Economic Conservatism Chinese Style

Welcome friends!

I thought this time out I might as well complete my thoughts from last week.  In case you can’t remember back that far or have chosen to forget, which would be entirely understandable, I was discussing how I spend most of my time fighting the good fight against the two headed monster of conservatism here in the US but I realize each head of our domestic monster has a foreign counterpart that’s both uglier and meaner.  Last time I talked about social conservatism in majority Muslim countries, which makes our own domestic social conservatism look like tiddlywinks.  This time I thought I might say a few words about the strident economic conservatism coming out of the authoritarian market state that is contemporary China, which I suppose in some ways must represent an alluring albeit as yet unattainable Shangri-La for economic conservatives here in the US.  

I suppose if you’re a relative old timer like me and you haven’t been following the news very closely for the past several decades you may have a little trouble visualizing contemporary China... Sorry but only selected archived (previous year) posts are currently available full text on this website.  All posts including this one are available in my annual anthology ebook series available at the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for a nominal fee.  Hey, we all need to make a buck somehow, right?  If you find my timeless jewels of wisdom amusing or perhaps even amusingly irritating throw me a bone now and then.  Thank you my friends!

Social Conservatism Muslim Style

Welcome friends!

I was just thinking the other day how everything is relative.  Take conservatism for example.  I’m always railing against the two headed monster of conservatism that dwells here in the US.  But each head of our domestic monster has a corresponding foreign head that’s twice as ugly and twice as mean.  Of course, maybe it’s not an appropriate comparison.  I’m living here so I’m mostly concerned with the monster in my backyard.  People in other countries can do whatever they want as far as I’m concerned if only they remember to stay far, far away and not try to fly a plane into my house.  But maybe that’s unrealistic.  Trade, transportation, and communications have evolved to such an extent that I suppose in some ways we’re all basically living in the same great global village.  There’s a scary thought.  Maybe I do have to keep an eye on the two headed monster of foreign conservatism as well.  But I don’t like it.  No siree; I don’t like it one little bit.

Well, let’s take social conservatism first.  Now when I think of social conservatism run amok I tend to think mostly of conservatives in those predominantly Muslim countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East because they seem to me to exemplify a certain particularly virulent form of social conservatism that doesn’t mince words when it comes to opposing the liberal ethos that underlies our American way of life and the ways of life of many of our liberal comrades around the globe as well.  (The corresponding locus of foreign economic conservatism must be the authoritarian market state that China has become, but let’s do one thing at a time, shall we?)  If you think American conservatives are at odds with the liberal ethos you should check out an article I read the other day about the results of a survey someone took a few years ago of attitudes in the Muslim world.  A clash of civilizations you say?  Well, I don’t know anything about that.  It seems to me we’ve got plenty of conservatives right here who think along the same general lines as our bearded foreign friends.  And there are plenty of Muslims both here and abroad who don’t subscribe to the sort of rabid social conservatism that is the subject of my post today.  If you think my beef is with Islam you’re barking up the wrong tree buddy.  I’m talking about the historical struggle between liberals and humanists on one side and social conservatives on the other.   

The article in question covered so many interesting results; where to begin?  Well, here’s a funny one.  Many of those who responded to this survey supported the adoption of sharia (i.e. Islamic religious law).  At the same time many also claimed to support political democracy at least over the alternative of relying on a strong leader... Sorry but only selected archived (previous year) posts are currently available full text on this website.  All posts including this one are available in my annual anthology ebook series available at the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for a nominal fee.  Hey, we all need to make a buck somehow, right?  If you find my timeless jewels of wisdom amusing or perhaps even amusingly irritating throw me a bone now and then.  Thank you my friends!

The Surprising History of the Republican Party

Welcome friends!

I found myself in a bit of a quandary this week.  I thought at first I might do a little something on that conservative nut job who’s been running around the woods of rural Pennsylvania killing random police officers as part of his own personal war of liberation against the federal government of the US.  Personally I put a good deal of the blame on the Tea Party and its rabid anti-government rhetoric.  It’s probably asking a lot but could we please all try to put a little thought into what we say?  I know most conservative politicians and pundits are just saying whatever they can to stir people up, get themselves or their candidates elected, and shave a bit off their taxes or whatever, but do they know there are some awfully malleable and credulous people out there who take their hateful anti-government rants seriously?  It’s just so unfortunate and yet so damned predictable.  Now that I’m thinking about it I suppose it’s the domestic version of what must go in the Middle East every day.  Just as crazy talk by certain Muslim clerics inevitably leads various bearded hotheads and nut jobs to hide in the desert chopping the heads off little kids so crazy talk by the Tea Party here in the US leads various rural hotheads and nut jobs to hide in the woods shooting random police officers and federal employees.  Nobody intends this sort of thing to happen, of course, but everyone knows it will.  And how about someone murdering people who put their lives on the line every day trying to protect his sorry ass from violent jerks like, well, like himself for example?  You’d think they’d deserve some respect but I guess what comes to mind for these anti-government types is hiding in the shrubbery and shooting them in the back.  But hey, what can I say about that sort of thing that I haven’t already said a million times?  The Tea Party will thrive as long as people here in the US keep buying what it’s peddling and according to the news stories I’ve read on the likely direction of the next batch of Congressional elections people here in the US just can’t get enough of the stuff.  Yes indeed, I suppose the Age of Aquarius is well and truly over.  We’re in the Age of the Conservative Nut Job now.  Hey, that’s funny.  I might have to write up some lyrics for that.  I’m picturing a music video with a pack of assorted fat cats (CEOs, stock brokers, bank officials), a team of corrupt Republican politicians, and a horde of impoverished and educationally challenged countryfolk standing in a circle holding hands and singing about doing away with democracy in favor of the magic of the unfettered marketplace or maybe even of complete anarchy.  In the final scene they all pull out assault rifles and machine guns and start shooting wildly in every direction.  It ends with one of those cat screech sound effects and maybe a baby crying in the distance.

But no, just as I was thinking of doing something on that I read an article dealing with the history of the Republican Party.  I know, that doesn’t sound very interesting, does it?  I almost wasn’t going to read it, but I did, and it was actually so damned amusing that I thought I should say a few words about it.  It made me think how we’re all stuck in the brief moment of our own lifetimes, aren’t we?  It really takes some effort to realize that things weren’t always as they are now nor are they likely to remain as they are now in the future.  Take the Republican Party for example... Sorry but only selected archived (previous year) posts are currently available full text on this website.  All posts including this one are available in my annual anthology ebook series available at the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for a nominal fee.  Hey, we all need to make a buck somehow, right?  If you find my timeless jewels of wisdom amusing or perhaps even amusingly irritating throw me a bone now and then.  Thank you my friends!