Jordan 179 on Political Culture
Today’s must-read article on the nature and pacing of political change: http://jordan179.livejournal.com/255430.html
…. the State is now doing something which, decades ago, would have led to protest and possibly violent rebellion, which is now just accepted as “the way things are,” which is to say the change has become part of the political culture. These changes may be good, or bad from our POV. (Personally, while I’m not happy that the States are no longer semi-independent, I’m very happy that Lincoln liberated the slaves). This is irrelevant. The important point is that the changes are no longer controversial.
This is what Obama wants to do, in his lifetime. He wants to secure the regulatory expansion of the 1970’s and go a bit beyond it, and have these changes be ratified by his successors so that, by 2030 or so (when he’ll have long since retired from politics) Americans just accept this growth in Federal purview as normal, and only a few extremists still regard them as controversial.
Think this couldn’t happen? Imagine the position of a man in 1800 who believed that America should still be under British rule. Or a man in 1890 who thought that states should be able to nullify Federal laws. Or a man in 1960 who argued that it was malfeasance for the Federal government to deliberately inflate the currency.
Let me quote the concluding paragraph:
… the French conservatives were utterly-ineffectual in their opposition to socialism in France, and now it may be too late for France. Generations have grown up now who simply accept socialism as “the way things are,” and regard any attempt to turn it back as unrealistic at best, insane at worst. It has become part of the French political culture.
Let us on the American Right, both conservative and libertarian, unite to prevent the ratification of Obama’s socialism before it simply becomes part of the political culture. I’ve already argued to the Religious Right that stopping Obama and his socialist successors is more important than opposing homosexuality; now I’m agruing to the Libertarian Right that stopping Obama and his socialist successors is more important than opposing religiousity or even crony capitalism.
Because if we fail, that’s it for the American Experiment. America herself will endure, probably grow stronger by shifting from economic predominance to military domination over key resources. But America will endure as an Empire, not as a Republic.
Honestly, if someone has to be the “Roman Empire” of the Western Civilization, I’d rather it be America than, say, China or even France. But I’d much rather see the Republic live on.
Wouldn’t you?
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
