Posted on 09/02/2013 1:30:56 PM PDT by crusher
In a recent excellent podcast, social and political observer Ed Dentzel raises an uncomfortable question based on a verifiable observation: Has the country become more collectivist/Leftist since the advent of the dominance of conservative talk radio? By any metric, he argues, the answer is “Yes.” If that is true, and I think it is undeniable, then what use is it?
I cannot disagree with him from either the “Economic conservatives” perspective or the “Social conservatives” perspective. In the former, the explosive growth of the size of government and its interference in the marketplace provides the evidence, while for the latter the coarsening of culture and diminution of traditional virtue is irrefutable.
Are conservative talk radio and the plethora of successful conservative non-fiction books useful or a distraction and a waste of time? I had never really thought about it in those terms before, but I am thinking hard about it now. Yes, these may amuse, entertain, and inform us but they appear to be having no effect on the larger picture. I will listen to this podcast again tonight to make sure I am not missing something fundamental in his argument.
Dentzel has always posited (my words, not his), that it’s all about the culture, and politics is simply where the score is kept. Conservatives stink at politics because we stink at culture. The occasion of this episode was Mark Levin’s new book “The Liberty Amendments,” which Dentzel concludes is simply another waste of time for conservatives. It might be a brilliant monograph, but the overwhelming majority of people who will read it will not be changed – those who agreed before hand will agree afterwards, those who disagree before will disagree after. We have won the intellectual arguments, yet everything keeps moving in the wrong direction.
Why? In Dentzel’s mind it is because we have abandoned every single aspect of the culture to the Left, especially the creative arts (he is a writer and I find his stuff pretty good). This argument rings true with me as I have argued here at FR, even posting my 15-year old essay on essentially the same topic, “The Parable of the Robes, ” wherein I argue that The Left has fully captured the institutions that inculcate values – schools, churches, The Law, and the media. We are losing because we expect to use reason to persuade someone out of a position where reason did not place them.
Give it a listen. It will irritate you but also point in the right direction, in my humble opinion. Dentzel’s podcast made me reflect on my new Four Horsemen of the Coming Apolcalypse.
Cowardice
Narcissism
Multiculturalism
Political Correctness
Crusher
have fun running in circles.
sometimes thieves need to toss a bone to the barking dogs to keep them quiet
it gives the dogs something to keep them busy while the thieves get their job done.
as an example, i give you the latest bone... the GOP controlled house of 2010-present. have they even cut spending any significant amount? how about the fedgov? have they defunded any agencies that are out of control? what about congressional investigations into all the crimes and corruption? anything? not even on benghazi? oh sure they yelled... but in the end, it was just play acting as nothing was accomplished and the progressives continued pushing their big govt agenda.
but by all means, hop on that 5 year plan. good luck with that
Post #17.
How practical an idea is amending the Constitution from the states up?
I've got my doubts, but a.) it's worth a try, and b.) the sooner we start thinking about a strengthened Constitution, the better prepared we'll be when the time arrives to reassert our lost Constitution and start rebuilding our lost constitutional republic. I'd guess that will happen sooner than we can amend the Constitution from the ground up.
Look, it took the libtards a hundred years to get where they are now. It’s not going to be easy and it won’t happen over night. But, I’ll be damned if I am going to give up on what makes America the best country on earth. If they can fight for a hundred years to promote their leftest agenda, then we should be willing to fight for two hundred years to promote liberty.
Is that the strongest reason to not try? The claim that people are too liberal, why a Liberty Convention will ‘fail’? Let’s take a look at four issues: gun control, gay marriage, abortion, and Obama-care.
Gun Control ...
Poll: 62 Percent of Americans Want[ed] Senate to Drop Gun Control ...
May 29, 2013 ... President Barack Obama has vowed to keep pushing for new gun control measures and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the failed gun ... [complete disaster, wasn’t it?]
[reason.com/poll/2013/05/29/poll... sorry, couldn’t load full web address]
1. Gay Marriage v. ‘Same Sex Marriage’
At one time, thirty eight states were opposed to it. Little has changed public opinion on that issue.
2. Abortion
http://www.lifenews.com/2013/01/22/roe-at-40-polling-shows-americans-are-pro-life-on-abortion
“Some 62 percent want abortions illegal in all cases or legal only in certain instances while just 35% want abortions legal for any reason.”
Only “13% would allow abortion for any reason at any time”.
3. Obama-Care — overwhelming opposition. [’nough said on that.]
The real danger with a Liberty Convention is the college education system. What I mean is that it’s not the People who have been indoctrinated so much as politicians, who were virtually all subjected to college indoctrination. Many of our states’ GOP leaders are RINOs who secretly buy into a lot of Ruling Class dogma. THAT is the real danger, not the voter on the street.
Here’s the good news ...
Public Attention will be HIGH. A Liberty Convention will not be ignored. It would gain more scrutiny and evoke more debate than any presidential election in our history. It will be difficult for state level RINOs to team up with leftists. They would ‘out’ themselves and destroy their careers.
Also note that a lot of the people ‘on the street’ are too cynical to vote. Them, we don’t need to worry about so much. It’s the registered and likely voters that matter, especially when it ocmes to state level politics.
And how about vouchers. I know it is not high on the list of libertarians, but it is a topic of late again. Vouchers are a winning item for Republicans. They are highly popular, even among democrats. They will bust up the teacher’s unions while foiling the liberal (not entirely) indoctrination.
It seems the biggest obstacles thrown against vouchers are (pretzel logic) recreating segregation-messing up diversity and the church/state issue. An amendment would clear the playing field.
“And how about vouchers.”
Yeah, I’ve been boxing myself in, thinking about unions. Should we simply make that a blanket, state-wide amendment to allow the voucher option? Hmmm....
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