Hayek’s words from “Why I am Not a Conservative” have a certain topical ring:
Only at first does it seem paradoxical that the anti-internationalism of conservatism is so frequently associated with imperialism. But the more a person dislikes the strange and thinks his own ways superior, the more he tends to regard it as his mission to “civilize” others – not by the voluntary and unhampered intercourse which the liberal favors, but by bringing them the blessings of efficient government. It is significant that here again we frequently find the conservatives joining hands with the socialists against the liberals – not only in England, where the Webbs and their Fabians were outspoken imperialists, or in Germany, where state socialism and colonial expansionism went together and found the support of the same group of “socialists of the chair,” but also in the United States, where even at the time of the first Roosevelt it could be observed: “the Jingoes and the Social Reformers have gotten together; and have formed a political party, which threatened to capture the Government and use it for their program of Caesaristic paternalism, a danger which now seems to have been averted only by the other parties having adopted their program in a somewhat milder degree and form.”
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Ahh yes, Hayek once again hits the nail on the head.
I agree completely with this article and it’s assertions. The biggest problem I have with conservatives is that they’re not really radical enough. They point to a period, say, fifty or so years in the past, and say that ‘this was the optimal state of the size of the government.’ It’s ridiculous – even fifty years ago the State was far too big.
Also, I get the feeling that if one were to advocate abolishment of dozens of federal agencies and programs, economic controls and the like, they would consider you a radical. They prefer to make smaller stands, for the most part, on economic issues. Oddly, they keep talking about high taxes, yet never give much of a reason for why taxes are so high; the enormous amount of State government that we have in our lives. Because of their (correct) indignation for high taxation, but their lack of a roadplan for getting to lowered taxation (no taxation at all never occurs to them) gives me the impression of a doctor seeing an ill patient and telling them, “Get better.”
I suppose the biggest gripe I have with conservatives is their love for big government. While most conservatives envision an smaller government than liberals, it is still big. The real disagreement that conservatives have to liberals on political issues doesn’t seem to be the size of the State, but rather the type of State.
They don’t seem to see that a big warfare state is bad for liberty in the same way a big welfare state is. The stronger the State’s military is, the easier it is for them to squash rebellion, and the more tax dollars it chews up. Private alternatives to defense are largely ignored by them.
Lastly, the constant mud slinging with the Democrats, while sometimes entertaining, gets old and grating fast.
Cultural conservatism is swank, in my humble opinion, but I think that conservatives are largely apologists for a massive warfare state, the Republican party, and not radical enough to be called a party of liberty (leave that up to true liberals).
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