Did Classic Liberalism transform into conservatism?

Question: My research into the topic seems to suggest (suprisingly) that classic liberalism broke into two forms, with most of it going to the modern conservatives. Excluding the recent advance of the "new mugged liberal" neocons, conservatives and classic liberals seem to have more in common. Legal egalitarianism and not economic egalitarianism, free trade and not protectionism, Tom Paine style distrust of large government. Is this accurate or did i miss a party split somewhere?

Answer: You're right, for the most part. Classic liberalism generally involved leaving people to tend to their own affairs in nearly every way, whereas conservatism has a few too many controls inherent in it to be true classic liberalism. It's about the closest we can get to it in these crazy times, though.

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