From the Contributing Editor:
Culture Wars
In America today we are witnessing the culmination of the culture war that has been slowly brewing since the sixties in this election cycle. This fall we will see three presidential debates, which will highlight the two competing sides in this fight. Neither President Bush nor John Kerry is a hairsplitting moderate, and finally we will see a conservative debate a liberal. The election itself I believe is going to be one of the most important in recent history because America will be deciding which path it will follow.
The last election was so very close that a few votes here or there could’ve swung other states besides Florida and Gore could have won. Both sides are doing their dead level best to mobilize their base and turn out the vote. If we have a high voter turn out, and I think that is a good possibility this time, then though current polls show Bush and Kerry mostly running even, either one could hand the other a big defeat. In that case, that ideology would be defeated and America’s course set for the foreseeable future.
The current conflict has been described as ‘secularism vs. traditionalism,’ ‘socialism versus individualism’ or a number of other such terms. Generally speaking, these are actually all accurate descriptions of facets of the two differing worldviews. Conservatives tend to see the world in black and white, good versus evil, clearly defined right versus wrong. Liberals (as defined by today’s environment) see the world in shades of gray, with lots of rationalizing thrown in for good measure. As citizens we have a duty to look closely at the basic tenets of these ideologies and decide which is best for the country as a whole not necessarily just for ourselves. The country has polarized around these two overarching philosophies and a number of former liberals now find themselves being called conservatives.
An example of how things have shifted can be seen in Charleton Heston’s experience. Many years ago he believed that all individuals should be treated the same in accordance with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. So he ends up marching with Dr. Martin Luther King to help Americans of African descent gain all those rights once and for all. He was a liberal and a champion of individualism. Today Mr. Heston still believes exactly what he believed back decades ago, yet he is regarded as a far right conservative. His views didn’t change but everything changed around him. For another example of this, check out Senator Zell Miller’s book‑A National Party No More. Today, liberalism is more socialism than true liberalism.
The choice facing us is going to be clear. Which will help produce jobs and keep the economy rolling - tax cuts or tax increases? How do we deal with terrorists - police matter or war? If we are attacked again do we go it alone if need be or do we wait for UN approval? How should we judge people - by the nature of the individual or by the group of which he is a member? Or even the latest proposal by Kerry to hike the minimum wage to $7.00 per hour - good idea or not? Need I mention the whole flap over whether or not God has a place in our national discourse? Is society responsible for the actions of an individual or is the individual responsible for his own situation? Each of these questions demonstrates the difference in the two ideologies. As voters we had better choose carefully.
We should educate ourselves and not rely solely on traditional media outlets for our information. For example, if you want to see an interesting web site, try www.cpa-iraq.org. Sure they try to put a nice face on it all but the vast amount of what our military is accomplishing over there is completely unreported by the mainstream press. Other interesting sites dealing with the tax issue are www.taxfoundation.org and www.fairtax.org. For a host of conservative commentators (including my favorite economist Thomas Sowell) on all other issues www.townhall.com is a great site. If you want to see where you fall on the political spectrum, take the world’s smallest political quiz at www.self-gov.org/quiz. The debates are coming and our duty is to be prepared on the issues, to listen to both sides closely and to vote. DBJ
Jamie Smith
DBJ Contributing Editor
