“...and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire....”
Matthew 5:22
I was seriously concerned about conservative ideology after our 2016 presidential election. I'd long been aware and somewhat troubled by it. (Although I think that as a young engineer I probably voted for Reagan at least once. And I went to see Billy Graham once.) When I realized that large majorities in many of our states had chosen to hand the keys to the White House to an ignorant, self-deluded, bullying dope, it got my attention.
What would motivate so many people to turn over so much power to a man who you wouldn’t trust with your car keys, wouldn’t leave alone with your kids, wouldn’t invite into your house? As I studied the man it became increasingly clear to me that he venerates only himself, makes a virtue of self-interest, concocts facts to suit his fancy, uses his power to deprive others of theirs, enlists others to fight his battles, admires bigger bullies when he finds them, and rewards help with scorn. On top of this, he showed neither inclination nor ability to facilitate any kind of a purposeful collaborative effort. Nor was there any record that he had ever done anything for anyone else. These things were clearly not clear, though, to his supporters, who continue to dote on him.
A lot of what we've seen recently, though, isn't new. Conservatives are always there, doing conservative things, keeping things from running amok on behalf of you and me. There's always a tinge of authoritarianism in the background. Now the authoritarianism has moved a bit upstage. We've seen that before, and the memories are at the best sobering.
Whatever was going on here, I couldn't understand it in terms of what I’ve believed about my country, my countrymen, my political system. So, self-referential privileged elite that I am (liberally educated, I mean), I was drawn into a project of improving my own understanding of all of this. Arrogant, aloof from the real America, I followed events and exposed myself to the hard-earned conclusions and surmises of professional intellectuals. "What a moroon," as Bugs might say if he weren't a liberal.
These essays are the result of that work. Some of what I’ve now come to believe about this has surprised me, but what has surprised me more has been how emotional this process has been for me. I’ve come to see that the ideological tensions that have become so obvious in our public life have been a powerful force in my personal life, starting even in childhood. I've had a number of most painful encounters with authoritarian conservatives in authority. Not only painful, but damaging. And, as my daughter likes to note but I frankly hadn't noticed, I'm one of the privileged.
There seems to be innate tension between freedom of thought and belief on the one hand and sharing the world on the other. The evidence for this is ubiquitous, enough so that one might argue it's unavoidable, a fixed feature of the human condition. How many of our leaders have been rudely dismissed from the public discourse for saying what they thought? Socrates, Jesus, Jean d’Arc, Galileo, Martin Luther King, are some whose stories many of us know. The Martin Luther who started the Reformation had to hide out in a castle, with a little help from his friends. Abolitionists, protestants, Arianists, Manichaeans, witches, communists, Wobblies, and many other groups have been suppressed, it can be cogently argued, much more because of their beliefs than for any overt harm they did.
These tensions don’t show up only in epic personal struggles or ideologically-framed political fights-to-the-death. They show up in our individual lives. And not just in the lives of those whose essential beings transgress others’ norms (such as the black, the gay and transgendered), but in the lives of people who are demographically very normal, even privileged. As I see the faces of conservatism I realize that they see right and wrong, good and bad, in a fundamentally different way than I do. That isn't bad in itself, but they feel called upon to suppress differences. As I relive memories dredged up by my explorations, my view of the events as my misfortunes or my mistakes is flavored with a view of them as manifestations of a pattern. It seems that some beliefs are not acceptable because of what is believed to be at stake. Our beliefs make us enemies. My view of conservatism as an individual choice was overlaid with a view of conservatism as an ancient and organized project.
"The Pitch" is about the conservative message. It describes be the basic message as I see it; the ideological form of the message and what that form entails; some recent conservative rhetoric; some specific ideological claims.
"The Mark and the Draw" explores questions that are sometimes puzzlers for some of us. Why are some of us conservative, others less so? What is it about conservatism that's attractive? The question of the hour, Why does conservatism lately look like authoritarianism? The answers I offer come from the work of social scientists who have been puzzling over this for a long while. The research has built up an understanding of conservatism which is increasingly specific and has eerily predicted much of what we’ve recently been surprised or alarmed by.
“God On Our Side” is a personal analysis based on some science, some history, and some personal experience of Christian teachings and churches. I look at what the religion teaches its members about right and wrong. You may be surprised on seeing it laid out clearly, although my wife, always ahead of me, wasn't.
“Living in a Conservative World” discusses the conservatism and authoritarianism built into the systems of our modern world. You might call it systemic conservatism, or even systemic authoritarianism, depending on your mood. It’s the often un-noticed stage on which we live our lives.
“Where We Stand” contains some of my take-aways from all of this reading and thinking, implications of the analysis.
“What We Can Do” comes last. It would be too sad, after looking closely at all this, not to suggest how we might influence these processes with individual actions. Raindrops, and tears, form rivers.
You can read through in order if you like by following the "Next" links at the bottom. Or you can follow the TOC link and explore.
You will notice that I make little distinction throughout these writings between moderate conservatism and extreme authoritarianism. Surely the real problem is the extremism? The facts say that isn't so. What separates moderate conservatism from extremism is a slippery slope that's deliberately greased by a powerful and purposeful propaganda machine. The truth of this claim of continuity is attested by our current situation. The need to make your moral preferences canonical seems to be awfully strong. You'll find it hard to argue with this once you know the evidence.
The quote that introduces this page is attributed to Jesus in his sermon on the mount. At Matthew 5:21 He was talking about getting along with “your brother.” Whether he meant by this your literal brother or your metaphoric brother, I don't know. He clearly meant that we should be respectful and conciliatory toward those with whom we interact. Like much of what he is said to have said, this sounds right to me. We have to get along. As to the hell of fire, to what purpose it would exist, I can't understand. My faith is that God is neither foolish nor vindictive.
I have tried to avoid saying, “You fool!” in these writings, but it's not always easy. Not because I think that I’m particularly disposed to call names. My understanding, though, is that commitment to conservative beliefs is very much under the sway of emotional influences, and our collective knowledge confirms that it is. If I'm right, these emotions should be controlled by our rational faculties, just like our other dangerous passions. The accepted rhetoric of conservatism works against this eventuality.
This poor boy tries to hold on to his belief in a good and rational human nature in the face of evidence that is more easily explained as foolishness. So please try to forgive me to the extent that I have cried, “You fool!” against anyone or everyone. And please read what I have found. If you do, you can support another recalcitrant belief of mine, that knowledge of good and evil is not destructive but redemptive.
Next: The Pitch
© 2021, Ross A. Hangartner