I appreciate very much Daniel's cogent defense of my USA Today column, especially this passage of mine, which has caused some controversy:
Today, the greatest threats to conservative interests come not from the Soviet Union or high taxes, but from too much individual freedom. Look around you: Americans have been poor stewards of our economic liberty, owing to cultural values that celebrate unfettered materialism. Our families and communities have fragmented, in part because we have embraced an ethic of extreme individualism. Climate change and a peak in oil production threaten our future because we have been irresponsible caretakers of the natural world and its resources. At best, the religious right stood ineffectively against these trends. At worst, we preached them, mistaking consumerism for conservatism.All political problems, traditional conservatism teaches, are ultimately religious problems because they result from disordered souls. In the era now dawning, Americans will learn again to live within limits -- and together.
As Daniel puts it:
It is remarkable how vehemently some conservatives have reacted against this passage. Do any of them really disagree that "Americans have been poor stewards of our economic liberty, owing to cultural values that celebrate unfettered materialism"? Would they really deny that we have a culture that celebrates unfettered materialism? They might reasonably deny that they personally celebrate unfettered materialism, but Rod was speaking generally. Instead of taking seriously an exhortation to self-criticism and reflection, Rod's critics have, as usual, resorted to whining.
Yes, because the only people who have misused the blessings of liberty and prosperity are Others. Not us conservatives, no sir. We don't have to reform ourselves and rethink our understanding of how best to order our politics by first re-ordering our own souls.
Once again, MacIntyre is vindicated: in America, all political arguments are among conservative liberals, liberal liberals, and radical liberals.
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Mr. Deuce:
You seem to believe that regulation infantilizes (if that's a word) Americans, i.e. regulation promotes an infantile populace.
I'm sorry but I disagree.
Does requiring drug manufacturers to properly test their products before selling them as the latest life-saving advancement cause me to be infantile?
What about product safety?
I agree that sometimes things can go too far: I do not need to be reminded that coffee is hot or that I should not let an infant use a plastic bag as a Halloween mask.
But I have no control over many aspects of my corporate-controlled life in modern society. I can choose to be Amish or I can choose to be a regular American. If I am a regular American, I expect some regulation.
Sheree, you're wrong here. What infantilizes people, is taking choices away because those choices MIGHT harm that person. That is, taking away any possibility of making a choice to harm yourself, or on the other hand, removing the consequences of popular bad choices.
Nobody here is suggesting that any company should be allowed to make up a drug and market it for curing aids, when all it does is imitate crack cocaine. This isn't about the "regulation" that is referred to. What is referred to, is the cities that have banned fatty food, smoking, and so on.
That is the very problem we've been facing and now has come back to bite us. People have not suffered the consequences of their behavior for far too long, and now we're seeing the intemperate decisions, bad investments, attempts to violate laws of finance, and a host of other economic, social and cultural decisions coming home to roost.
Preventing people from making the decisions and shielding them from the consequences does not mature them, or make them wise. It merely leaves us untested, untried, and immature...
Re: People have not suffered the consequences of their behavior for far too long
I'm not sure I see this. If we're talking about people who intemperate behavior (smoking, over-eating etc.) leads to health problems, then those very health problems are the consequences of their actions and they do suffer them. The problem is that the cosnequences are much-delayed, often not being produced for years later. And this has always been true. We humans are better than other creatures when it comes to perceiving the future, but our time window for seeing cause and effect, other than in a purely abstract way, does seem to be a bit brief. We know not to stick our hand in a flame bcause the pain is immediate. But no such reflex warns us not to smoke.
The only possible exception anyone could take to your position, Rod, is they don't want their freedoms trampled by government or other power-holders. Very well, then, neither you nor any other good patriot would support THAT, so, we must govern ourselves.
Individual freedom with very little expectation of responsibility is precisely what is wrong with us as a society. It's great having the freedom of speech. But our RESPONSIBILITY is to use it wisely, to respect others, possibly to exhort or teach them if we know anything at all and they want to learn. You can't legislate or dictate every responsibility (nor should you), because individual responsibility varies from person to person. But there are a large pile of them, unused, in the corner (care for your parents when they are old, care for your children, whether you are married to their other parent or not, consider joining the military as you enjoy all these nice rights, clean up your neighborhood, as it in fact your neighborhood, pay your bills, manage any money entrusted to you wisely, etc and etc!), and folks need to quit partying and take them up or this mess is never going to get any better.
Freedom without obligation doesn't even make a person happy, let alone what it does to a society. You can have all the liberty you want, but fulfill your obligations, all of them. It's what being a grown-up means.
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