Know Your Enemy

The conclusion from these facts is that liberalism is really driven not by ideology but by self-interest. Let us call this the Self-Interest Critique of Liberalism. It has been mentioned only occasionally by conservatives, and then usually only by implication. The Naive Ideology Critique does not explain why liberals have continued to espouse their old, tired big-government "solutions" to social problems long after even liberals themselves recognize these are abysmal failures, but the Self Interest Critique does. Liberals continue to advocate bigger government as the cure for all ills because they benefit financially from it.

The Self Interest Critique does not say that sincere belief is not present in the liberal movement - it is, especially among the many followers within the movement, but that the real insiders of the liberal movement, the Core Liberals, are motivated primarily by their financial interest. Yes, ideas have consequences, but so do material interests. The Core Liberals are perhaps not all aware that this is their true motivation. The human capacity for denial, for rationalization, for self-deception is practically infinite. Everyone is always swayed at least unconsciously by personal benefit. The Core Liberals genuinely believe that their policies are good for the country - but they have convinced themselves of this to alleviate the cognitive dissonance between the suspicion that liberalism is in fact bad for the country, and their drive to magnify their self-interest.

This passage sounds as though it could come from the pages of Atlas Shrugged. I agree with it wholeheartedly.

Once upon a time, a liberal was considered a person who wanted more personal freedoms and was a proponent of democracy and representative government. This can be traced back to the Renassaince, but in modern times, this classical way of thinking describes the change in Europe from "conservative" aristocracies to more "liberal" forms of government, i.e. kings were replaced with elected officials.

Not anymore. Since the beginning of the 20th century, these liberals have perverted the name "liberal" into those that want more central control over our lives. One can say in fact they want a return to an old aristocracy placing themselves in control. Hell, the only things liberals are "liberal" about are sex, drugs, and punishment. A more proper term is "leftist".

I totally agree with the self-interest take on liberals on being self-serving. One example is a recent argument where my leftist sister in law, who is in law school, was ranting and raving about taking prayer out of school because it propagated Judeo-Chrsitian religion. My question to her was why religion based colleges accepted government money on a regular basis; like Georgetown, Notre Dame, Villanova, TCU, etc. The answer is that all that government money coming from Pell grants, government research projects, student loans, etc., goes right into the pocket of university adminstrators, bureacrats and leftist professors.

Liberals are not primarily motivated by financial gain. They are primarily motivated by power and the desire to gain and exercise power over others. This critique is good, but it also ignores the spiritual force behind all leftist, collectivist ideologies -- Satan. he desires to have all will, all purpose, sublimated to his own. Communism, Hinduism, and Freudianism are the highest expressions of poliical/economic, religious, and secular philosophies and they all advocate the complete subsumation of the individual.

Make no mistake, it is he who is motivating his minions on the left.

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