The Death of Conservatism
The heartless, spiritually bankrupt intellectual frauds who openly court -- and are disturbingly non-judgmental of -- the most intolerant loathsome elements of the political landscape (who for some unconscionable reason have been consulted about virtually everything our government has been doing or undoing for the past six plus agonizing years) -- these are the fruits of a particular strain of conservative idealogues with a shared affinity for the Hobbesian view of humanity, which postulates that people are essentially evil and the role of the ruling class, the government, was to have a standing army and police presence and little else. Essentially that the "people" were totally on their own, frontier-style with no public services, healthcare, college grants, headstart, maintenance of roads and bridges, public defenders, job training programs, Medicare, Medicaid; you get the picture.
Also violently opposed to the Jeffersonian assertion that people were basically good and part of a government's function is to engender the conditions where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are possible through education, hard work and a sense of community, whereas conservatives have only contempt for the notion of a fair playing field.
Conservatism is in its last throes if you will, twisting in the wind, dying like communism did because neither philosophy works by definition -- they both operate from the fraudulent premise built around contempt for and control of the people.
In the coming months and years history will not absolve them. These multimillionaire radio and television personalities who stoke and taunt "Joe Sixpack" with cleverly and sometimes not-so hate speech, railing about the danger of gays taking over and turning everything and everyone gay; Hollywood liberals seem to be among the most evil people since Sodom and Gomorrah, African-Americans are attacked in veiled terms that are usually not as veiled as they think, playing on people's fear of losing their job, demonizing foreigners seemingly from everywhere, scoffing at the notion that there is no class system in this country. All the while looking down on rubes and suckers who vote against things that are in their self interest and very survival to help further a cynical, mean-spirited political movement that has become a dangerous parody of the most astoundingly inept, impotent bully wannabes who can count among them physical and intellectual cowards who knowingly and smugly perpetrate lies that have literally cost untold lives.
How did this legendarily generous and open nation become fearful, distrustful, anxious and worried about our families, our country, our future?
We must resist being manipulated into thinking that a so-called "war on terror" is "winnable"; this is as patently impossible as trying to empty a river with your hat. Terrorism is a tactic, not a country -- there always were terrorists and will always be. This is not a war that can be "won" in the conventional sense -- that is clearly an impossibility. Recent events have shown that good police work can do more than an ill-conceived war that has become a recruiting tool. The sooner it ends, the recruits diminish and the police, with the federal government's support, can do what they are trained to do.
The Department of Homeland Security was a totally unnecessary boondoggle that is redundant and sadly ludicrous because it is now known that prior to 9/11, all the information we needed to anticipate and probably prevent the attack was in existence but not shared by different agencies because of turf battles and rivalries for funding and boys with secrets out of control and not sharing because it's their secrets.
As we continue to watch conservatism devour itself we can all hope that in the end, Jefferson's dream of fair governance can be realized before it is too late.
To be continued
-- Richard Belzer
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Great post and I agree with the demise of "conservatism" per se, but does anyone really think the top tier of conservative bazillionairs is going to just dry up and go away? Take all that money with them? I Don't T'ink So!
No, they will to build a 7000 acre Private Security Farm in Virginia named BlackWater, with branches in every major city, especially on the coasts. No, the filthy rich will stay right in their plus-sized palaces.
It will be We the People forced to move along, after the revolution and subsequent bird flu epidemics, through Private Security check-points between burb-enclaves and huge industrial factory farms and petro-chemical plants, chipped or starving, from job to lousy job, if money still means anything at that point, though I don't see why it should given the super~rich already have most of it anyway.
écrasez l'infâme!
from the back hand path!
These arrogant conservative schmucks need to be run out of this country.
Their "less government stance" has brought us back to the middle ages.
I hope you are happy; because 90 % of us are not !!!
So you need more government in your daily life? What about personal responsibility??
How much "personal responsibility" can you muster up...@ $5/hour???
...AND NO BENEFITS!!!!!!!! (i forgot to add)
Richard Belzer is to liberalism what Dennis Miller is to conservatism.
I listen to both because I appreciate those who have a mastery of the language and the willingness and intellectual ability to defend their political position. I just happen to disagree with about two thirds of what comes out of either gentleman, but I want to know what both the left and the right are thinking so I listen.
