Conservatives, Liberals, and The State
The Analects of Dawoud Kringle part 14
Neoliberalism prioritizes a free market. It believes that minimal governmental involvement ensures a stronger and more efficient economy that's beneficial to businesses and consumers alike. Conservatives hold an almost identical view.
The real differences - and similarities - between liberal and conservative ideologies are based entirely upon economics. These economics are based on the necessity of commerce, wealth, and provision, but also on cultural conditioning and individual psychology.
There is another similarity that must be addressed. This is the prioritizing of profit over human well-being. Remove the facade of liberalism or conservatism, and you will find that an elite of humans place profit above all else. This includes basic human empathy, principles and ideals, and even a scientific and rational mode of survival and sustainability (in the form of "unlimited expansion, which inevitably leads to environmental damage, depletion of finite resources, and the trap of fractional reserve banking which must create valueless money to allow corporate entities to finance their operations). In the end, criminality becomes not only an attractive luxury but an operational necessity.
Liberalism and conservatism alike pretend to solve these problems. This is a lie: they exist only to perpetuate this overall phenomenon.
One of history's greatest ironies is how deeply Nazis (far right) and communists (far left) hate each other; and at the same time how closely they resemble each other. In the end, the real difference between them is definable only through economics and the distribution of wealth.
There is a basic fact about conservatism and liberalism often overlooked. The basic concept of conservatism is to preserve civilization and keep the structure of society intact. The basic concept of liberalism is to allow a dynamic flexibility within civilization to be able to adapt to changing conditions
Conservatives and liberals alike are blissfully unaware of the roots of the ideologies they profess to support. They are even more unaware that these concepts pushed to their extreme are among the most efficient ways of destroying the civilization they are in.
Conservatives tend to view any kind of change as a threat. In the case of violence, social unrest, invading armies, etc. they are correct. In some older civilizations, especially agrarian-based Asian civilizations, the networks that supported civilization prioritized cooperation over conflict, and serenity over progress.
After the Black Plague, India, China, and the Muslim world turned towards staunch conservatism to rebuild their damaged societies. This turned out to be profitable only in the short term. Europe, on the other hand, went through its Reformation, the age of exploration, the Renaissance, and the scientific revolution. This allowed European civilization to successfully impose itself upon and exploit other civilizations. Despite a tradition of superior scientific development and philosophical discourse, ultra-conservative civilizations of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa lacked any frame of reference wherein they could develop technologies that could level the playing field. China and the Muslim world interpreted this as something that never happened before and therefore, could never happen again.
It took them centuries to recover from the effects of their conservatism.
The United States is in danger of the same thing. And we have the ultra-conservatives to thank for it.
On the other hand, extremes in liberal reform are just as dangerous.
When reformers gain too much power, they become blind to anything beyond their quasi-utopian fantasies. Inevitably, they become the cause of bloody horrors. A cursory glance at the French Revolution, the German national socialists after WW1, the Bolsheviks and communists in Russia, the nationalists and communists in China is all perfect examples of this. They destroy all moral boundaries for no reason other than gaining total power to reshape society into their image.
Czarist Russia was at the point where it was becoming a truly advanced civilization. Its industries were growing and progressing, its music and art were exemplary, and its influence was felt throughout Europe and Asia. The communists destroyed this. Despite some very impressive accomplishments (especially in the area of pioneering space exploration), its real potential was thwarted, and in many ways, it found itself a shell of a nation. There is so little faith in the Russian economy that there are more rubles outside Russia than inside. It is attempting desperate methods to repair this damage and regain what it has lost. The Soviets destroyed every good thing Russian civilization had to usher in its utopian fantasy.
Another perfect example is China. One instructive event is the Cultural Revolution. Mao Zedong thought he could use political ideology to rewrite human nature. In the end, he started a bizarre civil war that damaged his nation. It destroyed 4000 years of one of humanity's greatest civilizations, and replaced it with the biggest nothing in history.
Governments inexorably evolve toward aristocratic forms. As this happens, there is an increasing trend toward acting in the exclusive interest of the ruling class. It is irrelevant whether it is a theocracy, hereditary royalty, bureaucracy, financial oligarchy, or a political ideology yet to be invented. No government in human history has ever deviated from this pattern. No government can operate differently.
The state is not intelligent, wise, or even competent enough to manage every aspect of civilization. Yet its hubris convinces itself that its genius makes it its god. The followers of the state that embrace extremes of either conservatism or liberalism are even less intelligent, wise, and competent. They have no understanding of the patterns of history and are easily manipulated into following any tyrant who is skillful in pushing their emotional buttons.
The people on both sides of any political disagreement thought that they had a revolution. But the truth is they failed to free their minds; they just buried it in the sand. Everything they thought would empower them has left them powerless.
Many of them have been scared into even more submission. The fear that all tyrants thrive upon has swallowed us, digested us, and regurgitated us. The people they thought they rebelled against took their revolution, packaged it like any other product, turned their dissent into stolen intellectual property, and sold their dreams of an imaginary utopia back to them. The revolution was not only televised, it was streamed live with commercial breaks. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the whole revolution was their idea instead of the people who tried to make a revolution. The people have been lobotomized and made stars in a reality show. We’ve been herded into a position where we exchange our privacy for security, our dignity for safety, and Revolution for repression. The people are even building their prison and putting themselves into debt to pay for the construction and maintenance. They wanted us to cultivate and live by our own worst qualities.
Now you could blame capitalism, or liberalism, or this part,y or that group of people. Point your fingers and shout accusations at whoever you wish until your nose bleeds. It will do no good and produce no useful result. The truth is, if you want to find the one to blame, all you need is a mirror.