Wednesday, March 11, 1998
Author speaks at conservative, libertarian forum
FORUM: Groups meet to discuss differences, find common political
ground
By Barbara Ortutay
Daily Bruin Contributor
Some conservative, white males consider themselves an endangered
species at UCLA. They do exist, however, or at least they did on
Monday night at a Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) and Bruin
Republicans forum.
"It’s important to have intelligent debate about libertarianism
and conservatism, when those voices on campus are drowned out by
extreme leftist, race-based, communist and socialist
organizations," said Daniel Rego, vice chairman of YAF.
The room was half-filled, mostly with members of YAF, the Bruin
Republicans and some unidentified men in dark suits, who turned out
to be Republican congressional candidate Dave Churchman, his
campaign manager and Shawn Steele, treasurer for the California
Republican Party. Around 15 men and one woman attended the
forum.
Don Feder, author of "Who’s Afraid of the Religious Right,"
delivered an ornate lecture about his days as a young Libertarian,
his conversion to conservatism and what it means to be a
conservative in this country.
"Conservatism is about creating a society of decency. God,
family and country are the cornerstones of a conservative society,"
he said.
"The true conservative does not hate the state. He does,
however, hate what the left has done to the government. Without the
naked sword of the state, men would devour each other like beasts,"
he added.
His speech also touched on the differences between conservatism
and libertarianism, which, he said, tend to be clamped together at
times.
YAF, according to Chairman MacLane Key, is "a group of
freedom-loving, limited government conservatives and libertarians"
on campus. He added that although Feder’s speech focused on
conservatism, libertarians were equally present in the
audience.
A quote on the blackboard aimed to avoid all confusion:
"Conservatives are not libertarians, and vice versa."
According to Feder, although the two doctrines are fundamentally
different, it doesn’t mean that the two cannot work together on
issues.
"I’m more than happy to work with libertarians, liberals,
leftists and vegetarians, but I insist that distinctions be made on
who’s who and what’s what," he said.
Feder addressed specific arguments from the liberal
perspective.
"Liberals say (conservatives) want to legislate morality. In
reality, every law ever created regulates morality. Including
traffic laws," he said.
A re-emerging issue during the event was pornography, especially
child pornography. Feder argued that in general, libertarians
support child pornography by giving children the same rights as
adults. Martin Chippas, third-year student and vice chairman of
Bruin Republicans, said he considers himself a libertarian, but he
does not endorse child pornography, and neither do libertarians he
knows.
"I don’t think James Madison meant Hustler magazine when he
drafted the First Amendment. But he meant political freedom, which
is why I oppose a constitutional amendment prohibiting flag
burning," said Feder.
Feder closed his speech with the following motto: "I always
believe the speaker should leave before the audience does."
"Which doesn’t always happen at my lectures," he added.
This time, however, they stayed.