[gerard.casey]

Dear Patricia,

Your post has to be a prime example of what Jung would call ‘synchronicity’! Now that I’ve finished the history of political thought, I’m thinking of writing a book with a title like: Conservative Anarchism or Confessions of an Anarchic Conservative! The theme of the book will be to demonstrate that there is no necessary conflict between liberty and authority.

If I had to characterise my position, I would say that I am a cultural conservative and a political liberal (libertarian). The key difference between a political conservative and a cultural conservative seems to me to be this: both agree on what needs to be preserved and encouraged as the ground of a functioning society – they disagree, however, on the means by which this is to be brought about. A political conservative is willing to use force, including the power of the state, to achieve his desideratum; the liberal or libertarian is not.

As you can see, I very much share your conservative instincts (as, indeed, did Murray Rothbard).

Thank you for your thoughtful post.

Best wishes,

Gerard Casey