Letters to the Editor
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Conservatism will march on like a cockroach
Conservatism is just a polite name for the pack mentality that dictates the behaviour of dogs. You can also call it tribalism, and you can see it in National Socialism. It's essence is that the only important thing is the survival of the pack, or the tribe, or the race. Everything else is subordinate; justice, knowledge, reason,compassion, beauty, joy. If you understand this, then you can see the common link between the Bush administration and Traditional Conservatism, and how, regardless of Bush's radicalism and his overwhelming failures, Conservatism will persist.
Really?!?!? you ask? The hallmarks of Traditionl Conservatives have always been:
-Government soley to provide law and order and national defense - no higher aspirations such as care for the poor
-Adherence to laws based on tradition not rational debate - they have always given more creedence to the bible and social mores than to the logic of the constitution (except in the case of the second amendment) and the courts, and they continually deride lawyers and activist judges.
-Hostiltiy to foreigners and global institutions. Conservatives are always the ones who fear immigration the most - illegal or not. They want out of the UN and trade agreements.
-Fear of foreign entities. Conservatives are always the first to perceive a threat. Whether it's Iraq or the Soviet Union. Ironiclly they did not see a threat in Hitler.
Patriotism - an irrational love for and allegiance to ones Country regardless of whether the leaders, the people, the policies and the institutions are good or bad.
-Contempt for dissent. Any questioning of authority is suspect, regardless of how questionable that authority is.
-Fear of new information.
-Fear of change.
-Fiscal conservatism - nothing wrong with that.
These are hallmarks not just of traditional conservatives, but hallmarks of the most backward tribes in Baluchastan and Waziristan - the people we are fighting/liberating/teaching about democracy. They are also extrapolations of the instincts of pack dogs, and they are also hallmarks of the Bush administration. And they will persist. Nature progresses on all fronts. Evolution tries every path without judgement. The authoritarians, the pack animals, have a winning formula. They keep their eyes on the prize - Survival. But they will always be somewhat stupid.