High Rollers

Introduction
One of my deepest, life-long frustrations has been the refusal of most people to see the lay of the land, and to act in their own interest. Most people have a really garbled understanding of how the world works, and are susceptible to gobbledy-gook salesmen's words that obfuscate the truth. I feel I have had a better grasp on the world's workings than most people. Perhaps that is arrogant, but I think the evidence favors my claim. Example: The LA Times is once again exposing just what the Great White Bandit is up to. Conservatives want to rule the United States forever

Introduction

One of my deepest, life-long frustrations has been the refusal of most people to see the lay of the land, and to act in their own interest. Most people have a really garbled understanding of how the world works, and are susceptible to gobbledy-gook salesmen's words that obfuscate the truth.

I feel I have had a better grasp on the world's workings than most people. Perhaps that is arrogant, but I think the evidence favors my claim.

Example: The LA Times is once again exposing just what the Great White Bandit is up to. Conservatives want to rule the United States forever

It is not unusual or abnormal for a political party, corporation or person to want to win. We all want to be on top. What distinguishes conservatives, however, is a seeming lack of any reflection on the worthiness or propriety of their desires. American conservatives are notably self-righteous, in the finest tradition of Spanish Inquisitors, Salem witch-hunters and true believers of all times and places.

Liberals - most of those on the Left generally - have always had some doubt about their goals and methods. That doubt is part of the intellectual tradition of liberalism. That is why, for example, the Left is reluctant to endorse or use the death penalty: it is too final. History shows that the condemned are often enough not guilty. Conservatives interpret this reticence about absolutes as weakness. If it is one thing conservatives do not wish to be, it is weak. But liberals believe fair and honest analysis is strength, because one's enemies are never underestimated. If the gods aren't always on your side, you have to make sure you can accomplish your purposes without them.

Conservatives aim to reduce the population to powerlessness and grinding poverty. That's because that fits their views of the world and people. Plato's Republic is the archetype of Western conservativism. (Plato was a conservative aristocrat, an ancient, smarter version of William Buckley.) In the Republic, people are ranked according to the value of their souls: gold, silver, bronze and iron. Plato never makes clear exactly how we are to apprehend "souls," or determine their value, except by some sort of intuition. For Plato, it was obvious who is iron and who gold, and that was an absolute judgement. The difficulty with Plato's view is this: it is simply his judgement. What are we to do if I think a different assortment is gold or silver? What if I do not share Plato's background and prejudices (yes, that is what they are) in evaluating people? For example, suppose I don't approve of arranged marriages, or think people are better because they inherited wealth?

Closer examination of absolute values shows, every time, that they rest on shaky foundations. That statement is fundamentally modern in persepective; it leads directly to political democracy. If one cannot rely on the old verities, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if perception is at best an approximation of "reality" (if there is any reality), one can only rely on the consensus of opinion. The philosophical foundations of political democracy rest on the notion that we people can only apprehend truth indirectly and approximately.

In contrast, the philosophical basis of conservatism rests on absolutism. Consistent conservatives favor absolute government and absolute religion, because they claim insight into absolute truth. There is no relativity in their views, which is why religious conservatives - fundamentalists - insist their particular religion is the only way to salvation. If one accepts the truth of conservative views, State sponsored religion is the logical consquence. Historically, theocratic States and States with an official religion have almost always been based on a conservative philosophy. Thus, the only differences between America's Christian conservatives and Islamic fundamentalists is their choice of gods and guiding documents.

One of the current tragedies of the United States is that absolutist conservatives have come to power, and intend to keep it. That is what the Great White Bandit is all about. If they succeed, it will be the end of democracy - not just Democrats - in America; the end of the great experiment. Is that claim too radical? I think not. Consider, for example, the basis of this Administrations "unilateral" policies. How is it possible that a few men - the neo-conservatives - are so right, right enough to level other nations?

Iraq and Social Security are the thin edge of the conservative wedge. Conservatives have bought off Americans on Iraq with a rush of patriotism, emotion, not thought. Now, there's Social Security. As the LA Times reports,

"If the Republicans can destroy Social Security, if they can privatize it out of existence, then they remove a key foundation stone for a philosophy of governance which says we're all in it together," said Robert B. Reich, former Labor secretary in the Clinton administration and now a professor at Brandeis University near Boston.

These are heady times, the first time since 1776 when it behooves every citizen to think about political philosophy. What sort of country is this?

This is the second time since the Great Depression, and the first since Vietnam, when it is required to act according to ones' philosophy. What sort of government do you want?

I hope it will turn out that Americans will discover themselves as liberals, and defeat the conservative coup d'etat now in progress.