Good morning! First, make sure you set your clock forward for daylight savings time.Ok, if you've got the time set correctly on your computer, pull up a good cuppa joe and dunk into "What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?" by Philip Agere.
Q: What is conservatism?
A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.
Q: What is wrong with conservatism?
A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.
When I first read these words, back in the spring of 2005, I like many other Progressives, was still staggering from John Kerry's astonishing defeat at the hands of right-wing conservatism as embodied and fulfilled in principle and practice by Presiden George W. Bush. The astonishment wasn't so much that
In sum, Conservatism = Aristocrisy.
From the pharaohs of ancient Egypt to the self-regarding thugs of ancient Rome to the glorified warlords of medieval and absolutist Europe, in nearly every urbanized society throughout human history, there have been people who have tried to constitute themselves as an aristocracy. These people and their allies are the conservatives.
When I first read these words in the fall of 2004, it was like
People who believe that the aristocracy rightfully dominates society because of its intrinsic superiority are conservatives; democrats, by contrast, believe that they are of equal social worth. Conservatism is the antithesis of democracy. This has been true for thousands of years.