Real Conservatism
I read an editorial from the Denver Post which was helpful in understanding what makes up 'conservative ideology' in America. It's something we keep hearing about, but we never quite get to what it is, really.
There's a popular meme in the Interwebs: "conservatism can never fail - it can only be failed/" This is a version of the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. That is, the definition of a Scotsman or conservative is fluid and changes based on the result it's being compared to. Thus, W. was a true conservative until he was revealed as a rock-stupid failure who wrecked everything he touched. Then - no, he wasn't a real conservative.
Since that definition is constantly in a fruitless pursuit of a policy success to claim, it continues to morph into different shapes to try and appeal to the base of the base who are looking for a label to vote for. Cruz is not 'true conservative' because he's such an asshole he couldn't buy a friend if he ran an open bar at rehab. Never mind his beliefs that run in lockstep with the 1850's 'good old days' antebellum crowd.
And Drumpf (Trump) is no 'true conservative' because he's popular with the low education crowd and knows how to wield the fascio. He doesn't tow the line on policy, but that hasn't been a problem with other candidates before. The problem with Drumpf is that he's off the leash. Essentially, he can't be a 'true conservative' because the true ones follow orders.
But the Denver Post (shoutout to my Bro for life and Homie Jesse Pearlman in the thin air city) offered an editorial by Krista Kafer which tries to explain the differences between the conservatism which she cherishes and the Drumpfism,which she does not, in "Kafer: a conservative against Trumpism."
But before getting into the real distinctions, she proves her conservative bona fides and perhaps hints at a certain Drumpf-curiousness with this opening bit of misogyny:
Would she sleep with him for $1 million? "Sure."
How about $50?
"Of course not," she snapped. "What do think I am?"
"We've established that," he said, "Now we're just haggling."
The principle is the same at any price.
That's how the estimable Ms. Kafer chooses to broach the topic of Drumpf voting. We get it Krista. Conservatism is not a girl's club - we'll be sure to include it on your list.
Helpfully, she does include a list of what she considers the conservative beliefs that she supports. Finally - a checklist to see if someone is really a true believer! Let's review:
I generally vote a straight Republican ticket because the GOP promotes the principles of limited government, constitutional constraint, rule of law, federalism, personal responsibility, a vibrant civil society, and free enterprise, and it embraces the basic human rights of life, personal property, self-protection, free speech, and conscience.
So, Let's recap so we get this straight.
Principles of limited government. Great! Except not. 'Limited government' means limits on some part of government, and no limits on others. Bombs and weapons - no limit. In fact, Repubs are known for approving weapons and military stuff that only the manufacturer wants (to sell). Tax cuts to Wall Street, billionaires, and corporations - no limit. Let the schmucks pay for government if they want so much of it. Regulations - no way! If we can't pollute, frack, and generally despoil the planet, what's it good for? And why have a bunch of consumer protection laws? That just raises expectations that you're not going to get ripped off? Hello! This is America! You're gonna get ripped off!
Constitutional constraint. Yes, Citizens United and lots of other laws are out there protecting our most important fellow Americans: corporations. The Constitution was written by the Adams Corp and T. Jefferson, LLB in order to form a more perfect consumer culture. But is wasn't put there to enforce any individual liberty. Don't bring your Gay Agenda (tm) or your abortion rights to the Constitutional Convention, sister. The Constitution is there to tell you what goes in your personal life, not what laws are enforced on innocent multinationals who are just out there trying to make a buck (or a billion).
Rule of law, which includes laws like 'Wall Street is not responsible for any money shenanigans' and also 'it's not okay to camp out on Wall Street.' In fact, rule of law is important to understand in the context of the life savings you don't have any more. That's your fault. And all that financial reform garbage is just for suckers who aren't on the inside cleaning up - you know, the 350,000,000 or so on the wrong side of the financial industry. But true conservatives don't want to hear any of this "Black Lives Matter" crap either. If they did, where are their Congressional lobbyists?
Federalism as in: keep your smarty-pants DOJ fascists out of out states. If god had wanted Alabama to have equal rights, he'd have put the Voting Rights Act in the Bible. Clearly, each state has the right to limit civic participation to Reliable voters, and exclude the 'others' [wink] Drumpf isn't a true conservative because he leaves out the [wink] part altogether. Without the [wink], we'd have to put up with a new bunch of smelly Freedom Riders.
