Ancient conservatism dates back to the days of Confucian scholar, Zhu Xi, who said that conservatism was when, "The universe should be the way it is, and that is good." This is essentially saying that whatever occurs naturally in human nature, politics, life, or anything else, is morally good, and that this should be the approach that all people must take in life. Beyond this, Edmund Burke, a founder of more modern conservative thought, believed that tradition is the most reliable source of political knowledge. Zhu Xi and Burke valued traditional values as a way to govern, and this was undoubtedly a foundation for the conservative movement today. The conservatives, now seen as the Republican Party, claim to not want to change certain ideals and practices. But, of course, their modern idea of "conservatism" has morphed into something that Zhu Xi and Burke had not intended. The GOP, and specifically the Tea Party Movement, have prided themselves on the concepts of limited government, religious values, and disassociation with social progression. When many of us think of the conservative Tea Party and GOP, we think of radical preachers, such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.
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| Rush Limbaugh...try to count all his chins! http://kaystreet.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/rush_limbaugh_republican_face_396435.jpg |
Liberalism, based on the classical definition, aims to "secure individuals an ability to pursue their
own conceptions of the good as freely as possible." This essentially means that Liberalism strives to give freedom of life and the pursuit of happiness to all people. This concept, the American Dream, is something that Republican conservatives ultimately want as well. The goals of Liberalism (in the classical sense) also include securing individual rights, limited government, and supporting a free-market. It also strives to maintain that people are usually the best judges of their own good. What do these messages remind you of? The values preached by conservatives in America. This shows us that the conservatives in our society that would kill for less government, are, in fact, liberals. This tells us that there should not be any crossroads between liberals and conservatives in our country; deep in our roots, we can see that both parties are liberals who want the best for our people.
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| The "crossroads" dilemma http://cdn04.cdnwp.thefrisky.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/14/dem_rep_men_c-283x283.jpg |
Despite the different political labels people place on one another, we cannot forget that America is liberal, and will continue to be so. Yet, our society makes it increasingly difficult to realize this, especially when the gap between each political party has become wider than ever. Media bias and television shows do not help the process either, especially ones whose main purpose is to have individuals from each side of the political spectrum yell at each other for hours on end.
Check out Jon Stewart on "Crossfire" below, and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Actually, "Crossfire" was cancelled after this episode, as viewers realized how ridiculous it was.
Still, my question remains. Will we ever live in a society where the labels "liberal" and "conservative"will cease to exist? Will Republicans and Democrats ever put aside their differences to solve serious issues? Or maybe a certain party will change its platform (*cough cough Republicans, following this past election cough cough*)? All I know is that every single one of us is a liberal, whether we want to accept it or not.
I agree with some of your premises, particularly your final statement. Though a true purist application of either conservatism or liberalism seems unlikely in any case, it would seem that, given the nature of mankind, we are all inclined to pursue a liberal manner. That humanity has progressed, and continues to progress, through generations of self-improvement illustrates man's continued liberalist inclinations to break out of the traditionalist comfort zone and explore alternatives. I would disagree, however, with the notion that the United States is by any means a liberal nation. In fact, political trends have shown that in recent years American politics has moved further conservative. As Americans, yes, I would agree and hope that all our political actors are serving in the best interest of the nation. But ultimately, there are always multiple approaches and solutions to a problem, and often there is no 'right' answer. There will always exist the designations 'conservative' and 'liberal' because in the applied political world they are not textbook definitions, but rather relative terminologies - like 'cold' and 'hot'. The best we may hope for, I posit, is a congenial agreement amongst our political actors and parties to civilly concur, debate, and compromise on facts in the best interest of the people.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to tackle the questions you raised in your conclusion. Firstly, I don't think there will be any dissolving of left and right in this country anytime soon, although as baby boomers die off there will probably be a shifting of the GOP coalition maybe towards a more libertarian focus. The GOP might also has a chance to be successful with minorities (Bush was moderately successful with Hispanics due to his Texas background and concern with immigration issues) since they tend to be more socially conservative, but they have been failing spectacularly the last two elections. Regardless, there will almost certainly be left v. right in America, but as the TED talk suggested, this may actually be a good thing. On the question of bipartisanship, there have been many instances of great bipartisanship legislation coming out of Washington: the Clinton administration was characterized by bipartisanship work, and even more recently things like the McCain -Feingold Act are a testament to US politicians working together to achieve progress. Unfortunately more vocal and extremist rhetoric in the last few years has distracted from any collective achievements the government has made recently. Now be a time of more heightened partisan gridlock, but I think the media certainly overstates the severity of such a divide by saying things like "the worst it's ever been." At least people aren't being challenged to duels or physically fighting in the halls of congress like in the 18th century. This time of partisanship will likely come to end just like times like other times in the past, and perhaps the reshaping of the GOP will start the process.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that parties are going to have to put aside their differences and work together to actually get things done, but I would like to propose a different solution than a reshaping of the GOP (although I do think that this is necessary). What about a multi-party system? I've been thinking about this a lot since the election, and although it would take a lot for the United States to get to a point where we have multiple parties that all have relatively equal chances of getting their candidates elected, I think that it would solve the problem of parties not being willing to work together. With multiple parties in congress, there would be virtually no way that any decisions would be made without at least one party reaching across the aisle. With a multi party system, parties could work together in the writing and passing of bills, and although there still may be a divide between the modern liberal parties and the modern conservative parties, I think that this would be a step in the right direction.
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