Popular Mistakenly Conservative Tea Party Heroes
“Conservatism is an ideology of reaction – originally against the French Revolution, more recently against the liberation movements of the sixties and seventies.” -Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind, p.42
Contrary to popular mythology, “conservatism” is NOT a political philosophy per say.”Conservatism” is a counter-revolution in response to any liberation movements that may arise (e.g., the conservative resistance to both the abolitionist, and women’s suffrage movements, for example). “Conservatism” is NOT a political philosophy nor a political party – it’s primarily a theocratic, traditionalistic, bible based political agenda wrapped in patriotic verbiage. In truth, Tea Party “conservatism” is anti-American and anti-Constitutional, yet it loves to wave that flag! Christian Nationalism poisons the body politic. The modern debate starts with Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine.
It’s wild when one can begin to make connections between various thinkers of diverging philosophies, who still find a nexus on certain points. We can take Leo Strauss, Eric Voegelin, F.A. Hayek, Ayn Rand, John W. Dean, Barry Goldwater, Chris Hedges, and Ken Wilber and see that each describe the Christian base of the GOP as – DANGEROUS!
Yes, that’s right folks; many of the leading intellectuals who are touted as champions of the “Christian America” cause, were NOT conservatives in the Tea Party sense of the word. The Glenn Beck, Sarah Louise Palin flavor of “conservatism,” is exactly the flavor REAL conservatives (i.e., Liberals) warned about.
Popular Mistakenly Conservative Tea Party Heroes
1. Eric Voegelin
2. Milton Friedman
3. Friedrich Hayek
4. Ayn Rand
5. Barry Goldwater
“Today’s so-called ‘conservatives’ don’t even know what the word means. They think I’ve turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right. It’s not a conservative issue at all.” ~Barry Goldwater
”Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.” — Barry Goldwater, said in November 1994, as quoted in John Dean, Conservatives Without Conscience (2006)
Here’s an outstanding video on Barry Goldwater from C-Span. They ask a really great question: Could Goldwater get the GOP nomination in today’s “Conservative” environment? Answer – NO. The religious right would toss him under the bus in short order. Many people who could be called “liberal,” would vote Republican if it were not for the power of the evil religious base that controls the GOP. If we want a return to the “Grand Old Party,” the Theocons will have to be purged.
“But true liberalism is still distinct from conservatism, and there is danger in the two being confused. Conservatism, though a necessary element in any stable society, is not a social program; in its paternalistic, nationalistic, and power-adoring tendencies it is often closer to socialism than true liberalism; and with its traditionalist, anti-intellectual, and often mystical propensities it will never, except in short periods of disillusionment, appeal to the young and all those others who believe that some changes are desirable if this world is to become a better place. A conservative movement, by its very nature, is bound to be a defender of established privilege and to lean on the power of government for the protection of privilege.”
-F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, Preface 1956
A few word from, Ayn Rand:
“Today’s ‘conservatives’ are futile, impotent and, culturally, dead. They have nothing to offer and can achieve nothing. They can only help to destroy intellectual standards, to disintegrate thought, to discredit capitalism, and to accelerate this country’s uncontested collapse into despair and dictatorship.”
-Ayn Rand, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
If we trace the history of the debate between “Conservatives” and “Progressives,” we need look no further than the debates between Edmund Burke, who penned Reflections on the Revolution in France, and Thomas Paine, author of the devastating rebuttal to Burke, The Rights of Man. The history of Conservatism is ripe with oppression and religious bigotry, as I often articulate.
Mistakenly Conservative
Eric Voegelin considered conservatism and traditionalism to be secondary ideologies created in response to radical, revolutionary, and often liberating ideologies:
“Voegelin was particularly concerned about the degeneration of conservatism into ideological closure and spiritual estrangement. For Voegelin, conservatism is the prelude to ideology because it conditions a society to accept doctrinized truth uncritically and unphilosophically. But separated from its engendering experiences and unsupported by philosophy, tradition loses its social vitality and becomes one among many competing conceptions of reality. It eventually gives way to ideological doctrines that are anti-philosophical. ” Michael P. Federici, Eric Voegelin, p.148
As Voegelin notes, to call upon tradition rather than philosophy in the quest for truth, is a major flaw in modern conservatism. Burke argued primarily from tradition, not philosophy. This was the beginnings of the anti-intellectual culture of the political right.
Popular Mistakenly Conservative Tea Party Heroes
httpv://youtu.be/wmp5a7pCouQ
To me, the Election of 2012 was not a contest between two people named Obama and Romney. At it’s base, this election was a contest between Faith, and Reason; between the new-world paradigm based in science and humanistic ethics, and that of the “traditional” old-world, based in paternalism and the colonialism of pre-1776.
I think this past election cycle was a turning point – a paradigm shift – with little hope for Christian Nationalism gaining political power through the democratic process for the foreseeable future. This election was a clear rejection of conservatism.