Unite the Right
It happens everywhere. In a world where socialism is expanding on almost every front, some on the right would rather attack their allies than their opponents.
I see it in New Zealand quite often-libertarians attack conservatives and both attack the "religious right."
It's a bit like Aussie and Kiwi soldiers slagging off at each other and the "Poms" in a WW1 trench while 10,000 bayonet drawn Huns are advancing on them all through "no man's land".
I expect this kind of self indulgence to intensify now that the various factions of the New Zealand right are no longer united by the Clark/Cullen bogey. However I sincerely hope it doesn't-which is why i'm writing this post.
With National and ACT in power, the right needs to unite more than ever to pressure the government for meaningful reform. We have a short window of opportunity to turn New Zealand around. The rest of the world is going socialist at breakneck pace. New Zealand is the one bright light in a very dark void at the moment.
Let's not squander our great opportunities with silly scrapping.
The American Thinker website carries an excellent article by libertarian activist Randall Hoven.
A Libertarian Defense of Social Conservatism
In it, Hoven points out the obvious fact that religious and social conservatives are libertarians real friends.
Social conservatism is taking a beating lately. Not only did it lose in the recent elections, it is being blamed for the Republican losses. If only the religious right would get off the Republican Party's back, the GOP could win like it is supposed to again. I beg to differ...
I have no problem with "social conservatives" or the "religious right" and their supposed influence on the Republican party. I base this not on the Bible or historical authority, but on the love of liberty and the evidence of my own eyes.
The most obvious point to me is that it is the do-gooding liberals who are telling us all what we can and can't do. The religious right usually just wants to be left alone, either to home school, pray in public or not get their children vaccinated with who-knows-what. Inasmuch as the "religious right" wants some things outlawed, they have failed miserably for at least the last 50 years. Abortion, sodomy, and pornography are now all Constitutional rights. However, praying in public school is outlawed, based on that same Constitution.
Just think for a moment about the things you are actually forced to do or are prevented from doing. Seat belts. Motorcycle helmets. Bicycle helmets. Smoking. Gun purchase and ownership restrictions. Mandatory vaccines for your children. Car emissions inspections. Campaign ad and contribution restrictions. Saying a prayer at a public school graduation or football game. Trash separation and recycling. Keeping the money you earned. Gas tax. Telephone tax. Income tax. FICA withholding. Fill in this form. Provide ID.
For the most part, the list just cited is post-1960. Neither Pat Robertson nor James Dobson ever forced any of that on us...
Randall Hoven points out that both libertarians and conservatives have a common interest in preserving what made America great. Just as we do in New Zealand.
We should be especially careful in tinkering with the most successful society ever to exist on this planet. I would hope I wouldn't have to defend that claim. By 1969 we put man on the moon and brought him back safely. We were the richest and most free country on earth. Immigrants flocked to our shores. We had defeated some of the most despicable regimes in history. Our schools were the envy of the world and our people produced more patents than any other country.
Shouldn't we have some humility about changing the most fundamental institutions that got us to that point? Things like traditional marriage, the nuclear family, schools, private property, the free market and the Bill of Rights? That is not to say we don't change them at all. But let's be careful, incremental and be prepared to change the change. Do not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Hoven gets his priorities right.
When the day comes that the only thing between me and liberty are some Bible-quoting know-it-alls, I'll reconsider. But right now, there are a lot of things between me and liberty, and the "religious right" is not one of them. In fact, I see them voting for more liberty, not less. If the Republican Party ever decides it really wants to be the party of liberty, rather than the slower-road-to-socialism party, I'll gladly join the religious right there.
Read the whole article. Then think about it next time you want to slag off at a potential friend.
Don't we need all we can get?
I see it in New Zealand quite often-libertarians attack conservatives and both attack the "religious right."
It's a bit like Aussie and Kiwi soldiers slagging off at each other and the "Poms" in a WW1 trench while 10,000 bayonet drawn Huns are advancing on them all through "no man's land".
I expect this kind of self indulgence to intensify now that the various factions of the New Zealand right are no longer united by the Clark/Cullen bogey. However I sincerely hope it doesn't-which is why i'm writing this post.
With National and ACT in power, the right needs to unite more than ever to pressure the government for meaningful reform. We have a short window of opportunity to turn New Zealand around. The rest of the world is going socialist at breakneck pace. New Zealand is the one bright light in a very dark void at the moment.
Let's not squander our great opportunities with silly scrapping.
The American Thinker website carries an excellent article by libertarian activist Randall Hoven.
A Libertarian Defense of Social Conservatism
In it, Hoven points out the obvious fact that religious and social conservatives are libertarians real friends.
Social conservatism is taking a beating lately. Not only did it lose in the recent elections, it is being blamed for the Republican losses. If only the religious right would get off the Republican Party's back, the GOP could win like it is supposed to again. I beg to differ...
I have no problem with "social conservatives" or the "religious right" and their supposed influence on the Republican party. I base this not on the Bible or historical authority, but on the love of liberty and the evidence of my own eyes.
