Political Conservative vs. Classical Liberal

Mario Rizzo, in an editorial at CSM, weighs in on the Palin vs. Michelle Obama spat about what foods to eat. Rizzo makes an important point about what distinguishes the political conservative from the classical liberal. Having just read a study of Thomas Paine, who was in important ways the architect for the modern world’s view of human rights, I think Rizzo gets it.

And yet not even this is the main point. The advice comes from a person who has decided to devote her life to accomplishing goals by the political means. These goals are not the gradual reduction of political power (obviously) but its increase. It is wrong to think that granting moral authority, as all teaching authority must be, to such people is benign. One of the main differences between conservatives and classical liberals is that liberals do not look up to the state. They look down to it as a necessary evil.