I've been trying to articulate this for awhile, but TCS does in so much more depth and insight than I'm capable of.

To me, it all starts with the right and left in American politics right now...it seems to be completely backwards - the Right having the progressive policies and the Left arguing for the conservative status quo, particularly on the Iraq War. But it can be extended further, much further and this article does that quite effectively. This libertarian vs. communitarian is an old debate, though, stemming from intepretations of the constitution - Liberty vs. Equality. Which is a prerequisite for which?