In last week's Time magazine, Fareed Zakaria observes that conservatives once held the world view that their approach to problem solving was based upon an analysis of reality. "Unlike the abstract (woolly-headed) theories of Marxism and socialism, (conservatism) started not from an imagined society but from the world as it actually exists. From Aristotle to Edmund Burke, the greatest conservative thinkers have said that to change societies, one must understand them, accept them as they are and help them evolve." Zakaria continues, "Conservatives now espouse ideas drawn from abstract principles with little regard to the realities of America's present or past. This is a tragedy, because conservatism has an important role to play in modernizing the U.S."
"Consider the debates over the economy. The Republican prescription is to cut taxes and slash government spending - then things will bounce back. ... But what is the evidence that tax cuts are the best path to revive the U.S. economy?"
When Reagan was selling his view of economic reality, he coined the term "trickle down economics," the notion that cutting taxes on the rich generated money in the class of entrepreneurs who then would create jobs, thus leading to a rising tide of economic growth which in the safe harbor of a U.S.-dominated world economy would "float all boats." But Reagan did not factor in the impact of another huge achievement of his administration, the end of the Cold War. Rather than having the U.S. and the Soviet Union wage economic battles to divide third world countries between themselves and thereby maintain a huge risk for making investments overseas, now "trickle down" is more likely to float boats moored in overseas harbors. And with an outwardly reaching Chinese government looking to do business in the new world order, the U.S. finds itself lagging behind in the competition to do business.
In large part, both political parties ignore this harsh reality. After all, explaining a tough problem is more likely to cause resentment for the message bearer than to wake the electorate up to the harsh message being delivered. Zakaria concludes: "Conservatives used to be the ones with heads firmly based in reality. ... It turns out that conservatives are the woolly-headed professors after all."
Dale Whiting, Chandler
Leon Ceniceros posted at 8:56 am on Sat, Jun 25, 2011.
Who cares what a...some CNN "GURU"....from Pakistan or India or where ever ....thinks. Is Fareed Zakaria...........even an ....AMERICAN.
But then again anyone who has/had previously written a "Letter to the Editor" of the EVT.............PRAISING THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (do I hear = FAILED NARCO-TRAFFICER NATION....LOL) for his speech asking that the ....US/MEXICAN BORDER FENCE BE TORN DOWN SO WE CAN ALL VISIT ONE ANOTHER (sounds like the same thing that the ......Mormons and the Catholics want to do with the ....UTAH COMPACT....lol).
IF I HAVE SAID IT ONCE ...I HAVE SAID IT A ZILLION TIMES......WHAT IS WOLF BLITZER OR THE EX-GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK = ELLIOT SPITZER (you know the one with the dozens of...."FALLEN DOVES"...[wink]) or CHRISTIANE AMANAPOUR (how many of these INDIANS/PAKISTANI'S...are working over at CNN...it's getting to be like one of those ...CUSTOMER SERVICE DROP-HOUSES (where the women are all named = "PEGGIE"...and the men all go by = "HARRY").........anyway...back to business.....WHAT IS SAID ON CNN IS NOT WRITTEN IN STONE...ANGELS ARE NOT FLITTERING AROUND AT NIGHT FROM CNN...GIVING THE GULLIBLE...."DIVINE REVELATIONS".....CNN IS A .....LIBERAL TV NETWORK.........NOT THE........"GOLDEN WORD" (well obviously it = IS......to "some" of the people who are writing ..."Letters to the Editor".........LOL.............as Sarah Palin or Gingrich...anyway...one or both of them said in the Past...........SCHOOL DEGREES CORRUPT AND HIGHER SCHOOLING CORRUPTS = HIGHER-LY.
Dale Whiting posted at 12:39 pm on Sat, Jun 25, 2011.
Leon,
Yes, Fareed Zakaria is a naturalized American, born in India of Muslim parents. And he has become a distinguished news man. Knowing more about international relations than you will ever know, and observing that Conservatives have an important role to play in the reshaping of America, Zakaria is someone you ought to learn from. He did not drop out.
Cerulean posted at 12:49 pm on Sat, Jun 25, 2011.
OK Leon, you don’t like CNN, too many former ‘where evers’ work for the organization. You still have no rebuttal.
Fareed Zakaria’s is an author of many books (that I have not read yet), he is intelligent and as a man with a different cultural background from my own who is also well-traveled, I am impressed with his perspective on world politics.
My understanding of Fareed Zakaria is that he believes in ‘American ingenuity, diversity and, foremost, our higher education. However, he also thinks the US needs to be placing more emphasis on ET (Energy Technology). The United States could be at the forefront of a technological revolution that could transform world energy use. Why aren’t we?
Conservatives do have an important role to play in modernizing the U.S. and it is true that, so far, they seem stuck on preserving the IBM’s of the past; even at a cost unsustainable by laws of nature.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 2:04 pm on Sat, Jun 25, 2011.
".....DIVERSITY...." = aka...UTAH COMPACT, D.R.E.A.M. ACT AND CONGRESSMAN JEFF FLAKE'S = S.T.R.I.V.E. ACT...THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME GOAL =.....AMNESTY FOR 20MILLION MEXICAN ILLEGAL ALIENS TO "LEGALLY" .....BANKRUPT AMERICA.