Personal responsibility meaning if your kid is starving and full of cholera or one of those rickets-measles type things, why aren't you taking personal responsibility over it? Why does society have to pay because you made the ill-considered decision to reproduce? And where's that kid's personal responsibility? Getting sick like that. He should have bought himself a nice jacket if his parents couldn't afford one, then he wouldn't need government penicillin. Why look for a hand-out after the factory closes when there's lots of nice tall grass to eat if you only had the gumption to cut it. We sent that old job of yours to Mumbai because it was wore out and we needed to get someone to do it for a quarter of the cost. Bootstraps!
And the rest of it - words like property, conscience, free speech. All twisted around the concept of a nation by the people, for the over-class. Conservatives hate the right to privacy, but invent the right to "self-protection." What the hell is that? Should we all drive around in Armoured Personnel Carriers for "self-protection?" That's not a right - it's a delusion.
The entire façade of conservatism is built on the notion that there is some sort of ideal racially and culturally pure white affluent America. It never existed and never will exist. The terms that Krista uses are twisted (federalism as racism, conscience as discrimination, etc.), and can be re-twisted as required. When you start out with a series of words which mean a whole bunch of things unrelated to that real English word, you are able to re-twist that definition to suit any occasion. No Real Scotsman would do that.
It reminds me of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Darmok." In that episode, the Enterprise encounters an alien ship whose captain and crew speak plain language, but all their statements are references to cultural and historical situations. Without understanding their (alien) culture and history, you can't understand them.
The same with true conservatives. They use terms like 'free speech' which pretty much every American supports, but when they say it they mean 'unlimited financial contributions to politicians from corporations.' How are you supposed to know that unless it's translated for you? But they also say: 'don't trust the Left or the Media' who are the only sources to tell you what's really intended by the true conservatives. So their message stays untranslated. "Private Property?" Sure I believe in Private Property. Oh - so you believe that privately owned factories shouldn't be regulated, and that private business should be allowed to discriminate against gays or literates. What? No!
And so, Drumpf has been defined out of the Repub party based on them not wanting to serve people like him on their property. Of course, once he wins the nomination, they'll be able to redefine their terms to include him at the center, until he inevitably fails. And then he'll join the club: no true conservative...
There's a popular meme in the Interwebs: "conservatism can never fail - it can only be failed/" This is a version of the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. That is, the definition of a Scotsman or conservative is fluid and changes based on the result it's being compared to. Thus, W. was a true conservative until he was revealed as a rock-stupid failure who wrecked everything he touched. Then - no, he wasn't a real conservative.
Since that definition is constantly in a fruitless pursuit of a policy success to claim, it continues to morph into different shapes to try and appeal to the base of the base who are looking for a label to vote for. Cruz is not 'true conservative' because he's such an asshole he couldn't buy a friend if he ran an open bar at rehab. Never mind his beliefs that run in lockstep with the 1850's 'good old days' antebellum crowd.
And Drumpf (Trump) is no 'true conservative' because he's popular with the low education crowd and knows how to wield the fascio. He doesn't tow the line on policy, but that hasn't been a problem with other candidates before. The problem with Drumpf is that he's off the leash. Essentially, he can't be a 'true conservative' because the true ones follow orders.
But the Denver Post (shoutout to my Bro for life and Homie Jesse Pearlman in the thin air city) offered an editorial by Krista Kafer which tries to explain the differences between the conservatism which she cherishes and the Drumpfism,which she does not, in "Kafer: a conservative against Trumpism."
But before getting into the real distinctions, she proves her conservative bona fides and perhaps hints at a certain Drumpf-curiousness with this opening bit of misogyny:
Would she sleep with him for $1 million? "Sure."
How about $50?
"Of course not," she snapped. "What do think I am?"
"We've established that," he said, "Now we're just haggling."
The principle is the same at any price.
That's how the estimable Ms. Kafer chooses to broach the topic of Drumpf voting. We get it Krista. Conservatism is not a girl's club - we'll be sure to include it on your list.
Helpfully, she does include a list of what she considers the conservative beliefs that she supports. Finally - a checklist to see if someone is really a true believer! Let's review:
I generally vote a straight Republican ticket because the GOP promotes the principles of limited government, constitutional constraint, rule of law, federalism, personal responsibility, a vibrant civil society, and free enterprise, and it embraces the basic human rights of life, personal property, self-protection, free speech, and conscience.
