“In every American community there are varying shades of political opinion. One of the shadiest of these is the liberals. An outspoken group on many subjects, ten degrees to the left of center in good times, ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally. Here, then, is a lesson in safe logic.”
–Phil Ochs
Liberalism as we know it, is a great way to run a college town: given the juxtaposition of a high tax base with a fiercely dedicated hyper-consumer lifestyle, the regime is free to spread money around over a whole array of experimental and altruistically-portrayed programs, from bicycle trails to free housing and mental health for Group W wanderers from around the country to come and feed off of.
Conservatism, on the other hand, is a great way to run a farm town: when nearly everyone is either in business for themselves or securely employed with big agribusiness concerns, and a bulk of the populace has not only fleets of personal rolling stock and professional equipment but vast private shops to service them, they are of course free to mock government for its very existence, applaud themselves as lovers of God and country, pretend that they are prepared for any degree of downfall or apocalypse affecting the larger society, and sit back to await their checks from price supports, CRP and socialist insecurity.
Neither ideology in its current manifestations has any monopoly on truth (or untruth), any moral high ground from which to call for the destruction of the other, nor any particular vision to offer anyone but adherents to their own existing lifestyle preferences. Each is a social club and little more, a safe space to have dogmas in common and enemies to despise together. Liberalism and conservatism are but the two sides of the same counterfeit coin, as meanwhile the bulk of the nation continues doing what it is told, and hoping one faction or the other doesn’t ultimately make that too expensive for them.
As for what either has to offer the human future? God help us if they don’t stay at war with each other, and either left or right is free to exercise its dogmas on us all unopposed. Then we’ll see just how different one is from the other, which is to say, not so much.
“Liberalism and conservatism are but the two sides of the same counterfeit coin, as meanwhile the bulk of the nation continues doing what it is told, and hoping one faction or the other doesn’t ultimately make that too expensive for them.”
EXACTLY!!
I totally agree