Posted by
JDComments on Friday, February 02, 2007 11:39:01 AM
Liberalism is a failure as an operating philosophy for a number of reasons, some technical , but others having more to do with the core beliefs of the ideology. Seen as a whole, the idea that this movement is periodically in control of the strongest nation on Earth is a frightening thought.
From the technical aspect, Liberals fail to take into account the law of unintended consequences, as Deroy Murdock adroitly
shows in a piece that outlines the unforeseen effects of the government encouraging ethanol use. As he points out, even when a "desirable" outcome such as reduced oil consumption is the goal, the ripples that result usually have adverse and negative ramifications. The road to h*ll is paved with good intentions.
Liberals also ignore the axiom that power corrupts, believing themselves inured to the temptations of mortal men. WIlliam Jefferson's freezer and Harry Reid 's knack for amazing land deals are just two Democratic examples of the fact that the Liberal faith in their incorruptibility is overblown and misplaced. Therefore when they clamor for bigger and more powerful government they call down upon themselves the fate the Ancient Greeks expected for those who exhibited hubris, and its not pretty.
But both these failings allow for noble goals, even if it is impossible to attain them because of human frailty and natural complexity. The more fundamental flaw in Liberal thinking is their striving for aims which are not only impossible to achieve, but which are wrongheaded even in the abstract.
Thus the eternal quest for equality, which is codewords for removing all differences between people, is not only a futile quest, it is an
evil aim, and I mean that word in every aspect of its foreboding nature.
To me the attempt to reduce all people to similarity whether through income redistribution or statistical goals of representation, denies the very essence of humanity, the uniqueness of each one of us. To try and wash us all with broad strokes in the name of eliminating the drawbacks of our differences also means we remove all the advantages and benefits that arise from those same disparities. In the name of Man Liberals seek to repress the infinite facets of men, and that is a horrible goal.
In the same vein, the drive towards license in the name of liberty is
wrong, and would undermine all that civilization can point to in its evolution to modernity.
The Left has replaced liberty from governmental interference with an all encompassing freedom from all restrictions, and that is a formula for anarchy and the dissolution of society. If there is a definition to culture, it is the restraining of man's base instincts through morality, religion, philosophy, law and various other institutions that have developed over centuries and millennia. The Liberal ideal to "free"us from these runs counter to all that we have learned over recorded history.
The Liberal quixotic quest to impose their rationality on the messiness of reality flies in the face of practical considerations, and fails to account for human nature. But worse than that, it seeks to suppress that very nature, and seeks solutions which if implemented would diminish us all. Neither their means nor their ends are justified, and it doesn't get any worse than that.