Socrtease
Verified User
Only because the post on Conservatives and the Justice System was part of a bigger blog. It is all well written
The Right loves war. Right-wing foreign policy "realists" believe that negotiation, diplomacy and containment are for wimps and simply does not work. War is not a last option, but a first priority for the Frum-Perle-Wolfowitz Axis of Aggression. The Right lied and deceived its way into getting a war with Iraq, a war against a nation that posed no real threat to the United States. Instead of admitting their error, the authoritarians have instead been giving each other high-fives and hoping they can soon create another conflict with Damascus or Tehran.
How many people on the right have called out their masters on their lying and deception with this war? Not many. It’s because they don’t really a problem with it (unless it’s a Democrat doing the lying). In their eyes the lies and distortions were justifiable means to a noble end. They got their war and they got their occupation. Tough luck for anyone who doesn’t like it.
Conservatives also show themselves to be incredibly calloused to the suffering of foreigners caused by their beloved wars. I’ve heard not a few conservatives make remarks like, "We ought to just make the entire Middle East a parking lot." Most of these people saying this were only half-serious. But I fail to see how it is funny to joke about causing the mass killing of millions of people because you don’t like them.
To fight all the conservatives’ desired wars you need more manpower. Who is more likely to support the draft? The Left or the Right? The Right, which supposedly hates government, loves the military. They believe in enormous wasteful spending to keep the bloated military machine obese. Not only that, many have no problem with the anti-freedom concept of the draft. Not only are you obligated through the force of law to fund the military machine through your taxes, you also owe the State your body and possibly your life.
Many on the Authoritarian Right have prattled on about how the draft is great for American because it teaches young people "responsibility" and contributes to the safety of America. What it really does is teaches young people that they are slaves of the State and that their hopes, dreams and freedoms take a back seat to the wishes of government thugs who want to use them to do their dirty work.
Speaking of the government’s dirty work, again conservatives assume that the government can do no wrong with nations that it is ticked off at. Thus all the conservatives stumbling and bumbling while they try to come up with excuses for the government’s deception for the latest Iraq war. The government would never, ever lie to us about why it’s going to war! The government simply can’t be wrong that Country A is bad and that we need to bomb them. Just as in the legal system, when it comes to foreign policy, the government is never ever wrong – especially if it’s a conservative running the show.
In the eyes of the Authoritarian Right, America is always right, everyone else is always wrong. If you question this, then you are a liberal, or even worse you are a subversive that doesn’t support our country! The final recourse for any frustrated conservative discussing foreign policy with a non-aggressor is telling them to leave the country if they don’t like it. When all else fails, the authoritarian attacks the person’s patriotism, intelligence, personal morality, and allegiance to their homeland. This is rather fitting for the authoritarian conservative, who would prefer dissenters get out of the way and physically leave the country rather than have their statist agenda challenged.
Conclusion
When one really takes a look at mainstream conservative thought, it becomes quite clear that they are not really supporters of freedom and liberty. In fact, they can support some of the worst forms of tyranny and repression possible. As has been stated in the body of this essay, they have no problem with the government so long as they are the ones running it. They seek not to shrink, but to expand the government into our daily lives. They put a blind and dangerous faith in the legal system and support injustice in the name of being "tough on crime." Most dangerously, they believe in using the U.S. military to impose their authoritarianism around the world, no matter what the cost is to human life and personal freedom.
Those of us who have awakened to this fact have said goodbye to the mainstream conservative movement. While not liberals or leftists by any means, we seek not to associate ourselves with the Republican Party. We have in fact realized something that most Republicans and conservatives have not noticed: that the government is not our friend and that statism and authoritarianism can only be used for harm and not good.
Today’s conservative movement is boiling down to this: You can either support the watered down statism of the mainstream Right and their troubling authoritarianism, or you can subscribe to a more logically consistent and freedom-loving philosophy of those of us dissenters who reject both traditional Left and Right paradigms.
Basically, if you call yourself a conservative, you can support one of two political and social philosophies. One supports statism, authoritarianism, and war, and the other represents what LRC stands for, "property, freedom, and peace." For me, it’s not that difficult to choose.
