[AntiGuv]

The key objection to this author, in my view, is that he uses "statism" and "socialism" as if they were synonymous, and that's definitely not true. So, this is his logic:

modern conservatives are statist (true), therefore modern conservatives are socialist ( which is not strictly true).

However, this is not a proper use of the term socialism as commonly understood. Which is not to suggest that the conservative leadership hasn't acquiesced to much of the socialist welfare state, but that is distinct from the statist policies that have been advocated by most conservatives since decades ago.

[Al Gator]

I am confused.

How do YOU define "statist"?

[thoughtomator]

My key objection is above, and I will restate it here, that the author has misdefined conservatism for the purpose of using it as a strawman. American conservatism - I do not speak for European conservatism - is largely libertarian in character. There are very broad areas of agreement between American conservatism and libertarianism - low taxes, gun rights, property rights, federalism, freedom of religion, association and expression, and many more.