Both sides seem to despise each other. The liberal comments excoriating conservatives are as laughable and brain-dead as conservative commenters are towards liberal writings. Each side has taken an skewed position and points their finger at the other and says, "evil, bad, die!" LOL!
Thank God conservatives and liberals are both in the minority. Most of America is made up of the middle ground and we proudly, if somewhat blandly, cling to our moderation and eye both extremes with distrust.
That said, way to go Belzer, well said.
Care to extrapolate on the 2/3 you disagree with and what specifically makes it qualify as "laughable and brain-dead"?
Actually, no. For one thing you don't specify whether it's the two thirds of what Belzer writes or what Miller says. Regardless, to do either justice will require far more than 350 word limit we are allowed in these replies.
That said, I'm going to assume you are talking about Belzer. I think it's easier to tell you what I agree with. There are elements within the Bush administration, specifically Cheney and his cohorts, that are using the pretext of the war on terrorism and taking advantage of our horror and fear following 9/11 to systematically remove constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and protections in an effort to secure their power base and the wealth and power of their supporters. They scare the crap out of me. I want them gone from office.
And in that I heartily agree with Mr. Belzer.
Oi! There's no way you can legitimately compare the two men. Belzer uses his brain. Miller is a parrot.
BTW, the two extremes you distrust are more properly named "fascist" and "progressive". And don't look now but that middle ground you proudly hold has been moving steadily toward the right (fascism) since at least the 80's. That serves to make what is realistically the middle look to you like extreme left-wing.
Earthlings Unite!
I beg to disagree.
Part of the problem with political arguments in this country is the illusion that political positions are fixed. The right pings back and forth between right of center and ultra conservative pre-fascist stage. The left in this country is far less left than it has been in recent history. It, too, shuttles back and forth between extremes.
The true middle moves in harmony with the left and right in this country. It tries to maintain a balance between the two.
I have to allow for voices on both sides of the issue, one, to protect my right to maintain my voice and, two, to keep both the voices both extremes from deciding that any cooperation is pointless. Once either side feels it's been shut, out you open the door to extremist behavior. One only has to look around to quite a few other countries in the world to see what's down that road.
My position isn't anchored in political concrete, it moves based on my political and what I think are society's needs. Mindless adherence to a political idea or ideology is for sheep. Countries, people, and politics change. That is what true reactionaries, true ultra conservatives fear the most: change.
Personally, I want change that improves the common good and I'm willing to accept it when it is presented rationally, but the liberal notion that things are bad and therefore any change must be good is something I decline to accept.
I accept the inevitability of change, I just want it to occur in moderation.
BTW: being a progressive isn't near as bad as being a fascist. A progressive seeks change to improve the welfare of society as a whole while trying to protect that which is good in current law. A fascist seeks to protect power, political position, and wealth as it relates to the fascist and the government in power. It is the worst form of reactionary government. Putting both terms in the same sentence and somehow comparing them as being definitions of both extremes is, quite frankly, offensive.
I like that article because it resounds thoughts I have been materializing in my mind. Capitalism, like Conservatism is an invention of the 19th century. Many people view capitalism as the right antagonist, but actually capitalism stayed in the economic order of theories, while Karl Marx actually was a philosopher primarily, born around the post romantic philosophy of Hegel. The early parliaments in Germany not only rearranged the political spectrum of conservatives and royalists sitting to the far right, liberals, democratic people's parties in the "Zentrum" that is center and social democrats, socialists and later communists at the left. The notion of people being primarily bad rose from a aristocratic view, many of which where from entrepreneurs who received their sword and shield from a blue blooded leisurely inclined man who needed money for his life style. With the fall of the wall and the demise of the USSR, the conservative cause was in danger. In the need for a credible enemy to American interests, and Cuba is just not credible enough, there had to be a reason to further continue elitism and hierarchical politics and economics. Now here is where Reagan comes in as a god like figure, whose "style" represents true conservatism. "We summon thee from thy grave, O hero, O holy, O all knowing, tell us what to do?" A Golden Age symbol was found, but never questioned, even Democrats are fearful of the old spirit. In line of Reagan's politics, high deficits, disabling civil protection to the oppressed, dismantle democracy and pretty much start a foreign policy that not only slapped into everyone's face, but also destroy efforts by liberal governments to achieve peace by non violent forms. I hope that with Bush this legacy will be destroyed.