Authoritarian Conservatism - by Bill Barnwell
The Right loves war. Right-wing foreign policy "realists" believe that negotiation, diplomacy and containment are for wimps and simply does not work. War is not a last option, but a first priority for the Frum-Perle-Wolfowitz Axis of Aggression. The Right lied and deceived its way into getting a war with Iraq, a war against a nation that posed no real threat to the United States. Instead of admitting their error, the authoritarians have instead been giving each other high-fives and hoping they can soon create another conflict with Damascus or Tehran.
How many people on the right have called out their masters on their lying and deception with this war? Not many. It’s because they don’t really a problem with it (unless it’s a Democrat doing the lying). In their eyes the lies and distortions were justifiable means to a noble end. They got their war and they got their occupation. Tough luck for anyone who doesn’t like it.
Conservatives also show themselves to be incredibly calloused to the suffering of foreigners caused by their beloved wars. I’ve heard not a few conservatives make remarks like, "We ought to just make the entire Middle East a parking lot." Most of these people saying this were only half-serious. But I fail to see how it is funny to joke about causing the mass killing of millions of people because you don’t like them.
To fight all the conservatives’ desired wars you need more manpower. Who is more likely to support the draft? The Left or the Right? The Right, which supposedly hates government, loves the military. They believe in enormous wasteful spending to keep the bloated military machine obese. Not only that, many have no problem with the anti-freedom concept of the draft. Not only are you obligated through the force of law to fund the military machine through your taxes, you also owe the State your body and possibly your life.
Many on the Authoritarian Right have prattled on about how the draft is great for American because it teaches young people "responsibility" and contributes to the safety of America. What it really does is teaches young people that they are slaves of the State and that their hopes, dreams and freedoms take a back seat to the wishes of government thugs who want to use them to do their dirty work.
Speaking of the government’s dirty work, again conservatives assume that the government can do no wrong with nations that it is ticked off at. Thus all the conservatives stumbling and bumbling while they try to come up with excuses for the government’s deception for the latest Iraq war. The government would never, ever lie to us about why it’s going to war! The government simply can’t be wrong that Country A is bad and that we need to bomb them. Just as in the legal system, when it comes to foreign policy, the government is never ever wrong – especially if it’s a conservative running the show.
In the eyes of the Authoritarian Right, America is always right, everyone else is always wrong. If you question this, then you are a liberal, or even worse you are a subversive that doesn’t support our country! The final recourse for any frustrated conservative discussing foreign policy with a non-aggressor is telling them to leave the country if they don’t like it. When all else fails, the authoritarian attacks the person’s patriotism, intelligence, personal morality, and allegiance to their homeland. This is rather fitting for the authoritarian conservative, who would prefer dissenters get out of the way and physically leave the country rather than have their statist agenda challenged.
Conclusion
When one really takes a look at mainstream conservative thought, it becomes quite clear that they are not really supporters of freedom and liberty. In fact, they can support some of the worst forms of tyranny and repression possible. As has been stated in the body of this essay, they have no problem with the government so long as they are the ones running it. They seek not to shrink, but to expand the government into our daily lives. They put a blind and dangerous faith in the legal system and support injustice in the name of being "tough on crime." Most dangerously, they believe in using the U.S. military to impose their authoritarianism around the world, no matter what the cost is to human life and personal freedom.
Those of us who have awakened to this fact have said goodbye to the mainstream conservative movement. While not liberals or leftists by any means, we seek not to associate ourselves with the Republican Party. We have in fact realized something that most Republicans and conservatives have not noticed: that the government is not our friend and that statism and authoritarianism can only be used for harm and not good.
Today’s conservative movement is boiling down to this: You can either support the watered down statism of the mainstream Right and their troubling authoritarianism, or you can subscribe to a more logically consistent and freedom-loving philosophy of those of us dissenters who reject both traditional Left and Right paradigms.
Basically, if you call yourself a conservative, you can support one of two political and social philosophies. One supports statism, authoritarianism, and war, and the other represents what LRC stands for, "property, freedom, and peace." For me, it’s not that difficult to choose.
Authoritarian Conservatism - by Bill Barnwell
