Friday, August 30, 2019
Honesty vs. B.S.
Most telling in the current lead-up to civil war (ok...maybe) is the way each side appraises their opposition. It’s occurred to me as I’ve watch the perpetual sparing between left and right in the Trump era that most conservative appraisals of the left are basically grounded in practical and objective understanding of what the left has actually outlined and stated. On the flip side, most appraisals of conservative policy and goals by the left are riddled with assumptions and often fabrications that have nothing to do with actual conservative belief and policy objectives, stated or otherwise.
The left says they want to see “walls come down.” They want a country where “everyone is welcome,” where convicts, teenagers, and non-citizens can vote and non-citizens receive “free” (taxpayer-funded) health care, education, and government “services.” They say this...often. Conservatives make no conjecture regarding these goals. There is no need to read between the lines. They are taken at face value. Conservatives believe that the left’s stated agendas are what they actually want to do.
The right says it wants a country where the rule of law and established standards are applied to America’s border and immigration policy, where practical vetting occurs to determine exactly who is coming into the country and how they hope to sustain themselves and vicariously contribute to fellow citizens standard of living and quality of life. The left’s interpretation? ...”Racist!” “Conservatives want concentration camps so they can eventually exterminate non-white people.”
The left views America and its history as uniquely evil, it’s defining characteristics exemplified by “slavery, racism, and oppression” by a ruling class of greedy capitalists. They state clearly that for America to atone for its perceived sins, it must radically alter its style of government and invest authority into the hands of...leftists (a state run solely by leftists). When conservatives regularly hear variations on this theme, they objectively assume that the left doesn’t really like America very much and is striving to radically change it.
The right is patriotic in the most traditional sense. They are proud of their country’s history of dramatic advancements, financial success, and dynamic creativity. While they may or may not be aware of the many warts that exist in America’s history, they see no need to dwell exclusively on past sins in a world full of far worse. The left’s interpretation? ...Conservatives support a nation of “racist Nazis and fascists” who believe in “white supremacy.” Patriotism is a “dog whistle” to fellow Klansmen. The left’s image of America is slavery. The right’s is a fellow citizen walking on the moon...and Disney cartoons on screens throughout the world.
The left views America’s unique constitution as a flawed document that is no longer relevant to the goals of an elite caste of intellectuals who wish to impose the whims of a moment. They see court justices as entitled to override the established standards of governance outlined by the constitution. The right objectively interprets the lefts’s perpetual desire to alter the constitution as a threat to the freedoms that the constitution guarantees.
Conservatives honor the constitution as the product of brilliant minds who had codified timeless principles to restrain the scheming ploys of power-seekers and tyrants. They see America’s constitution as guaranteeing maximum self-government and freedom so citizens may pursue happiness and success as they see fit. The left’s interpretation? ...Conservatives who admire the American system of limited government are, again, “racists” who “cling to their guns and religion” as a means of oppressing fellow citizens.
Leftist believe in the sanctity of the collective, that resources and policy be directed to state projects and that citizens should be compelled to obey government edicts and forfeit substantial amounts of personal wealth and freedom to bureaucratic decrees. Conservatives see this as a abridgment of personal liberty.
Conservatives believe in maximum freedom for the individual to decide who or if they wish to ally with groups of their choosing. To conservatives, the family and the individual are the bedrock of a stable and moral society. The left’s interpretation?...Conservatives hold a selfish disregard for the standards deemed best for society by the state and its well-meaning insistence that one affiliate with and sacrifice to abstract groups on demand.
The list can go on and on. In virtually every instance of worldview and policy the right and left are at odds. When they appraise each other’s sentiments, conservatives are fairly honest, objective, and accurate in taking what leftists say at face value. The left, on the other hand, is adamant about injecting their own fantasies as to what conservatives believe and what the motivations are for their beliefs.
The left believes in a powerful central authority to compel adherence to collectivist principles. The right interprets this as ...a leftist belief in a powerful central authority to compel adherence to collectivist principles.
The right believes in limited constitutional government and a proud defense of individual liberty and pursuit of personal progress. The left interprets this as ...”Racism...Nazism,...fascism,...selfishness, and greed!”
In the end, the entire conflict between right and left is one of pragmatism and objectivity vs. idealism, illusion, and emotional whim. The former has led to unprecedented progress for the United States and its citizens. The latter, to the collapse of progress, moral decline, and societal instability.
Conservatism wins for a moral stance of pragmatism and honesty. Leftism loses for an immoral crusade of deception and delusion for the sole end goal of imposing its will upon others.
