"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."I know a lot of conservatives and know they don't see it this way, but it sure looks like self-serving policy to me.
June 2, 2008
Conservativism
John Kenneth Galbraith:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
See the cult-like devotion surrounding the works of Ayn Rand, for another example.
Sounds like something lacking substance that you would find on a bumper sticker or (if it were shorter) on the cover of a book.
As for Ayn Rand, she may have a cult-like following, but I would say that it is only among a very small group of Libertarians. Considering that her idea of government has never existed, nor will it ever, it can hardly be called conservative.
I am not sure it is fair to accuse one of the smarter economists of the last 75 years "lacking substance." By that logic, any quote lacks substance. Of course this lacks detail--again, find me a quote that has detail--but gets to the heart of where modern conservatism is.
I never said that Galbraith lacked substance, just that quote did. Without any context, it is certainly hard to discuss. I certainly don't agree with it, and have provided links in the past to studies that show conservatives tend to rank higher than liberals in terms of giving to charity.
As for quotes, that same site had a few that were interesting.
When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.
MLK
Conservative. noun. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from a liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.
Ambrose Bierce
A liberal is a person whose interests aren't at stake at the moment.
Willis Player
Yeah, I am not an idiot. I know you can find a quote to match just about any sentiment.
Well I AM an idiot and it was perfectly clear to me what Galbraith was getting at, just as it was clear what King was getting at. (HINT: Not guns and gays.) It's not at all clear how the Bierce quote could be construed as a defense of conservatism, but then again, I AM an idiot . . .
Post a Comment