A good many of the blogs thus far published have been intended to establish the general philosophical basis of “small c conservatism.” Let’s now get down to applying that philosophy to the realities of the contemporary world.
Ralston Saul’s disparagement of Reason in favor of a Civilization governed by Sensibility and Compassion is typical of most on the Left. Kamala Harris, recently chosen by Biden to be his running mate, would seem to exemplify that “progressive” orientation.
Harris has stated repeatedly that the very notion of illegal immigration ought to be cancelled, that the States should open its borders to all those seeking to escape the turmoil of their dysfunctional homelands. Think of the repercussions of her proposal! There are already millions within her country beleaguered by poverty, poor living conditions, unemployment, inaccessible health care, a third rate educational system and law enforcement units stressed well beyond their limits. How many of these problems have been exacerbated by the presence of those South and Central American illegals already in the country? How much worse will they become should millions more from around the world choose to accept Harris’s open invitation? The facts of the Real World are irrelevant to simpletons such as Harris. Stating sanctimoniously on night three of the DNC that she aspires to “an economy that doesn’t leave anyone behind,” the fact that the already dire issue of unemployment among the poor will be exponentially worsened by her immigration policy has not, apparently, occurred to her.
Of course her politics are perfectly in keeping with Ralston Saul’s scorn for “efficiency,” “structure” and the Nation State. But the real world populated by real people descends into chaos when not subject to the strictures of Reason. Whereas Saul suggested a pessimistic view of the species to be a ploy used by Capitalists to justify their dependence on The Rule of Law, behold the exploits of America’s “disenfranchised” when released from that Rule. Since the whole de-fund the police fiasco hit the headlines, violence in the streets of America has been out of control, reports of innocent bystanders killed by stray bullets being an almost daily occurrence. And the Left, led by a media that long ago lost its right to any claim of Objectivity, blames Trump for this apparent decline into Third World anarchy!
Ironically, absurdly, “Progressivism” is actually a form of Primitivism.What is happening in the streets of America today is a direct result of the Neo-Marxist drivel that has been metastasizing throughout our Culture for more than a century now, a simplistic gospel given to the delusion that those Civilizations and individuals which have failed to prosper are always the victims of oppression, while those which have flourished have done so merely through random good fortune or treachery. It is a narrative from which Intelligence, Merit and Hard Work have been banished as mere Western eccentricities; a narrative which thrives upon and indeed incites hatred and envy. Trump is hardly my ideal president and America is hardly a Utopia of racial tolerance and economic equity, but to blame him for inciting that resentment and anger which are and always have been essential to the political Left is truly absurd.
I cannot recall the last time I heard any White person actually make a racist comment. [Being disgusted by the antics of B.L.M. is Not Racist! Deeming Kamala Harris a simpleton is Not Racist!] Yet there have been dozens of diatribes lately by people of color that are truly disgusting. As we shall examine a number of them in my next blog, I shall no doubt be charged with fomenting a climate of Hate. It’s the way the Left operates, spewing hatred while then denouncing your reaction to it as hateful! Self-awareness would seem to be impossible for those fanatically convinced of their own sanctity.
Some of my favorite people on this planet are in fact people of Color who have managed to put their ethnicity behind them in the pursuit of moral/intellectual integrity. And yes, they are almost all “conservatives.”