The most obvious point to me is that it is the do-gooding liberals who are telling us all what we can and can't do. The religious right usually just wants to be left alone, either to home school, pray in public or not get their children vaccinated with who-knows-what. Inasmuch as the "religious right" wants some things outlawed, they have failed miserably for at least the last 50 years. Abortion, sodomy, and pornography are now all Constitutional rights. However, praying in public school is outlawed, based on that same Constitution.
Just think for a moment about the things you are actually forced to do or are prevented from doing. Seat belts. Motorcycle helmets. Bicycle helmets. Smoking. Gun purchase and ownership restrictions. Mandatory vaccines for your children. Car emissions inspections. Campaign ad and contribution restrictions. Saying a prayer at a public school graduation or football game. Trash separation and recycling. Keeping the money you earned. Gas tax. Telephone tax. Income tax. FICA withholding. Fill in this form. Provide ID.
For the most part, the list just cited is post-1960. Neither Pat Robertson nor James Dobson ever forced any of that on us...
Randall Hoven points out that both libertarians and conservatives have a common interest in preserving what made America great. Just as we do in New Zealand.
We should be especially careful in tinkering with the most successful society ever to exist on this planet. I would hope I wouldn't have to defend that claim. By 1969 we put man on the moon and brought him back safely. We were the richest and most free country on earth. Immigrants flocked to our shores. We had defeated some of the most despicable regimes in history. Our schools were the envy of the world and our people produced more patents than any other country.
Shouldn't we have some humility about changing the most fundamental institutions that got us to that point? Things like traditional marriage, the nuclear family, schools, private property, the free market and the Bill of Rights? That is not to say we don't change them at all. But let's be careful, incremental and be prepared to change the change. Do not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Hoven gets his priorities right.
When the day comes that the only thing between me and liberty are some Bible-quoting know-it-alls, I'll reconsider. But right now, there are a lot of things between me and liberty, and the "religious right" is not one of them. In fact, I see them voting for more liberty, not less. If the Republican Party ever decides it really wants to be the party of liberty, rather than the slower-road-to-socialism party, I'll gladly join the religious right there.
Read the whole article. Then think about it next time you want to slag off at a potential friend.
Don't we need all we can get?
posted by Trevor Loudon at
11/24/2008 10:00:00 PM
9 Comments:
Mystics are not our friends, not our allies.
It would be highly convenient if the battle for freedom were only against the Left. That would make life so much easier and victory would be at hand!
But it's not even that part of the political world we're up against, it's not even the political realm itself. It's 2000+ years of mad culture that puts unchosen obligations on individuals at every level. Without the central premise that we don't own our own lives and have the capability to know our own lives (within and without) nothing in politics matters.
Ditching the mystical influence from your life is of primary importance. Compromising and enabaling it for secondary aims is what kills us.
My dear Rick
Have you not in the last few months been working with Christians, unionists, social conservatives and other "riff raff" in order to get more ACT MPs into Parliament?
Did you compromise your Objectivist ideals in doing so?
No-I believe you did the right thing.
Nobody was in doubt as to your core values, but you were willing to work with those who didn't share all of them, to increase the level of freedom in this country.
That's what i am talking about. You don't have to abandon or compromise your ideals to make common cause with others.
ACT members disagree on many things, but are united on certain values common to us all.
That's all you need to make progress.
Well said Trevor.
Progress toward what?
Bit too much of your trust in politicians I think! The real ball game is one-to-one relationships we have with other people about the values that politics are a far away extention thereof.
That's the true battle and you're encouraging us to give ground.
Politics is not the prize.
More than happy to cooperate on common ground with the various species of the uninformed so long as they're doing good. But I've never silenced myself over their violent illusions for the sake of "progress."
Pretty silly comments from Randall Hoven - suggesting that teaming up with people who want to ban homosexual sex, gay marriage, abortion etc. will advance freedom suggests that he's only interested in freedom for certain people.
There seems to be a few people around who like to claim the trendy title 'Libertarian' while being quite authoritarian at heart.
Cheers
Sam Buchanan
Good point Trev,
we recently saw many of the lefts single issue pressure groups join forces to achieve a democratic goal.
Can a coalition of people with different values work together to achieve the freedom to pursue them?
Trevor,
Bit of fun.. You have been tagged.
http://puntiki.blogspot.com/2008/11/tagged-by-heine.html
Puntiki
Good quote from Reagan RB.
I'm not trying to slag off the Libz here-I have a lot of respect for them as an organisation and many of them on an individual basis.
I'm attacking sectarianism wherever its found, but in particular when it's directed against "conservative" christians.
The Western World was founded, defended and sustained by such people.
We owe them a lot and should work to build bridges with such people rather than be manipulated by the left into ostracising them.
The left wants to keep the right divided.
Why fall into their trap?
I've been saying what you're saying for years. The right has to unite. That means the social liberals getting over their intolerance of religion. They won't. Not while they're led by the nose by the militant homosexual faction.
They just cannot see it. Rant and rave about liberty, but never make any gains. Always lose. Had this same discussion on Liberty Scott's blog a few weeks ago. Same reaction. Hate intolerance and scorn. I'm really turned off by the NZ Libz at the moment. Small minded fuckwits. Exactly the same intolerance, attitude and often words as I noticed in the left when I first started confronting them way back in 1999/2000.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home