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July 18, 2004
Is socialized morality conservative?
This remark by Ramesh Ponnuru certainly passes muster as the quote of the day: [T]he split between libertarians and social conservatives is likely to determine the shape of politics over the next decades.I agree. And I am beginning to think that "social conservative" is a more descriptive term than "moral conservative." But as I said in a previous post, whether one is morally conservative isn't the point. Many libertarians are morally conservative in their personal lives. As James Glassman notes, young people today tend to be morally conservative. (I think that's a good thing too; and I say this as a veteran of the 1970s excesses, which killed dozens of my friends.) But politically, the question is not what you do personally; it's what you'd use government force to make others do. Example: David Weigel, 22, the former editor of a conservative magazine at Northwestern University, a contributor to the libertarian magazine Reason and an intern at the editorial page of USA Today, said that last spring his college paper had trouble finding any conservatives on campus who supported amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage.NOTE: I try to fact check the New York Times to the extent that I can, and a bit of research revealed that David Weigel has his own blog, in which he confirms that he was quoted correctly. How much of a Big Brother are you? Attaching the word "social" to those conservatives who'd use government force to police morals places them on the social engineering side of the spectrum where they belong. That's fair, because the more big government one wants, the more the word "social" applies. The question might also be asked whether big government conservatism is conservatism at all. If not, then libertarian moral conservatives would appear in logic to be more conservative than communitarian social conservatives. But since when has logic had anything to do with social engineering? CORRECTION: Beck points out in an email that the quote I had misattributed to Ramesh Ponnuru above was actually Glenn Reynolds' commentary occurring directly AFTER Ramesh's quote. Beck is right and I appreciate the correction. The first paragraph above should read as follows: This remark by Glenn Reynolds certainly passes muster as the quote of the day: [T]he split between libertarians and social conservatives is likely to determine the shape of politics over the next decades.Thanks Beck! posted by Eric on 07.18.04 at 12:07 PM
Comments
I have more trouble with this issue than any other. "I'm against the drug war." "So you're one of those doper pot heads, huh?" "No, I don't take drugs." "I'm against criminalizing abortion." "Oh, so you think it is OK to just start killing fetuses left and right!" "No, I think it is a mortal sin; I just don't think we should put people in jail for it." I have to go through this on a regular basis. Phelps · July 18, 2004 10:28 PM |
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Excellent, again. No, "socialized morality" is neither conservative nor moral. I love your dualism of "libertarian moral conservatives" vs. "communitarian social conservatives". They are indeed "social" (as in "the men mixed by the social considerations", as Ayn Rand once put it). But the first thing we must do, we who value freedom and the individual, is refuse to concede "moral", "religious", and "values" to the Enemy. If we concede that to them, then they have won. It is we who must hold up the banner of the Holy. That is what the battle demands. Nothing less will do.