Reply #9: thanks [View All]

[Two Americas]

Glad to see this thread generate some interest and good commentary. Excellent point about the "hard wiring" excuse. Recently we had a thread asking people if they thought racism could be eliminated, and many answered that no, it could not, because it was "human nature." That idea is a product of libertarian premises infiltrating and corrupting and perverting liberalism: everything is seen as "personal choice" so that means that to change society we must change human nature so that people make the "right choices." Once we are all "like minded" utopia will be achieved. Until then, we worry about ourselves and do "small things" which are presumed to be "better than nothing" even though they are often much worse than nothing.

Aside from the fact that reforming human nature is traditionally (and appropriately in my opinion) in the realm of religion and not politics, it also happens to be congruent with corporate sales and marketing ideas - we can pander to "human nature" but we can't change it, therefore we cannot effect social change. Most liberal activism takes the form of tent revival evangelizing - converting people to our belief system - or snake oil salesman hucksterism - selling people on our ideas. Modern people actually cannot even imagine any alternative to those approaches.

Come September, all good Democrats will be called upon once again to play Jehovah's Witnesses, going door to door evangelizing people, or telemarketers, doing "phone canvassing." Of course, people hate those two approaches more than anything else. Politics in the neighborhoods I work takes place in the local church, the union hall, Grange Hall, the local greasy spoon, and at the coop. But I am not trying to convert people to the religion (oops, sorry - "spirituality") of modern liberalism, nor trying to sell people on anything.

Notice too that it is only our most base and selfish urges that are called "human nature" and therefore unchangeable, and never our better urges. After all, compassion is every bit as much "human nature" as greed and selfishness are - I would argue more so - yet that is never seen as inevitable and unavoidable. Compassion is inevitable and unavoidable, though.

Modern liberalism is libertarianism with an "organic" label slapped on it.

A few months ago there were a couple of revealing threads here.

In one, the OP asked "are there any circumstances under which you would be willing to risk your life for the sake of your country?"

That thread quickly filled up with dozens and dozens of people vehemently and angrily answering "no!" I think TahitiNut and I were the only two who answered "yes."

Then, shortly after that there was a thread asking "would you be willing to go to jail for your political beliefs?"

Again, we had dozens and dozens of people answering "no" and just a couple who said "yes."

Yet many would have me believe that they are "saving the planet" by riding a bike, and become angry and defensive when I express reservations about that.