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As noted in the previous section, libertarians see their origins in the earlier 17th to 20th century tradition of classical liberalism, and often use that term as a synonym for libertarianism, particularly outside of the USA.
Some, particularly in the USA, argue that while libertarianism has much in common with the earlier tradition of classical liberalism, the latter term should be reserved for historical thinkers for the sake of clarity and accuracy. Others make the distinction to distance themselves from the socialist and welfare state connotations of the word " liberal" in American English. Critics of the trend toward conflation assert that there is a patterned difference between many libertarian and classical liberal thinkers as far as their beliefs about the degree to which the state should be restricted. These critics argue that a more accurate term to describe libertarianism would be neo-classical liberalism.
Other critics argue that there are differences between classical liberal thinkers and libertarianism. Many modern libertarians view the very wealthy as having earned their place, while, according to these critics, the classical liberals were often skeptical of the rich, businessmen, and corporations seeing them as aristocrats with desires to tyrranize the people. Perhaps the most important classical liberal of this strain was Thomas Jefferson who was critical of the growth of corporations. Jefferson, along with some 19th and 20th century libertarians (and even some modern day Libertarians - see geolibertarian), also argued at times for a relatively loose concept of the right to property in land.
In any case, whether one equates them or not, libertarianism closely models opinions, methods, and approaches of earlier classical liberalism and many libertarians see themselves as the inheritors of that tradition. Advocacy of free trade, limited government, an isolationist, non-interventionist, foreign policy and individual liberty are common themes of both libertarianism and classical liberalism. Hayek and other libertarian scholars state that libertarianism today has few commonalities with modern "new" or "welfare" liberalism or socialism. Many economically-oriented libertarians use the word "socialist" nigh-interchangeably with "statist" in critiquing their opponents, even rightist opponents, out of the argument that socialism is the only consistent (family of) statist ideologies. This may perhaps be compared with Marxist use of terms such as " capitalist" and " bourgeois" in critique of other (self-proclaimed) leftists (see state capitalism).
While the traditional political spectrum is a line, the Nolan Chart turns it to a plane to accommodate libertarians and others.
In the US some libertarians feel conservative and some conservatives feel libertarian, because both groups claim as theirs the ideology of the founding fathers of the USA. Still, it is possible to distinguish quite neatly two different and often opposite traditions, and it is only a matter of terminology when confusion occurs. This opposition is clearly explained in Friedrich Hayek's article "Why I Am Not a Conservative" [1]. Although it should be noted that Hayek was referring to European authoritarian Conservatism, which was suspicious of capitalism due to the belief that it undermined the power of the state.
There have been times when those with libertarian views were considered left-wing on the political spectrum (for instance, in the seventeenth century, the Whigs were revolutionaries, and in 1848, Frederic Bastiat was seating rather on the left side of the Assembly). It can be argued that while the balance of political opinions has shifted a lot, the anti- statist tradition of libertarianism has not moved, only evolved and grown.
Libertarians do not identify themselves as either " right-wing" or " left-wing". Indeed, many reject the one-dimensional left/ right political spectrum and instead propose a two-dimensional space with "personal freedom" on one Cartesian axis and "economic freedom" on the other. This space is shown by the Nolan Chart, proposed by David Nolan, the founder of the United States Libertarian Party.[2] Though many libertarians may believe the separation of personal and economic freedom is actually a false dichotomy, the Nolan Chart is frequently utilized in order to differentiate their ideology from others (e.g., conservativism and modern liberalism) which generally advocate greater limitations on different modes of freedom according to their respective conceptions of rights. The libertarian conception of rights maximizes individual liberty and autonomy, which leads libertarians to advocate the fewest possible limitations on either mode of freedom.
The validity of the Nolan Chart is disputed by many non-libertarians. Socialists, modern liberals and conservatives often argue that the libertarian definition of " freedom" is flawed or incorrect.
For more information, see main article: Nolan chart
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