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DomYngBlk -> RE: The Failure of Conservatism, Pt. 2 (12/6/2010 7:03:34 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: AnimusRex
I had argued previously that conservatism has failed, in that (at least in its current political form) is incapable, even unwilling, to provide broad based middle class prosperity. It can't "deliver the goods", but only indulge in tribal warfare and power lust.
The modern American conservative movement- defined as the Fox News/ Limbaugh/ Palin brand- has also failed in a deeper and more profound way- it has actually become a mirror image of its archenemy, the Marxists.
The original conservative movement after WWII was founded by people like Russell Kirk and Wm. F Buckley. They rose in reaction to the Marxists, who put forward the idea that there was a perfect System, a Grand Unified Theory of politics that could answer everything. The Marxists imagined a world in which there was no private secotr, in which everything was held public and in common.
The conservative movement rose to defend the notion of a mixed economy, that the public sector, while important, also needed a private sector.
But more importantly, they criticized and rejected the idea of a Grand Theory of Everything, they argued that we should embrace the natural complexity of society, and be cautious and skeptical of radical change and triumphalist claims. They both sought a careful balance between the two poles of freedom on one hand, and civic order on the other.
Kirk, for example, wrote "Being neither a religion nor an ideology, the body of opinion termed conservatism possesses no Holy Writ and no Das Kapital to provide dogmata."
Today's conservative movement actually rejects that- the current conservative movement is emphatically triumphalist, and argues for a complete dismantling of the public sphere, and holds the Free Market as a Holy Writ, a dogma to be pursued at all costs.
Examples of this would be the case in Tennessee where a community had privatized the Fire Department, which stood by and watched while a man's house burned down; or the cases where people are allowed to die like dogs, simply for lack of money. Resonable people find these things abhorrent, but conservatives find them acceptable, the price to be paid for faithfullness to "Free Market principles".
This fervent embrace of the Free Market fundamentalism is actually a contradiction of the principle of a civil and moral order in society- the conservative movement that originally embraced the Judeo-Christian doctrines of charity and social responsibililty, now has as its folk hero a man who stood in front of wealthy money-changers, and snarled that he didn't "wanna pay the mortgages of losers".
The original conservatives placed faith and reason side by side; faith gave rise to moral values, while reason explained economic principles. Conservatives were hppy to modify economic ideas, depending on evidence and date; that is to say, they agreed that taxes and spending should go up or down, depending on the needs of the economy; but the modern conservatives embrace a cult-like orthodoxy, where economic ideas such as supply side economics are gospel, and must be adhered to without question- even when their own creators have renounced them.
This cultish faith mimics the fratricidal wars of the Soviet Marxists, in their zeal to enforce orthodox thought and cast out nonbelivers- Note the fervor for "purity" in conservative circles, the fondness for ideological purges of errant thought.
The conservative movement has lost its bearings; Conservative British blogger Andrew Sullivan said that watching his American counterparts devolve into Tea Party-ism is like watching a favorite cousin go mad, shave his head, and join a cult.
Well said AnimusRex
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