Daily Moral Libertarian: Tomi Lahren Cool Conservatism vs Cooler Free Speech

Welcome to TaraElla News, where we discuss recent social and political issues from a moral libertarian viewpoint. What I am trying to do is to take a stand for this particular brand of principled classical liberalism, to help build a sphere of conversation around our ideas, and to hopefully increase the currently dismal classical liberal representation in a world otherwise too full of identity politics and fake news. By the way, I talk about a new issue every weekday, so if truly freedom-centered, non-echo chamber political commentary is your thing, I highly recommend subscribing to this channel.

The Moral Libertarian Ideal: Equal Moral Agency for Every Individual.

In recent years, conservatives have been trying to make their movement sound cool and countercultural. Or rather, sound cool because it's countercultural. And to an extent, they do have a point. To be conservative is to be non-conformist among young people nowadays, and to be a conservative on college campuses is almost like breaking a taboo. And that's sort of brave. Last week, Fox News's Tomi Lahren drew on this theme, urging conservatives to speak out, in a pitch that strongly references free speech and being unafraid to be controversial. Also, in the same week there was this video from Michael Knowles at The Daily Wire, titled 'How Did I Become A Conservative'. In the video, Knowles pointed out that being conservative is contrarian, and of course, being a contrarian is cool.

But is being a conservative the most contrarian, the most non-conformist, and hence the coolest thing around? I doubt it. I mean, it's more non-conformist than being a lefty, but it's still conformist. To what extent is conservatism conformist? You only need to watch some Fox News, or follow some right-leaning YouTube channels, to know that they generally have a similar viewpoint. To express any sympathy to any left-leaning viewpoint would be seen as heresy in conservative circles. In fact, the conformism in conservative circles is not that different to leftist conformism, except for the fact that conservatives run against the dominant positions in the wider world. In other words, conservatives are still conformist, but slightly less so than leftists. So while they may be slightly cooler than leftists, they are not completely cool yet.

Conservative Free Speech is 50% Cool
Moral Libertarian Free Speech is 100% Cool

So what's completely non-conformist, and therefore completely cool? It would have to be moral libertarianism, with its focus on equal moral agency for all individuals, on an individual-by-individual, issue-by-issue level. Why? We support every individual having the freedom to make up their mind and speak their mind on every issue, without social pressure from the tribe. While conservative free speech focuses on the ability of conservatives to speak out on left-leaning college campuses, moral libertarian free speech includes not only that, but also the ability of conservatives to speak in support of unconventional ideas in conservative circles, and lefties to speak in support of conservative ideas in leftist circles alike. I mean, Tomi Lahren should at least understand the importance of this, having gotten into trouble with some conservative circles for her views.

Leftists Grow Up to be Conservatives?
Conservatives Grow Up to be Moral Libertarians!

In his video, Michael Knowles pointed out that there is this idea that when you don't know anything you are Republican; if you learn a bit you become Democrat; if you learn more you become Republican again. And he himself did go through a leftist phase in his youth, before turning rightwards. But then, how can he be sure that, if you learn more, you won't change again? I personally experienced many shifts in my politics in all sorts of unexpected directions through learning more and more. Therefore, I would argue that, if you have learned enough, you should become a moral libertarian just by looking back at your own history and realizing how wrong you were at every stage in the past. You realize that, no camp is correct all the time or even most of the time, and that is the very justification for demanding equal moral agency for every individual. The fact is, if you pick a camp, you are forced to stay there, and it stunts your growth. By being a moral libertarian, we allow ourselves to learn more, and grow accordingly.

That's all for today. I'll be back with more moral libertarian commentary tomorrow. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it.