically liberal" in the American sense - that is, pro-government regulation (e.g. the US Democratic Party sense of "liberal").

Yep, you're right, sorry for any confusion

Reply 9

Aspiringlawstudent

3

A statist; whether on the left or the right of the political spectrum.

Reply 10

Kiss

2

Forms of authoritarianism including extreme right or extreme left.

Reply 11

newpersonage

6

Aristotle said that tyranny is the opposite of liberty if liberty is democracy. Here is probably the best political spectrum that I have come across:

The problem with the left-right idea of politics is that it doesn't express the fact that the N. Koreans and Syrians are Nationalist Socialists or that both of these shared being tyrannies with the Soviet Union. Of course, this spectrum only applies because we don't have real monarchies any more and every dictator calls themselves "socialist" from Gaddafi to Pol Pot.

In economic terms the tyrannies are for state control and the freedom lovers for independent enterprise. The freedom to make your own way in the world is an essential freedom, without it you cannot be said to have a free society. There is no free speech if the only employer and source of wealth is the government (or corporations).