Progressive and Conservative Conceptions of Freedom

Ben P of MyDD reflects on Cass Sunstein's new book. He points out how widely liberal and conservative conceptions of freedom diverge. Quoting Sunstein, he writes, "Roosevelt contended that people who live in want are not really free. And he believed want is not inevitable. He saw it as a product of conscious social choices that could be counteracted by well-functioning institutions directed by a new conception of rights."
Moreover, "Freedom requires not merely national defense, but among other things, a court system, and ample body of law to govern and prevent civil wrongs, and the police. To provide all these things, freedom requires taxation. Once we appreciate this point, we will find it impossible to complain about 'government interference' as such or to urge, ludicrously, that our rights are best secured by getting government 'off our backs.' Those who insist they want 'small government' want, and need, something very large. The same people who object to 'government intervention' depend on it every day."
These notions run directly counter to Lochner-era conceptions of the primacy of freedom of contract, which conservatives often make reference to in arguing for drastic revisions to constitutional doctrine. ACSBlog has more on the push to restore a mythic "Constitution in Exile" here.