Conservatives and libertarians have much in common, but a few fundamental differences divide the two. For instance, both conservatives and libertarians value freedom, but conservatives place a higher emphasis on civilization’s role in ensuring that freedom.

Similarly, both libertarians and conservatives believe in rights to life, liberty, and property. But libertarians usually think the American government should guarantee the rights of any American immigrant. Conservatives, in contrast, tend to oppose large-scale immigration, in part because they worry that it will erode their country’s culture. And conservatives worry that if their culture changes, many good things about their nation will no longer exist.

For example, when I was a kid in the 1990s, many stores had a lifetime return policy. You could buy a product, use it for years, and return it with no questions asked. The assumption was that the American people could be trusted not to abuse the trust that companies placed in them. Sadly, that American people no longer exists. Our culture, conservatives would say, has changed.

Libertarians, on the other hand, don’t typically focus on culture as a whole. Instead, they focus on the individual. “Only individuals act” is a sort of libertarian maxim. From this perspective, it doesn’t make sense to worry about harms done to groups of people. Instead, we should worry about taking rights away from flesh-and-blood human beings.

For instance, libertarians (correctly) point out that many government programs intended to serve “the public” actually serve a small portion of the public—a special interest group. When the federal government builds highways for “the public,” it benefits big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target by using public money to subsidize transportation costs. A poor family in the inner city isn’t very likely to use highways themselves, but it will be forced to pay for them through taxation. By talking about “the public,” libertarians say, we can lose sight of individuals.

Yet perhaps the biggest difference between conservatism and libertarianism is that libertarianism is a proper ideology, while conservatism is an attitude. Libertarians tend to reason from first principles and pursue logically consistent ideas. As a result, libertarians in America and Europe often support the same policies.

Conservatives, on the other hand, value cultural traditions that are the gift of history. As a result, conservatives in the U.S. and Europe often support completely different policies, due to the regions’ different histories. For instance, under conservative Viktor Orbán’s government, Hungarian state-provided healthcare became further centralized. However, American conservatives strongly oppose state healthcare. What unites the two groups is a commitment to their distinct national cultures and traditions, as well as to shared Western values.

The differences between conservatism and libertarianism can sometimes bring the two groups to support distinct political candidates.

In fact, the differences between libertarian and conservative politicians have probably never been greater. The 2024 Libertarian Party presidential candidate, Chase Oliver, has said he supports drag queen story hour and sexual transition treatments for minors. He supports amnesty for working illegal immigrants and hopes to return the country to “an Ellis Island style of processing immigrants.” The libertarian focus on individual freedom is the clear guiding principle behind each of his policies.

Donald Trump, the more conservative candidate this election season (at least when compared to Kamala Harris or Chase Oliver), is different. If elected, he would reverse the Biden Administration’s move to read transgender issues into Title IX. Similarly, he said he would reduce or remove federal funding from schools that promote “critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s position on illegal immigration is well-known: He supports deportation over amnesty. The conservative concern for the preservation of civilization is the connecting thread between each of these positions.

In America, libertarians and conservatives are likely to be fellow travelers for a long time. By working together, they can advance many common goals. But when disagreements do come up, no one should be surprised. These two political camps, after all, build off very different foundations.

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