Essentially that the "people" were totally on their own, frontier-style with no public services, healthcare, college grants, headstart, maintenance of roads and bridges, public defenders, job training programs, Medicare, Medicaid; you get the picture."
So true.
The worst thing is that the Regressive Right either doesn't see or refuses to see that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. And those poor rubes who should know better don't because they've been taught not to think for themselves, only to believe what their FOX anchor or Pastor tells them to believe (vote against your best interest because we tell you to).
Like we're seeing in Iraq right now...If you turn the country into a dog-eat-dog society, you're pitting everyone against everyone else. If you have to fight to get yours & fight to keep it, there's never going to be anything but fighting!
Without gov't services for the common good, people don't feel secure. And insecure people, when it comes to their very livlihood, can be dangerous. If you don't have a job and you don't have electricity and you don't have running water and you don't even have a family anymore (cause they were blown to smithereens), what are you gonna do?
You're gonna use the one thing you got left (a gun, go figure) to get what you need to survive.
Duh.
We can see in Iraq what is happening now with an ineffectual government that doesn't care about the people it 'represents', whose leaders are only making deals to benefit themselves and their cronies 100% of the time. The Regressive Right has their wet-dream of governing style in Iraq right now. And let's all take a look at how well that's working out for the people of Iraq.
I have a good friend who considers himself Conservative. He lives out in the country.
I ask him if he like electricity out there, and then tell him that it's a result of liberals, the "rural electrification" project.
I ask him if he likes working 5 days a week, 40 hours rather than 18 hours 7 days a week, and then tell him that's a result of liberals and the Union organization movement. Liberals died to give you time and a half, I tell him.
Does he have a bank account? Yep. Insured by the FDIC. Another liberal project.
He sends his kid to a public school.
He drives on state and federal roadways.
He has telephone lines out where he lives, and broadband internet.
And on and on.
He rails against the liberals, but wouldn't dream of giving up what the liberals have brought to him and his family.
Oh, and the greatest threat to America is the "death tax." When he isn't an heir to anything, much less a fortune. And if you guess that he listens to AM radio out there, you got it right.
Great piece, only one thing wrong. Not only is terrorism only a tactic that will always afflict the dominant power in a transparently illegitimate power structure, but the one act of terrorism on which all of this horror has been founded was itself a one-time wonder that wasn't going to be repeatable. They knew that, and that's why they went after all four targets the same day. It could only be done as long as nobody had thought of it before. Once we know about it, you're dead meat in your seat before you get your box cutter open.
But nobody points this out. Instead they generalize it to much less dangerous, traumatic and threatening incidents which can't easily happen where the population doesn't want them to
The first 2/3 of this was beautiful, and summed up a lot of my thoughts (the last 1/3 was fine, it just seemed to turn in a different direction and threw me off).
I'm not sure this particular brand of conservatism *is* dying off for two reasons:
1)-Taxes
2)-Wedge Issues
Taxes: There are SO MANY people that vote republican ONLY because they believe they'll take home more money in their paychecks.
Never mind how their employment, wages or purchasing power will be effected and never mind being one medical problem away from going bankrupt (even if they have insurance).
Wedge Issues: There are SO MANY (idiotic) people that vote republican ONLY because they think it'll save society (and or garner favor with God or the local church leader/neighbor) through stopping abortion and gay marriage (maybe throw in euthanasia and stem cell research too).
Never mind the thousands of references to the poor and less fortunate in the Bible compared to only 1 chapter each on abortion and gay marriage (after Genesis I think).
And forget about protecting "God's creation" that is the earth, or preventing *slow death* due to poverty, pollution and lack of healthcare.
Finally, forget about unjustified wars that lead to hundreds of thousands of innocent deaths. I mean, logically you have to be *for* war if you think it will save lives in the long run while also being *against* zygotic stem cell research.
Like the brain-dead "Anti-Abortion" crowd who shops at Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart is China's biggest customer. Dollars spent at Wal-Mart go to China.
China has a policy of forced abortion. Not only that, they will come and take a female newborn and kill it. Right-to life anyone?
But the "right-to-life" bunch still sends their dollars to China by shopping at Wal-Mart.
It makes me doubt their sincerity.
