Libertarians are frequently described as liberal on social issues and conservative on economic issues. This formulation contains a grain of truth, but it does not get to the heart of the matter. In many instances, social and economic issues are intertwined. Is affirmative action, for instance, about correcting racism (a social issue) or setting state-established employment practices (an economic issue)? Is ending drug prohibition about ceasing social censure of recreational drug users (social) or freeing the market for now-illegal drugs from state restriction (economic)? A libertarian would find himself on the right with respect to the former issue, and on the left with respect to the latter.
An underlying principle that guides libertarian political prescriptions is that the state's role in society should be minimized to whatever extent possible. A consistent libertarian should be just as concerned about the Right's attempts to foist a state-backed "family values" agenda as he is about the Left's attempts pursue the myriad identity politics agendas through state action. The principle of liberty pursued by a libertarian is not concerned with contemporary categories of left and right. It is only concerned with rolling back the state.
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