Difference is: we don't pledge allegiance to Grover Norquist (i.e., excluding revenue increases as a viable method of reducing debt and deficit).
Actually, though you are very socially liberal, your claim of being fiscally conservative is skeenchy at best. Growth and expansion of government requires capital, and government spending is never static, it is always expansive. The only source of capital is through slavery.
Most of your posts reflect a worshipful stance towards existing and proposed social program growth, and ridicule towards those who point out such growth as dangerous. It would seem that you are both socially and fiscally liberal.
Perhaps there is some room for you to evolve though. I think we could possibly find common ground when it comes to scaling back defense spending. That seems to be the one common ground between libertarians and liberals and offers a foothold for liberal contemplation of libertarian concepts.
I think the most confusing thing about libertarianism is that it is an individual philosophy based on simple principals. This gives libertarians the ability to be very different in how they define "their" political philosophy. In fact there is an old libertarian saying "There may be two libertarians in the world that agree, but I'm not one of them." The idea is that the party has no power to dictate principal, or talking points, or twist reality to fit process and program. Libertarians are simply what is considered "classic liberals" long before the progressive and socialist movement found a home under the hood of the liberal machine, classic liberals were exactly what we today call libertarians.
You could be libertarian, however it would require you to give up some things. First, you would need to divorce yourself from envy of others. You would also need to recognize your individuality, as well as that of others, without classifying people into groups to define them. And, finally, you would need to realize that intensions are not results. Do those things and it will be very hard for you to worship the actions of government.
I would consider Conan a libertarian, but I am positive we disagree on many things, but the principals of individual freedom are the heart of our similarities and basis for our political philosophy. No politician, liberal or conservative, offers a basis for the worshipful devotion you see from republicans and democrats when considering their candidates and elected. Sure, it's entertaining but so very dangerous.
The legacy of Democrats and Republicans approaches: Libertarianism by bankruptcy. – Nick Nuessle
Libertarians believe the answer to America's political problems is the same commitment to freedom that earned America its greatness: a free-market economy and the abundance and prosperity it brings; a dedication to civil liberties and personal freedom that marks this country above all others; and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade as prescribed by America's founders. – The Libertarian Party
A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim. – L Neil Smith
Republicans don't want anyone having more fun than they do, and the Democrats don't want anyone making more money than they do. Libertarians want you to make money and have fun. – Andre Marrou
Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day. But a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly proves a deliberate systematic plan of reducing us to slavery. – Thomas Jefferson
Americans are so enamoured of equality they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom. – Alexis de Tocqueville
Popular suffrage is in itself no guarantee of freedom. People can vote themselves into slavery. – Frank Chodorov
To shackle future generations, with such monstrous debt and liabilities, is tantamount to selling them into tax slavery. – Eric Englund