Narcotics-Induced Libertarian Quote of the Day
My pointing out at Feddie's blog that George Will's description of "conservatism" is NOT, in fact, conservatism, but "classical liberalism" or even "libertarianism", elicited this well-reasoned response:
In case this fact is lost on you Jay Anderson,”Classical liberalism” or “libertarianism” **WAS** true conservatism before it was bastardized by American religious zealots. The only difference between these modern religious conservatives (like YOU, Jay) and modern liberals is the type of society that they wish to FORCE on the rest of us through Federal Gov’t COERCION.My Comments:
Hey “conservatives”, please point me to the EXACT clause in the US Constitution that gives the Federal Gov’t authority to regulate marijuana that is grown, sold and consumed INSIDE of the state of California. HINT: you’ll find your reason right beside the imaginary “penumbras” cited in Roe vs. Wade.
I suppose there's no need to ask what "JC" is smoking.
Classical liberalism WAS true conservatism? So what was "classical conservatism"? Next these libertarian dopeheads will be claiming that classical squares were circles.
And, in case the point was lost on you, scratch a libertarian, find an anti-Christian bigot.
Labels: Anti-Catholicism, Conservatism, Economics, Fides et Ratio, Humor, Libertarianism (Libertinism), Natural Law, Social Conservatives
posted by Pro Ecclesia 1:53 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Wasn't it Washington who said that only a virtuous people can be free?
There is something to the fact that conservatives today are actually more in tune with classical liberal ideas than the people we call liberals, at least when it comes to things such as individual freedom and small government. But tradition is such an important part of conservatism, and I am not sure classical liberalism takes that into account.
I would say more on the subject but I need to catch the bus home.
Not all of them, but I see what you're saying. As attractive as certain aspects of Libertarianism are - especially the 'striving to get gov't off our backs and out of our pockets' part, its difficult to 'blend' Christian love of God and neighbor with what seems like the perfect party for secular humanists - totally self-centered.
The problem with libertarianism - and probably any ideology, for that matter - is when it's taken to extremes, and unfortunately too many libertarians take their ideology to extremes and are completely fundamentalist about their worldviews.
So, to build off of what lwestin said, when you divorce the religious element from our political life, libertarian economics do indeed become self-centered and cruel. That's why it is so disastrous to eliminate religion from the public sphere.
So while I share many of the libertarian ideas about the role of government, where they go off the rails (for the most part) is that they lack that religious grounding which tempers the individualism of their political philosophy.
This is all a very long-winded way of echoing Paul's reference to George Washington. Political liberty without a sense of virtue is more than a little problematic. That's why modern libertarianism is so perilous.
Post a Comment
<< Home