Modern Politics, Liberalism, Conservatism (Rev.)

Modern Politics, Liberalism, Conservatism (Rev.)

What kind of world do we want for our grandchildren? – The democrat/socialist one based on intersectionalism and identity politics being touted by most of the 2020 democrat candidates for president? – Or the one being defended by President Trump and the republican right?

The culture war rages and has become politicized to the point that the opposing factions rarely rationally debate their differences.  These differences have morphed into burning hatreds of each other expressed as virtually articles of religious faith.  Those on the right side of politics, and those who dare exhibit trappings of their affiliation, like pro-Trump signs and red MAGA hats, are vilified and persecuted by leftist mobs, and even violently accosted in the streets, in restaurants and in their homes.  Backers of the left and leftist causes don’t seem to bear the same opprobrium from the right, or there would be an angry roar from the left and their accomplices in the media.  There have been very few, if any, reports of similar actions by right wing mobs against the left’s “pussy hats” or “squad” tee shirts.

The far left, which now seems to comprise most of the democrat party, is pushing for socialism, identity politics, open borders, sanctuary cities, diminished law enforcement, full and even post term abortion, restrictive and choking anti-industry environmental controls, a diminished and more docile defense and military posture, - and all of the other trappings of government control of everything in political, economic and personal life.  Embedded in the socialist/communist/fascist hybrid being proposed by the left are special and unique privileges for subgroups of society, “free stuff”, forgiveness of student debt, redistribution of productive wealth via a wealth tax, and the green new deal, all of which may sound attractive to someone with little historical, political or economic perspective, but which obviously would break even a strong economy like the U.S. in short order.

The right side of politics (pun intended), advocates a more traditional American approach to governance, to the economy and to personal freedoms.  This entails recognizing that socialism, whether the national socialism or “Nazi” kind, or the Russian communist kind, or the Venezuelan “democrat socialist” kind, has never worked, nowhere and at no time.  Countries have been destroyed and upwards of 120 million people have lost their lives in the twentieth century due to ill-conceived efforts to institute “socialism”.  This conservative side of politics posits that all American citizens have equal and inalienable rights, regardless of skin color or ethnicity or “gender” or sexual orientation or origins or background.  It entails passing and enforcing legislation defining the borders and citizenship of our country.  It includes enforcement of our laws, including in many so called “sanctuary cities”, parts of which have become rat-infested and disease-ridden cesspools of high crime and murder.  It includes an honest, science based, realistic and un-politicized approach to the world’s climate change which includes all the major polluters, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia and others, and not just the U.S. and the E.U.  It includes a strong U.S. military that is respected, but that is not expected to be the “policeman of the world”.

So it’s not just Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer versus Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, and business as usual in our congress; and just another election cycle and minor swing between the political parties, - this is a fundamental shift in what our government and our country should be.  The modern liberals and democrat/socialists representing the current democrat party want us to be socialist and secular and devoid of constitutional (and spiritual) guidance.  The republicans and conservatives say that we should preserve and evolve from our traditional American heritage to face the challenges of the modern world.

Some definitions and background:

Liberals believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. It is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Liberals believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve problems.

Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Conservatives believe that the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems.

Both modern conservatives and liberals can trace their early beginnings back to thinkers like Plato, Aristotle and Machiavelli, and thence to 17^th century thinkers John Locke of England and Adam Smith of Scotland, and to 18^th century thinker Charles de Montesquieu of France.  Without overcomplicating, the path toward modern liberalism and progressivism tracks though David Ricardo, Rousseau, Voltaire, David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, James and John Stuart Mill, to Thomas Jefferson.  More recent notables are Karl Popper, John Maynard Keynes, John Dewey, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King.

Noted historical conservatives are John Locke (again), Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill (again), John, John Quincy, Henry and Brooks Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Alexis de Tocqueville, Auguste Comte, Benjamin Disraeli, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Calhoun, Daniel Webster, Irving Babbitt, Milton Friedman, Paul Elmer More, George Santayana, Thomas Stearns Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, William H. Buckley, George Will, Victor Davis Hanson and others.

The link below, a quite long, but very educational article should be required reading for anyone wishing to know more about the origins and current state of our political process and thought.

The title does not do the article justice.  This is an in depth, historical review of the underpinnings of our political beliefs, and how they relate historically, philosophically and societally in our currently polarized world. The writer, John Hood, describes how classical and modern conservatism, classic and modern liberalism, libertarianism, modern progressivism, modern populism and Trumpism are all related and how they differ.  Hood also freely references who the thinkers were that promulgated these differing beliefs.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/08/new-nationalists-make-three-big-bets/

Ray Gruszecki
February 28, 2020