Liberals, Conservatives and Reactionaries

The media is messing with our language again. I’ve been reading some reports on the diminishing numbers of moderate Republicans in congress. In 2005-2007 they report 27 moderates and 28 conservatives compared to todays 6 moderates.

For those who want to know they are: John McCain (AZ), Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Kowski (Alaska), Thad Cockran (Miss), Lamar Alexander (TN), Charles Grassley (IA) and a couple of new ones – Scott Brown (Miss) and Mark Stevens Kirk (IL).

The problem I have is the distinction between moderates and conservatives. As a good Irishman I’m fond of Edmund Burke, another one of those folk who had great influence upon our founding fathers. He is also known as the founder of modern conservatism. He also represents classical liberalism. That’s significant. By all intents and purposes that makes him a moderate.

The point I am making is the difference between a conservative and a moderate Republican is a false difference. It is historically and ideologically incorrect. Perhaps the media reporters just can’t find a word to describe the differences between the positions of Republicans, but there is a perfectly good word among others, but I would pick as a more accurate contrast the difference between moderate Republicans/conservatives those extreme conservatives and that word is reactionaries.

Conservatives or traditionalists (another good word) prize our traditions and past and want to hold onto the institutions they uphold these values.

Reactionaries on the other hand oppose anything modern and want to return to the past despite a changing world. It describes extreme right wing politics versus those on the middle of the right on the political spectrum.

You find the same thing on the right liberals and progressives are those prize liberty and equality and work for the common good; things described in my previous article on Utilitarianism and the values of Jeremy Betham. Liberals/Progressives typically work for change that will improve the common good and improve life for all citizens. The extremes on the left are the socialists and the communists who want to enforce change upon others to varying degrees. They believe in the natural goodness of human beings, which is the only way communism would work. We will naturally work together for everyone’s welfare and the state will wither away, according to Marx. It is contrary to the actions of human beings in history who compete for a larger piece of the pie naturally. To understand liberalism you need to understand the “Enlightenment and its major players: Adam Smith, Richardo, Jeremy Betham, John Stuart Mill and the like; and in our country the New Deal which found the same issues we face today in terms of economic inequality.

Democracy was a concept, which lifted up both the individual good and the common good with checks and balances built in to protect ourselves from ourselves and our base nature.

If we are at all observant we can see that those basic principles are in great danger in our society today with the excessive influence of the rich over the middle class and the poor. Democracy is giving away to oligarchy and plutocracy.

We need more moderates from both parties for democracy to survive and flourish. To understand democracy it helps to get the terms right. When moderates have been the majority, our country has done well; when radicals dominate it doesn’t. Read the history.

The reactionaries, the extreme conservatives/Republican are destroying their own party and damaging our country.