[Jibaholic]

I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.

Reagan was wrong. Libertarianism is simply "liberty for me, but not for thee." The core values of conservatism are:

1. Sacredness. What the secular philosopher John Rawls calls the "separateness of persons" in response to utilitarianism. Human rights cannot be traded off against each other. Conservatism can explain why: that's because a human life is sacred. See also: Genesis 9:6.
2. Children and the unborn. Whereas libertarianism creates a sphere of moral consciousness that encomposses consenting adults, conservatism extends it to all human beings (i.e. members of the species Homo sapiens). That includes children and the unborn.
3. Personal responsibility. Libertarianism does encompass this.
4. Duty to the poor. Conservatism does acknowledge moral duties to help the poor, unlike the egoistic libertarianism. However, that is contingent on (#3). A hand up, not a hand out.

[steve-b]

Reagan was wrong.

Stone the blasphemer!!

More seriously, you make the common error of equating cultural persuasion with government force. This leads directly to the notion that government can make people "better" -- an evil so seductive that some people cling to it even after it racked up an eight-digit body count.

[laotzu]

Reagan was wrong

Let's see.....who to believe? Jibaholic or Reagan?

Hmmmm. That is a tough one.