There seems to be a flaw in how we delineate political thought these days. It’s something conservatives have at least acknowledged. Liberals on the other hand have chosen to ignore the problem altogether, and that could be detrimental to the success of their cause.
First, you have to understand a bit about societal development that scholars such as Jean Piaget and Carl Jung have written about extensively. There was a time when societies were ethnocentric. There was a lot of tribalism, wars between tribes and group control that emerged 5,000 years ago. About 300 years ago the modern age of values began. Democracies rose. Scientific and rational thought emerged. Today, we are entering a post-modern era with values of relativism and multiple perspectives taking hold.
When you study modern scholars you begin to understand that ideally each evolution of society should improve upon the other. Building upon and integrating each worldview theoretically is progress.
But a problem occurs when a worldview deems it is mutually exclusive of the other views. This superior attitude has caused many problems and actually devolves society toward levels such as tribalism when a view insists on dividing people by groups. The result is chaos between those tribes.
There really isn’t a true right and left political spectrum. But we will use that as a measure because that’s how people are taught to view political thought. On the far right there are certainly problems. But conservatives seem to be getting a handle on where to draw the lines.
Conservatives have denounced and dissociate themselves with extreme groups such as militia organizations, violent anti-abortion activists or white supremacists. Those are good places to draw lines.
Original conservative leader William F. Buckely was the first to define the boundaries of conservatism when he and the editors at the National Review officially denounced or excluded such groups trying to coop the conservative title. He was an admirer of Martin Luther King, denounced white supremacists, anti-Semites and even Ayn Rand as he felt her hostility to religion made her philosophy unacceptable to understanding conservatism. So there is no question conservatives understand rational boundaries and those who don’t, should.
Conservatives still have blurred lines when it comes to things like the LGBT community. There are Log Cabin Republican organizations run by LGBT leaders. But conservatives who espouse government getting out of people’s lives still struggle with staying out of people’s bedrooms. This is a small problem for conservatives. But Log Cabin Republicans are growing to help address the problem from inside the party.
When violent, racist groups or anti-Semitics try to raise a conservative banner, they should be denounced and most of the time they are. Many followed Buckley’s lead. Conservatives don’t always do a perfect job at defining conservative thought, but there is evidence they try.
Liberals aren’t even trying to draw lines. This is a mistake because liberals have some good points that society could build upon. Human rights and equality for all are good liberal positions, for example. But they’ve allowed extremists to pull egalitarianism too far by techniques of tribalism and identity politics. This is the downfall of good ideas Democrats contribute to society.
Where should they draw the line? That’s a good question. Conservatives would say equal opportunity should be the goal but you’d have to draw the line at equal outcomes. There are a host of problems when you try to guarantee equal outcomes. That’s a start.
Capitalist systems espouse equal opportunity and mostly deliver. Communist systems espouse equal outcomes and have failed miserably throughout history. This is a problem.
Liberals have resuscitated a failed economic system, repackaged it and hijacked a political party as Democrats have gone along willingly.
There is room for honest debate with liberals with noble ideas. Marxists are a different story and simply dangerous. Conservatives are figuring out how to box in their radicals. Hopefully, liberals will do the same.
