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Call it What it is
I
have always identified Americanism with the Age of Enlightenment
ideals from which it was created. I see it as a national philosophy based
on the kind of reason that personal freedom makes possible. That includes
the highest virtue, enforced not by law but by liberated conscience that
embraces all that is good and remedies, as far as possible, all that is
bad. The statue of Lady Liberty that greats the coming immigrant
extends the torch of reason and virtue that the Enlightenment
stands for.
These deeply held beliefs naturally make me balk with
astonishment when I hear the claims and scare tactics of today's conservatives
who try to subdue the good will of the people by any means possible. Too
often these means involve fear supported by outright deceptions that are
easily recognized, and so contrary to the character of Americanism that
I find it difficult to believe how many rank and file conservatives believe
them. How is it, for example, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the
reforms of China, that conservatives still see communists hiding in every
shadow. They taint the patriotic impetus of universal medical coverage
with the totally un-American idea of death panels and socialist plots.
They claim that President Obama was not born in the United States,
and no amount of proof will convince them otherwise. They build scandals
around a non-profit organization like Acorn, as if to somehow balance
the score against their involvement in the Jack Abramov scandal.
There is no comparison. They spread fear about a democratic president
saving our national economy, after supporting all the de-regulation of
their own previous administrations which caused the collapse. Where are
their condemnations for the Iraqi War, which was not only based on misleading
information, but led to terrible failures in Afghanistan. Over 4,000
Americans, and untold thousands of Iraqis, lost their lives because of
these actions. And what did we gain? Nothing. All we did was lose.
Conservatives turn a blind, un-condemning eye to this. They prefer marching
in the streets over ridiculous conspiracy theories instead. They purposely
disrupt town hall meetings so that positive discourse, the very heart
and soul of any democracy, becomes impossible. They allow radio and television
propagandists to brainwash millions of listeners to the point of violence.
Some carry weapons to political gatherings. A few go so far as to plot
bombings of government buildings.
What do they want? They want to make sure that the
majority does not rule, and that minorities remain downtrodden. Hardly
American ideals, and yet this conservative undercurrent has existed in
the United States from the very beginning, when their goal was to protect
slavery.
I found myself asking why they use fear as a tool for
their grasp for power. If their arguments be just, reason would support
them and the system would be preserved. Encouraging popular paranoia and
rousing violence can only poison the well of democracy, and lead to the
disintegration of all our ideals. Why would they do this?
It was then I read a selection from Edmund Burke's
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime
and Beautiful. Burke is considered the father of modern conservatism.
In it he tells his followers:
No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its power of acting and reasoning as fear.
…the obscure idea, when properly conveyed, should be more affecting than the clear. It is our ignorance of things that causes all our admiration, and chiefly excites our passions. Knowledge and acquaintance make the most striking causes affect but little. It is thus with the vulgar; and all men are as the vulgar in what they do not understand…
…where the chances for equal degrees of suffering or enjoyment are in any sort equal, the idea of the suffering must always be prevalent.
…it is most certain that their passions are very strong roused by a fanatic preacher…
…strength, violence, pain, and terror, are our ideas that rush in upon the mind together.
These
quotes, by the revered Edmund Burke, present nothing less than a handbook
for the political terrorism that today's conservatives brandish
with impunity. That's right. Terrorism. When minds are purposely
subjugated by systematic and irrational fear, augmented by the occasional
threat of violence, for political causes, it is nothing less than terrorism.
The fear they generate is real, even though the reasons are largely fabricated.
Conservatives remain a minority in this country, but
their influence extends far beyond their numbers. Why? Because irrationality
and fear are difficult to counter, and their leaders and think tanks understand
that. Add religious fanaticism, and the result becomes self-perpetuating.
Given that the rest of the population merely goes on with their lives,
enjoying the freedom our founders intended, leaves the field of conservative
rabble rousing completely unabated.
That there are Americans who would do these things
still perplexes and saddens me greatly. My affection for American ideals
is such that I find it difficult to believe that conservatives would engage
in such sabotage. I thought that the mindset of Newt Gingrich and
Tom Delay, who likened politics as war, were merely aberrations. I
excused conservative preachers who equated the teachings of Jesus with
greed as meaningless charlatans.
But when low-caliber conservative leaders like Michele
Bachman and Sarah Palin crop up in high places, and actually
garner cheers and popular support, I see quite plainly that the method
of conservative madness is an actual threat. There is a war of ideologies
taking place, an actual war, and one side of that war remains largely
unaware and dangerously unprepared.
Never
think that it is impossible for us to lose everything to this madness!
We have to be aware of what is going on, and speak
out loudly for real American ideals, starting with truth and reason
and law. If we do not, today's conservatism will continue to undercut
all we believe in, in the name of nationalistic fervor that disregards
what our founders intended.
