Liberalism

Liberalism is incapable of seeing outside of the box of their society because of a blind loyalty in and fear of the powers that be; the result is that they take half or watered down measures to address existential threats to the survival of society. Liberalism assumes that Capitalism is the most superior political economy in history. Their patron saint is Adam Smith, but many also admire Ricardo, or Keynes.

When they read Marx, they are so busy looking for a ‘aha’ moment to repudiate him that they fail to comprehend him. The thing is, hardly any Liberals have read more of Marx than his pamphlets.

Liberals marched lock step in a cold war against the Soviet bloc for decades at the cost of millions of lives, and suppression of freedom in proxy nations throughout the world. Liberals sanctioned the occupation domination of any part of the planet that they could take out of Soviet control or influence. In doing so, they used a level of violence that was obscene.

Liberals don’t have the imagination to consider a single payer health care system; they would rather tinker around the edges of a system that has failed to insure the welfare of the public as mandated by our constitution.

Liberalism would have been unable to think outside the box enough for the Louisiana Purchase. It took the radicalism of Jefferson to pull it off, but they had no problem with the expropriation of all of that land from its real indigenous owners, wiping out a more superior civilization in the process.

Liberal failed to recognize the recent enormous economic crisis coming and they failed to grasp how much had to be done to address it. Paul Krugman has eaten them alive in recent years with biting criticisms of government policy for their failure of imagination. Liberals have helped transfer the production process off shore and supported free but not fair trade, and they share the mantra that, ‘These jobs are going, and they ain’t comin back’.

Liberals fail to understand how radical infrastructure reform is essential to the survival of the planet. They see whales dying and ally with Radicals to seek reform, but they fail to address the destruction of life on this planet that is unfolding before the eyes of a couple of generations; if left to their devices, new and hopefully smarter creatures will have to evolve for the survival of life.

Liberals have abetted the influx and protection of illegal immigrants that have been brought into this country by Capital for decades. They have ignored a solution to the problem that is decades old, Barbara Jordan laid out a coherent plan more than a decade ago and Liberals have been running from it ever since. President missed an opportunity to push for mandatory employee verification as a consequence.

Let us recognize that Conservatism has in every area listed of failed Liberalism. In addition, Liberalism has also helped advance Society. Their support for civil rights has been incredible; their support for religious freedom is remarkable; Liberals supported the abolition of slavery before the Civil War. Great Liberals like Teddy had the courage to preserve much of our natural heritage. Liberals supported worker safety a century ago; they supported the rights of working people to form unions almost eighty years ago. They build up a social protective network that sustains us today. Their recognition of their failure to stop the Vietnam War has haunted them for decades, so they are far less likely to support reckless in foreign affairs in recent years.

Conservatism

I will propose to you that Conservatism is inherently incapable of addressing today's problems because of a failure of imagination. For instance, Conservatism is incapable of recognizing the need to make a radical transformation in our use of energy as we sludge into peak oil. Conservatism doesn't seem to be able to recognize that different cultures can have very different views of the world that need to be respected. This is particularly true of religious Conservatives of all bents: the very idea that people would kill God's children in God's name bespeaks that incapacity.

One of the primary chinks in the Armor of Conservatism is that they tend to be too rigid in maintaining the status quo. By that criterion, Conservatives can be any people in any culture. For instance, those people that blindly struggled to maintain the status quo in the post-war Soviet Union were actually practicing Conservatism exactly when they should have been looking at reform. Communists in Europe (especially Italy or France), Iraq, Iran, Mao or Fidel were all more likely to struggle for reforms and did so. Italian Communists had a very 'Anarchist' tinge. Communists in Iraq & Iran struggled for Democratic institutions even as the Democratic West helped crush them. Mao could see the failures of the Soviet society and pushed the envelope in order to prevent the re-introduction of antagonistic classes. Fidel, at least in his youth, was very receptive to Western 'enlightenment' ideology re Liberty. Kennedy's failure to recognize that was one of his biggest missed opportunities.

On the other hand, Conservatism is perfectly capable preserving our environment, but Conservatives have utterly failed in that duty. So, they don't seem to get it right even when their better angels point them in the right direction. It is true, however, that a small part of the Christian Right as well as many ranchers and farmers have embraced environmentalism.