"....it is now known that prior to 9/11, all the information we needed to anticipate and probably prevent the attack was in existence but not shared by different agencies because of turf battles and rivalries for funding and boys with secrets out of control and not sharing because it's their secrets."
Not quite. The Clinton administration (see Jamie Gorelick) imposed rules that prevented the various agencies, especially the FBI and the CIA from communicating with one another.
Also, while Clinton and Gore were seen pulling cable so that there would be "a computer, connected to the internet, in every classroom in America", they didn't see to it that every FBI office was similarly equipped.
Gee, and all along I thought 911 was Truman's fault for not sparing an additional nuke to drop over Saudia Arabia....
That REALLY is all you neo-cons have left isn't it:
(said with the whiniest, most sniveling tone)
Well Clinton... (fill in the topic)
NO defending your guys - no standing up for the "principles" of the neo-cons - nope! Just:
WELL CLINTON...
Read the 9-11 commission report. They categorically deny that the so called "wall" that was claimed to be put up by Jamie Gorelick slowed informatin sharing in any way. That myth was busted!
What about the Gore Report on Airline Safety? That report focused on terrorism in planes and recommended air marshals on flights, increased airport security measures, and impenetrable cockpit doors. That suggestion was denied by Republicans in Congress (esp. Phil Gramm) as being too expensive although it would have required a $1 surcharge on all airline tickets.
A neo-conservative calling them selves a conservative does not make it so.
If the Republicans continue to allow the neo-cons to rule the GOP then they deserve everything the get and every election they lose.
Conservatism isn't dead. It will never die. (Neither will liberalism for that matter.)
What is dying here is the cancerous growth that grew out of the last conservative political ascendancy.
The political pendulum will swing to the left for a while and hopefully some of the damage done by the current government will be undone and then, they too, will outstay their welcome and the pendulum will swing back to the right.
Meanwhile, those of us in the political middle will duck and hope that pendulum doesn't hit us in the head!
Belz,
It's great to see you speaking up here on Huffpo. This is the most optimistic take on the hope for our nation's future that I've seen in a very long time. I can only hope that your optimism proves true. Are we strong enough as a nation? Do we still believe in our core values - what makes the USA a great nation? I sincerely hope the next generation has the balls and brains to stand up and take our nation back from the ignorant and greedy.
Simply a great piece, Belz. Encouraging theory buoys me, your insights move. "...agoniz
Thanks for such vindicating articulation--a strongly worded, active push-piece for this great nation, sleeping giant, to re-awaken.
You are so right. Belzer hit it right on the head.
If the Republicans think they should have their actor, perhaps the Dems should have theirs...B
Great post. I agree totally. I've thought a lot about the appeal of conservatism for the last quarter century (since the Jellybean One reigned). One conclusion I've come to lately having been a life long Texas resident (please don't thow those tomateos - I didn't vote for Bush either time)is that many states like mine have had bad government for so long (statistically Texas always ranks between 40th to 50th in any kind of measure of government such as education, health care, social services, etc.)that many in these states don't know what a good government would really look like. It's like trying to sell steak to a man whose never eaten steak - he doesn't comprehend it and is afraid to try it.
lol. Love it!
As long as there is money to steal in the U.S. Treasury, there will be conservatives. As long as there are people to kill, there will be conservatives. As long as there is are boys and girls who are ridiculed and teased in grade school there will be conservatives. As long as there are Democrats who can be scared by the mere mention of 'surrender monkeys', there will be conservatives. Just like cockroaches, conservatives will run and hide from the light, but once the darkness comes they will crawl out of their nasty hives and attack America once again.
You have obviously met a few. Dead on my freind . Dead on. Conservatives are like cockroaches. Like another post said...the
Great thoughts, and expression so passionate it overwhelms your normally sharp grammar.
OK, I'm putting down the red pencil now and joyfully proclaiming I'm with you.
You got it.
Based on your brilliant distillation of Hobbesian bullshit, I suggest we only need one question in so-called presidential "debates." This would wipe out the sham views and posturing:
"Do you believe humankind is essentially good and needs nurturing through altruistic governance or do you believe that humankind is essentially evil and needs brutal control?"
That's it: We'd easily identify the brutes - not that there's really much difficulty now in determining by an easy smell test the republicanazi scum in this race - and nobody would vote for them.
Kudos, Belzer
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