So, Let's recap so we get this straight.
Principles of limited government. Great! Except not. 'Limited government' means limits on some part of government, and no limits on others. Bombs and weapons - no limit. In fact, Repubs are known for approving weapons and military stuff that only the manufacturer wants (to sell). Tax cuts to Wall Street, billionaires, and corporations - no limit. Let the schmucks pay for government if they want so much of it. Regulations - no way! If we can't pollute, frack, and generally despoil the planet, what's it good for? And why have a bunch of consumer protection laws? That just raises expectations that you're not going to get ripped off? Hello! This is America! You're gonna get ripped off!
Constitutional constraint. Yes, Citizens United and lots of other laws are out there protecting our most important fellow Americans: corporations. The Constitution was written by the Adams Corp and T. Jefferson, LLB in order to form a more perfect consumer culture. But is wasn't put there to enforce any individual liberty. Don't bring your Gay Agenda (tm) or your abortion rights to the Constitutional Convention, sister. The Constitution is there to tell you what goes in your personal life, not what laws are enforced on innocent multinationals who are just out there trying to make a buck (or a billion).
Rule of law, which includes laws like 'Wall Street is not responsible for any money shenanigans' and also 'it's not okay to camp out on Wall Street.' In fact, rule of law is important to understand in the context of the life savings you don't have any more. That's your fault. And all that financial reform garbage is just for suckers who aren't on the inside cleaning up - you know, the 350,000,000 or so on the wrong side of the financial industry. But true conservatives don't want to hear any of this "Black Lives Matter" crap either. If they did, where are their Congressional lobbyists?
Federalism as in: keep your smarty-pants DOJ fascists out of out states. If god had wanted Alabama to have equal rights, he'd have put the Voting Rights Act in the Bible. Clearly, each state has the right to limit civic participation to Reliable voters, and exclude the 'others' [wink] Drumpf isn't a true conservative because he leaves out the [wink] part altogether. Without the [wink], we'd have to put up with a new bunch of smelly Freedom Riders.
Personal responsibility meaning if your kid is starving and full of cholera or one of those rickets-measles type things, why aren't you taking personal responsibility over it? Why does society have to pay because you made the ill-considered decision to reproduce? And where's that kid's personal responsibility? Getting sick like that. He should have bought himself a nice jacket if his parents couldn't afford one, then he wouldn't need government penicillin. Why look for a hand-out after the factory closes when there's lots of nice tall grass to eat if you only had the gumption to cut it. We sent that old job of yours to Mumbai because it was wore out and we needed to get someone to do it for a quarter of the cost. Bootstraps!
And the rest of it - words like property, conscience, free speech. All twisted around the concept of a nation by the people, for the over-class. Conservatives hate the right to privacy, but invent the right to "self-protection." What the hell is that? Should we all drive around in Armoured Personnel Carriers for "self-protection?" That's not a right - it's a delusion.
The entire façade of conservatism is built on the notion that there is some sort of ideal racially and culturally pure white affluent America. It never existed and never will exist. The terms that Krista uses are twisted (federalism as racism, conscience as discrimination, etc.), and can be re-twisted as required. When you start out with a series of words which mean a whole bunch of things unrelated to that real English word, you are able to re-twist that definition to suit any occasion. No Real Scotsman would do that.
It reminds me of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Darmok." In that episode, the Enterprise encounters an alien ship whose captain and crew speak plain language, but all their statements are references to cultural and historical situations. Without understanding their (alien) culture and history, you can't understand them.
The same with true conservatives. They use terms like 'free speech' which pretty much every American supports, but when they say it they mean 'unlimited financial contributions to politicians from corporations.' How are you supposed to know that unless it's translated for you? But they also say: 'don't trust the Left or the Media' who are the only sources to tell you what's really intended by the true conservatives. So their message stays untranslated. "Private Property?" Sure I believe in Private Property. Oh - so you believe that privately owned factories shouldn't be regulated, and that private business should be allowed to discriminate against gays or literates. What? No!
And so, Drumpf has been defined out of the Repub party based on them not wanting to serve people like him on their property. Of course, once he wins the nomination, they'll be able to redefine their terms to include him at the center, until he inevitably fails. And then he'll join the club: no true conservative...
posted by fiduciary at 12:38 PM
1 Comments:
Nice! And Melania is sleeping with him for...
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