Some of my friends are successful businessmen. They are, as a matter of course, conservative and Republican. Socially, at least, I tend toward conservatism myself, and I respect anyone who works hard and succeeds. Though I may disagree with my friends, I listen to what they have to say. They’re smart people, but too often, I hear them simply repeating conservative talking points, with no original thinking to back those points up. I think I know why.
Talking points obfuscate the ultimate rationale behind conservatism, simple selfishness. For example:
Some of my friends oppose doing anything about climate change because it might cost them money in increased taxes or reduced revenue. They obscure their real opposition by arguing that climate change is immutable, a natural cycle we can do nothing about.
Others are against doing anything about the dangers of offshore drilling or our dependence on foreign oil. Would they but admit it, they simply don’t want to spend a penny more on energy than they are already paying. They instead pretend to believe that there is plenty of oil and that we can overcome all our problems by drilling more.
Many are against any and all government initiatives — stimulus spending, rapid transit, education, alternative energy development, protecting the environment, or financial regulation & oversight — because you have to pay for government. Their cover argument is that government is incompetent and only private enterprise can address these problems (left unsaid is their certain knowledge that private enterprise won’t and never will, because it would cut into the bottom line).
What it comes down to is that conservatives want more money in their own pockets. This outweighs everything else, including the economic health and well-being of others. But they won’t come out and say so — what they say instead is that corporate taxes, safety regulations, health care & pension plans, even minimum wage standards hurt business, thus our economy, thus the rest of us.
Selfishness is like racism. No one wants to admit to it. Hence, talking points.
John Kenneth Galbraith had it right: “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.”
Thus endeth my sermon for today.