Some things work just fine if we all do them, like exercise, voting for somebody for president, reading a book. Some don't, like many of the basic conservative principles. Entrepreneurship? Sure, let's have a million different types of computer, or telephone systems, or automobiles. It's a prescription for medieval artisan economics. Not that local economies are a terrible thing, but it tends to prevent what we think of as wealth. That comes from a large number of people joining together. Conservatives have no desire for everyone to follow their principles, such as utterly de-regulated business. That would let in too many competitors. And forget trying to get more voters registered.

If you can afford the fuel, go ahead and buy that gas hog. But if everyone does, fuel costs rise, and you won't still be able to afford the fuel. In contrast, if everyone wanted solar panels, there would be a temporary price rise, followed by competition which would drive it down. The Sun won't notice the demand.

Or how about buying the Hummer because it's safer? Sure, until everyone is doing it. Speculating on commodity futures? Pretty much the whole pile of stock and commodity markets depends on there being losers to support the winners. Private accounts? Sure, let's all retire at the same time and see what happens when we liquidate.

There is a deeper contradiction in conservative/libertarian economics: It is not the acumen and creative genius of those virtuous business persons, but the aggregate "vote" of the real marketplace that rewards products and services. Adam Smith's "hand" is invisible because it is not those scions of industry, but anonymous purchasers that make the final determination. For the same reason, conservatives want fewer voters. Otherwise people might vote for their self-interest

Much of the dynamics of life requires that not all individuals do the same thing, so I am not arguing for sameness. This is the failing of simple communism. There is a middle ground, that rewards some conformity, and rewards some deviation. A species is not that without similarity, but no species exists that has no variation.

In formal systems like law we do not make exceptions but for contingent reasons. So we can ask: "What if everyone got a check from the oil companies?" Come to think of it, I like that idea.