Liberals, Progressives, Democrats, Socialist, Communists, Open-Border Activists, Hispanic Rights Activists (they all come from California...and just look at what they did to that State), Affirmative Action Activist, Stop-the-Pledge-of-Allegiance Activists, Deface the American Flag Activists, Marijuana-Rights Activists, LSD Activists, Cocaine Activists, Methamphetamine Activists oh and don't forget the LBGBT or maybe the LBBGT or is it the TBGGL (well anyway you know what alternative lifestyle you represent) Activists...oooops almost forgot the Save the Whale Activists, Save the Killer Whale Activists, Save the Spotted Owl Activists, P.E.T.A.(People Eating Tasty Animals...maybe ???) Activists........any FOLKS.........THE LIST GOES ON AND ON AND ONE....EVERYDAY IT SEEMS THAT MORE OF THEM ARE COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK TO MAKE ........PATRIOTIC, GOD-FEARING, GUN-LOVING, FLAG-WAVING AMERICAN'S LIVES A LIVING HELL ........... [sad][sad][sad]
onerebel posted at 2:27 pm on Sat, Jun 25, 2011.
It's rather unfortunate we seem to end up with the worst of each party, with the Democrats in total control for the last two years they never even came up with a budget. We need to start being financially responsible as a nation, secure our borders yet stream line the process for work visas, keep our noses out other countries affairs yet keep a weary eye on those that want to cause us harm. We need to stop trying to change every one around us to be more like ourselves, and stop voting strictly down party lines. If we don't start doing what is best for ALL of us it will end up like the fight for forest thinning, no one would compromise and now we ALL have lost something very valuable forever.
listenertoo posted at 4:22 pm on Sat, Jun 25, 2011.
Onerebel,
Beautifully and thoughtfully stated. I'll be watching for more posts from you.
Cerulean posted at 4:53 pm on Sat, Jun 25, 2011.
onerebel,
I do not want to sidetrack from Dale’s letter which is about economics, however I would like to respond to this part of your comment “now we ALL have lost something very valuable forever.” To that I will use this quote as a short thought on fire;
“With fire we claim a unique ecological niche: this is what we do that no other creature does. Our possession is so fundamental to our understanding of the world that we cannot imagine a world without fire in our hands. Or to restate that point . . . we cannot imagine another creature possessing it. “ And, in fact, no other creature can start a fire and, in the case of the Willow fire, some person or persons started this fire too.
The article goes on to describe how fire “measures” our ecological choices as it enters humanity’s moral universe. Here is a link to the article: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Fire_in_America
sockratties posted at 5:20 am on Sun, Jun 26, 2011.
leon- You said to BBC in a couple of weeks ago: “We need more pieces like this one for us to understand why peace in the Middle East, and everywhere else for that matter, is so important. The subtleties of everyday living that allow people to relate to one another simply cannot be captured by reports about military offensives, peace negotiations and high level politics. I for one am glad to have finally seen the truth.” Did you fall off your meds? Which personality is speaking for you today?
Onerebel- Absolutely right! Our politicians (pretty much across the political spectrum) act like little kids who won’t play if they don’t get their way. Unfortunately their self interests align with those who contribute the most to their next re-election campaign which starts the day they take office. Personal gain and party agenda take priority over doing the business of the state or country. That can gets kicked down the road.
Cerulean- You can add politics to the list of human traits not shared by other animals. Unfortunately we do share pack and herd instincts. We elect predators because they are the most aggressive and they run the rest of us around in circles to pick off the weak and frail.
Dale Whiting posted at 9:44 am on Sun, Jun 26, 2011.
Let me sumarize my thinking on the subject of our current national debate on the economy and the debt ceiling and the 2012 budget. I have observed repeatedly that we all need to sacrifice. I have suggested that Defense spending ought to be a huge part of the sacrifice. I have critized heavily Neo-con thought, Reaganomics, about what used to be called "trickle down economics," that the best way to "stipulate the economy and job growth is to cut taxes or maintain tax cuts from the Bush 43 era. Fareed Zakaria sees things similarily. "We all need to sacrifice" means suffer tax hikes and budget cuts. Our war against terrorism has been lost. It's primary archetict, bin Laden, predicted that would spend ourselves into ruin trying to overcome our fear of a few nuts coming here from Afghanistan. Bin Laden is dead now, but his prediction is right on track.
As is obvious from our discussions on Afghanistan, we are a "poor little lamb who has lost its way." Nation building [Petreaus calls it counter-insurgency] is a huge waste. With bin Laden gone from Afghanistan for perhaps six or more years, we have wasted our precious resources on "nada." McChrystal is gone from the scene, too. But his "counter-terrorism" approach has proven to be the only one which worked.
Cut spending, raise taxes, honker down and hope for a recovery sometime in the next decade. It took us a decade to get ourselves into this mess. It'll take another decade to get out. Neo-cons are woolley-headed mamouths. We need a resergence of Conservatism of the Buckley, Goldwater ilk to save the day.
Cerulean posted at 1:02 pm on Sun, Jun 26, 2011.
Dale,
Thoughtful summary + thoughtful letter = good reading.
Thank-you
chatmandu002 posted at 9:19 am on Tue, Jun 28, 2011.
The call to raise taxes is a red herring. Nearly 47% don't even pay taxes and they are not about to start paying. How many get back earned income tax credit already? Where is the shared sacrifice?
Cut spending til it hurts then cut some more. Change over to the Fair Tax system. This eliminates the present federal tax structure and IRS. Everyone pays and then gets a rebate to the poverty level. Everyone needs to pay and sacrifice, even grandma. Go the FairTax.org to see this proposal.