The terms have become muddy and overlapping in popular usage. Liberals do fuel a larger central government, but the narrative comes in the form of "we". Govern

The terms have become muddy and overlapping in popular usage. Liberals do fuel a larger central government, but the narrative comes in the form of "we". Government is seen a vessel for popular will: "taking care of the homeless/planet/etc is our responsibility". Conservatives are community-oriented, but tend to support authority as a valid context for community creation, from God and pastor in a church, to a security state to keep community safe, to the value of elders and traditions. Libertarians, meanwhile, have a characteristically hard time unifying, being either out on the fringe, or split between the parties: the anti-war libertarians hold their nose and lean blue, and the anti-nanny-state libertarians hold their nose and lean red. Very few people unilaterally reject any of the three survival strategies. It comes down to which is most prominent in the story you tell yourself about what a perfect world would be, and your role within it.