As I get older, I notice many of my contemporaries seem to lose energy and retreat into conservatism. Conservatives, they’re the mad ones, mad at change, at government, at minorities. They blame scapegoats, instead of doing the hard work of finding solutions. Their scapegoats are usually those whose rights are restricted or denied, like the poor, minorities, women, immigrants.
Conservatives tend to be intolerant of others and put money first. H.L. Mencken said that the problem with conservatives is that they not only try to make us think as they do, they also try to make us do as they think.
Under the guise of individual responsibility, they deny we’re all in this together. The conservative wants to pull up the ladder behind them once they’ve reached a level of success and security. The progressive wants the ladder to stay in place for the next guy.
Progressives passionately take on their causes and work for and take chances for progress. Conservatives insist they have all the answers, which are simplistic and would recreate the good old days, which never really existed.
Thomas Jefferson said that people are naturally divided into two parties: those who fear and distrust the people and wished to take all power away from them, and those who identify with all the people.
In the first half of the 1800s, the big issue was slavery. Conservatives were for it and its expansion into new territories and states. Progressives were against it.
In the 1960s, the issue was segregation. Conservatives wanted to retain it and were opposed to the civil rights movement. Conservatives opposed the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Conservatives opposed Social Security, the minimum wage, federal bank deposit insurance, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the labor relations laws, all progressive programs that saved our nation from financial ruin and made it strong. It was conservatives who opposed Medicare and supported expansion of the Vietnam war.
Now they oppose universal medical care and consumer protection.
Charles de Montesquieu wrote, “All men are created equal, but they cannot continue in their equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of law.”
Who encourages and defends the loss of equality? Who promotes equality with the protection of laws?
The greatest presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, were all progressives of their day. History shows they made our nation stronger and better. Compare them to the current conservative president.
Democracy has many blemishes, setbacks and problems, and the devil’s in the details. It’s not easy and takes much time. The conservative’s song might be attractive to those who aren’t much concerned about the future. But conservatives are on the losing side of history. And our nation is and will be better off as a result.
Mark Van Pernis lives in Kona.