John makes some fair points in his response to this post. In particular, I probably did paint with too broad a brush in characterizing conservatives and libertarians as “mostly deny[ing] that [the environment, health care, etc.] are problems and/or that government has any role in addressing them.”

At the same time, John is painting what strikes me as a bit too rosy a picture in some cases. For instance, is the mainstream conservative position really to favor carbon taxes instead of cap-and-trade? I think the mainstream conservative position (i.e., the position adhered to by most self-described conservatives) is to favor doing nothing about global warming either because a) it isn’t happening, b) humans aren’t causing it, or c) technology will save us. It’s true that some smart conservatives have made the case that a carbon tax is preferable to cap-and-trade, but I’m unconvinced they’re anything but a tiny minority. (Indeed, it’s usually lefty environmentalists who favor carbon taxes over against cap-and-trade because they don’t like the “trade” part.) I would be delighted to be proven wrong here, though, since it would mean that real progress on this front should be possible.

That’s not to deny that conservatives do often provide alternative policy proposals for various problems, as John points out, but I still think that “anti-statism” functions as more of an article of faith on the Right than “pro-statism” does on the Left. It’s not uncommon for conservatives to denounce the New Deal and the Great Society in toto, which collectively constitute much of the framework of the regulatory and welfare state. This may be largely rhetorical posturing (though conservatives have put a lot of political muscle behind efforts to “privatize” Social Security among other things), but it is evidence of a particular mindset that instinctively distrusts government efforts to do much more than protect life and property.

I don’t want to get hung up on a terminological debate, though; I agree with John that “the real debates are over what, in each instance that seems to call for a role for government, the appropriate role will be.” John is a conservative (of some kind or another) and I suppose I’m a liberal (of some kind or another), so we’re likely to disagree about the appropriate role for government in many (though not all) cases, but I’d be much happier to see the debate carried on in those terms.