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Conservatism — Lost but Still Pounding
I
am reading a wonderful book entitled the Conservative Mind,
written by Russell Kirk. It truly is enlightening in helping me
understand the roots of conservatism.
One of the main tenets of early conservatism was the
distrust of democracy. Conservatives of the 18th and 19th centuries placed
their trust in the privileged few, rather than the vulgar many. From their
vantage point, and from their fear of change, they believed that the wealthy
aristocracy was obviously more deserving to be in control. Anything less
would lead to ruin.
It is funny how things change. Most of all, it shows
how today's conservative is disconnected from his or her roots.
On one hand, we had conservative President George
W. Bush trying to democratize the world, while today we have extremists
wanting to reject majority rule through tea parties, propaganda and revolution.
They bring about the worst economic crisis since the
Great Depression, and all they can do is attack those who are trying to
fix it.
The truth is, conservatives no longer have a viable
philosophical foundation. They have an idea of small government, state's
rights and low taxes for the wealthy - and that's it!
Their beliefs are a splintered remnant of their predecessor's.
Small government means being ruled by the economic elite, a sort of modern
aristocracy. State's rights means rejecting federal authority to create
kingdoms in every state. That was rejected by none other than James
Madison, author of the Constitution, when it was seen how poorly the
states cooperated with one another. They failed to even pay their own
soldiers, and rebelled over every sign of authority. As for low taxes
for the wealthy, fairness decrees that for those to whom much is given,
much is expected.
The United States today is nothing like the vision
of Jefferson's agrarian nation. Most people live in cities, not
on farms. We need a standing military. Without financial regulations in
this complex world, there would be chaos as we've so recently seen.
Of course today's conservative wants a standing military
as well as low taxes. In fact, he wants the strongest military in the
world. Contrary to Jefferson, he wants to interfere with the paths of
other nations — and expects those nations to love us at the same
time. They also dislike Jefferson's wall of separation between church
and state.
Many do not care for Social Security and Medicare and
any program that helps the disadvantaged. In effect, they do not care
for many of their fellow citizens. They would resist universal healthcare
by saying that most American's are happy with what they have now. What
kind of morality is that? Patriotism? I think not.
Today's conservatism propagates bullies, economic oligarchy,
rude discourse, ignorance, anti-intellectualism, anti-science, and a kind
of Christian theocracy that turns its back on the Sermon on the Mount.
It dares to interfere with other nations and cultures in the name of democracy,
while stealing the heart of democracy from our own shores. By heart of
democracy, I mean a well-informed, intelligence populace capable of making
sound judgments. They give us instead the obscene propaganda of such egomaniacs
as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mike Savage, Ann Coulter and the
deviously teary-eyed Glen Beck. They decry global warming despite
all the evidence, and would condemn the entire earth just to contend with
science and liberalism.
The conservative legacy has been the needless War in
Iraq, the collapse of a deregulated economy, the lowering of taxes on
the wealthy that instigated our present out of control deficits, denying
equal rights for everyone, purposely dividing the nation into competing
regions for political purposes. They were even willing to place Social
Security into the hands of investors who would have lost it all.
If we went back in time far enough, we would see resistance
against racial equality,
Consider who they give us as representatives: the
disengaged George W. as president, the out-of-touch ideologue Sarah Palin
as a possible vice-president,Tom Delay as instigator in chief. While talking
boldly of family values, they have brought sexual scandal to new heights
of conceit, a ridden roughshod over their own spouses.
So, what exactly do conservatives stand for today?
They stand for blind partisanship at its ugliest, and for redefining such
fine words as democracy, family values, patriotism and even Christianity
into their very opposites.
