Sorry to leave part of this hanging. There is no such thing as a free market except perhaps a neighborhood yard sale. The famous laissez faire nous or leave me alone phrase has never existed in in practice. Business is and has always been under control of the Government to one extent or another. That is why it was so easy to fiddle the regulations and put all those small banks out of business in 2008. I have no idea where you could find a free market on the planet? Anyone?

The answer to you dilemma is misplacing and misdefining their positions in the political spectrum. Properly defined and placed there is no, are no problem in sorting out a lot of seeming contradictions,

As Rand said when you think you have a contradiction check your premises one or more of them will be wrong.

First off the center as you were no doubt taught is the center of the left not the true center of political discourse. That would be the Constitution.

On the left the Democrats are the left wing of the left and primarily socialist statist/corporatists. the Republicans for the most part including their majority and their leadership are are the right wing OF THE left and primarily socialist corporatist/statists.

Both of them believe in control of people by Government.

The Constitution is the constant int he center the pivot point - used or not.

Opposed to the Republicans and the Democrats who together form what I call the Government party are people who believe

Citizens control Government as their temporary servants

The two opposites are Government Control and Citizen Control. We have the first and do not have the second. Since since 1913.

Your position is somewhere in the middle something like JFK who was an economic conservative and liberal in most other areas.

The term used by the left is bi-conceptualism meaning you see and agree with part of one concept and disagree with another. Makes you a target for both. This is where two other terms come up bi-partisanship and cross-partisanship and the notion can't we all get along. No we can't and we shouldn't.

But the arrangement is such you think you have only two choices. You don't and are not limited to left or right. I

The opposite of your dilemma is since the candidates at the controlled or State Economics end of the spectrum are all all pandering to the religious and secular left on social and moral issues. Neither one of the recognizes your position as valid only as a hunting ground for votes.

Now look around and see who or what philosophy might allow you the one thing that's missing in both parts of the Government Coalition.

You don't get to think for yourself . No independent thought and conclusions and no freedom of choice.

Where might you find that situation. Libertarians? Some of the Splinter parties. discussions here in the Gulch and other forums but you will never find it with the Rino Controlled Republicans nor the Democrats. It isn't allowed don't you know? Not cricket.

Last sentence using the above model or construct leads you to where you are at but with less confusion and less chance of being co-opted but what in fact is The Left Government Over People.

When in doubt check premises do your research, ask questions. Also For any question another good Rand Quote. There are three answers. Right, Wrong, and Compromise which makes a total of two Wrong and one Right answer.

Congratulations you are almost there.

I'm not a Libertarian myself I'm a Constitutionalist. Not a party but a belief.

I'll give you an example. A Conservative originally one who is power or part of the group in power wants to make change if at all slowly always adhering to the letter of the law of the time..

They entrench and fortify and defend much as the liberals are doing now for they are liberal in one sense but the NEW Neo conservatives in the other.

Once entrenched with such protections as controlling who can be a candidate on a ballot and how votes are measured and counted they are smug, dumb and happy.

Along comes someone of more liberal view than their present law or voting regulations and says. Let's emulate the Army and the Air Force who will ask after a target evaluation. "Are they fortified and entrenched or just clustered in a target rich environment fire sack - Feursach and is it the schwerpunkt the center of their defenses.. If I have the German correctly spelt? How best may we attack?"

We then ask what is our equivalent of a fuel Air bomb. After some thought the outsiders realize they have built their own in house destruction of an IED FAE (love those initials) and named the Hillary Mark II. The only question is how to set it off?

Which answers itself. Just ask it questions.

The bomb explodes and the well entrenched fortified group in power safe and snug in their fire sack existence are no more. The schwerpunk is a vacuum the teeter and the totter collapse.

Then it's a race as to who takes over and typicall they guess what. Fill the fire sack for yet another go round destruction.

Reasoning that out after being cognizant of the facts in evidence or facts on the ground cut my problem solving to a find a fuze and light it.

Now I have real faith in my abilities.

"Did she deny it as a concept small 'el' or as large L group to which one belonged?"

I would skip the firs part and stick with "I am then determine the second half. Once I recognized the validity of " I am" the origin of the thought other than my mind didn't matter. I am became the start point." What is my value I learned in book keeping for FFA projects. The instructor said where is the value of your time? "Sir it had no value except on the days indicated for I had nothing else I could have been doing that merited a measurement of value. there for while it may not have been profit it was certainly not a loss."

I did get an "A" on the book keeping portion and the next year took the elective class and learned double entry but never forgot the lesson of time with no value. From which comes the idea of don't waste time even if it's learning slide rules the year before computers or belt mounted pocket calculators became available.

But I still am unable to place a value on reading AS except as ' more valuable than whatever else I could have been doing.'

Conservatively speaking the value of objectivism is 'without measure.'

I met the actor who played the role of Data a Spock like character in many ways. He explained he role as some one who was not allowed to show emotion ...my answer was "Except through others." "Finally, some gets it!"

All nine of the monotheistic faiths have one in common called by some the Golden Rule. After that it gets varied

Does that not make your choice easier? That knowledge. Far better than the phony non-partisan positions for judges, sheriffs and dog catchers.