The Liberal-Conservative Charade
These are purely my thoughts on why we are where we are today politically. I welcome your thoughts, comments, agreement, or disagreement.The terms Liberal and Conservative have been hijacked by pretenders.
Historically, a Liberal was one who believed in the Liberal use of government. A Liberal would believe that a large and intrusive government was best able to deliver what the population needed. This would, of course, require higher taxes to pay for services provided. It would also expect that the individual (and individual states) would be willing to surrender individual liberties for the advantages and services provided by government.
On the other hand, a Conservative was one who believed in the Conservative use of government. The Conservative would expect government to be small and non-intrusive. The Federal government would provide for national needs such as defense, regulating areas of the economy that truly affect interstate commerce. Individuals and states would be expected to provide for their needs locally through state or local taxes. Conservatives would be much more Libertarian in their beliefs in that, if the state (government) did not have a compelling interest, individual behavior would be governed by local standards and mores.
The terms as they are now applied are very different. We now have two Liberal political parties, one with a Liberal Social Philosophy and the other with a Conservative Social Philosophy. One seeks to impose on society what everyone must accept. The other seeks to tell society what is unacceptable for anyone. Both are equally willing to use the club of big government (and your tax dollars) to impose their will on society.
Some years ago, I was in a meeting with a University foundation development officer encouraging the faculty in our college to give in support of the latest university fund raising effort. Ultimately, my comment was, “The problem with getting anyone to give is that they have no reason to believe that the goals of the leadership are in any way aligned with the goals of the general faculty.”
This is the problem that many see with the current political leadership of our country. Despite all their rhetoric, “we have no evidence that their goals are in any way aligned with the goals of the average citizen.” Most Americans fall squarely between the two parties. We tend to be a bit more liberal on social issues, “leave us alone, stay out of our bedrooms.” We tend to be a bit more conservative fiscally, “we don’t mind paying taxes, but don’t waste our dollars.”
I sincerely believe that voters hunger for another alternative. There have been false starts. Years ago it was Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition. Pat Buchanan caught fire briefly. More recently it has been Ron Paul and now Bernie Sanders. None of these would likely have been a good president, but serious candidates – Libertarian or otherwise – will eventually take note and seize the opportunity. When that happens, the American oligarchs may be swept from power and never know what hit them.
“The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice.
You don’t… You have owners.” George Carlin
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Dr Camey,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts... I feel that your definition of a Liberal is exaggerated in saying "a liberal would believe that a large intrusive gov is best to deliver the job". A liberal doesn't want intrusion a liberal wants discussion of better ways to do things. By definition a liberal is 1.
open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values.
Outside of human rights and climate change I hold many conservative views. My issue is with big money buying elections and giving massive tax breaks to the wealthiest 1% while they stash money outside the country and refuse to pay taxes on their fair share. Not to menion the fact that earners of 500k+ a year are paying the same tax rates as the to 1/10 of 1%(roughly 240 families). Tha isn't fair. When Bill Gates speaks out to say that his realized taxed income was much lower than his own secretary. When the NFL decides it doesn't feel right about getting away with tax exempt status. When 1 FAMILY CONTRIBUTES more money to elections than both dem and rep parties combined. When the wealthiest 1/2 of 1% gains 99% of the wealth this country has built in the past two years while only contributing 38% in taxes (a number that is actually much lower than it should be because of money stashed outside of the USA)... We NEED money out of politics. I want to see more candidates saying no to big money and saying yes to the American people. Only then will our parties start to function as they were intended.
By the way I love the quote at the end.
Hi, Dr. Camey
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what you have written, but could you expand on why these alternatives were false starts, not serious candidates, and would-have-been bad presidents?
Great! Another doctor of something telling me who the "serious" candidates are - a self-fulfilling judgment.
ReplyDeleteLike he has a Serious point of view.