katallison (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
katallison) wrote2004-11-02 05:45 pm
katallison) wrote2004-11-02 05:45 pm
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(no subject)
Random thought of the day: I suddenly realized at one point that the building in which I cast my ballot today is named after a guy I was in a fantasy football league with 17-18 years ago. My my my.
And now for something completely different, a few words on why I think the people getting most truly screwed in this election (apart from the folks whose right to vote is getting trashed) are the true conservatives.
My definition of "true conservative," needless to say, has nothing to do with the platform of the US Republican Party in its current incarnation. It harks back, rather, to much older and more honorable roots, and is marked by:
--a dedication to traditions that have proven sound over time;
--a suspicion of newness and change for its own sake, innovation, the drive to fix things that might not be broken, glitz and novelty;
--fiscal prudence and moderation;
--very careful attention to the separation of the public and private spheres, and a fierce resistance to governmental intrusion into things private;
--the impulse to generally limit government and its powers over individuals;
--attachment to localism and smallness--the mom and pop store rather than the big corporation, the family farm over agribusiness;
--a deep aversion to foreign adventures, and a profound disinclination to meddle in other nations' affairs;
--deep honor given to history, both for its own sake in showing us who we are, and for its value in teaching us the limits of what is possible, the constraints that we live under, the bulwark it provides against frothy utopian optimism.
An excellent, though unconventional, representative of what I think of as true conservatism would be Wendell Berry, whose essay in response to 9/11 and its aftermath can be found here. Another view can be found at Republicans for Humility.
It should go without saying that George Bush represents a travesty of these values. I feel for those voters whose beliefs and disposition tend towards traditional conservatism, and who are left essentially with no one to vote for in this melee.
It also should go without saying that I myself am very much a traditional liberal; but as such I value the bulwarking presence of true conservatism in the political system, the voices of those who urge caution and restraint in the face of my own drive toward change and upheaval. We need both sides to keep the ship upright and sailing straightforward. My condolences to the conservatives in my reading audience; and I hope that my fellow liberals aren't misled by Bush & Co's appropriation of the "conservative" label to cover their essential radicalism, and will find ways to value those whose stance on particulars of policy differ from theirs.
And now for something completely different, a few words on why I think the people getting most truly screwed in this election (apart from the folks whose right to vote is getting trashed) are the true conservatives.
My definition of "true conservative," needless to say, has nothing to do with the platform of the US Republican Party in its current incarnation. It harks back, rather, to much older and more honorable roots, and is marked by:
--a dedication to traditions that have proven sound over time;
--a suspicion of newness and change for its own sake, innovation, the drive to fix things that might not be broken, glitz and novelty;
--fiscal prudence and moderation;
--very careful attention to the separation of the public and private spheres, and a fierce resistance to governmental intrusion into things private;
--the impulse to generally limit government and its powers over individuals;
--attachment to localism and smallness--the mom and pop store rather than the big corporation, the family farm over agribusiness;
--a deep aversion to foreign adventures, and a profound disinclination to meddle in other nations' affairs;
--deep honor given to history, both for its own sake in showing us who we are, and for its value in teaching us the limits of what is possible, the constraints that we live under, the bulwark it provides against frothy utopian optimism.
An excellent, though unconventional, representative of what I think of as true conservatism would be Wendell Berry, whose essay in response to 9/11 and its aftermath can be found here. Another view can be found at Republicans for Humility.
It should go without saying that George Bush represents a travesty of these values. I feel for those voters whose beliefs and disposition tend towards traditional conservatism, and who are left essentially with no one to vote for in this melee.
It also should go without saying that I myself am very much a traditional liberal; but as such I value the bulwarking presence of true conservatism in the political system, the voices of those who urge caution and restraint in the face of my own drive toward change and upheaval. We need both sides to keep the ship upright and sailing straightforward. My condolences to the conservatives in my reading audience; and I hope that my fellow liberals aren't misled by Bush & Co's appropriation of the "conservative" label to cover their essential radicalism, and will find ways to value those whose stance on particulars of policy differ from theirs.
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I am, however, pleased beyond all reason that I got to cast a vote for Barack Obama today.
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I'm envious that you got to vote for Obama. Wanna do that too some day.
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My first *memory* of a President was watching Nixon leave the White House on tv and my father muttering "cretinous fucker" and my mother shushing him. I was five.
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I've never been entirely sure if Dukakis was a traditional liberal. My father would say he was, and my memories of that campaign would tend to agree with him, but I was still doing drugs so I don't trust my memory.
I am utterly certain that Dukakis is responsible for abdicating the right of liberals to define themselves by refusing to defend the label after Bush Sr tainted it.
I remember watching Nixon's resignation on TV with my father too. No one shushed him and his only comment was "Don't let those tears fool you. He's not sorry. He's crying because he lost all that power."
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No wonder my mother decided to stay in Europe for 8 years. She nearly died when I started listening to Paul Harvey on AFN (American Forces Networks). She didn't understand I would listen to anything that was in English - 1950s reruns of the Shadow, the Green Hornet or TX-1000. Even Radio Free Europe or the Russian counter programs broaddcast in English. European radio in the evening - you could catch different opinions in 7 languages.