Mudita Journal

Liberal vs Conservative? Christ! Oops.

January 15, 2008 · Filed under: Individualism, Integral, Intellectual, Politics
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If you struggle, as I do, with the nutty distinction between being considered “liberal” or “conservative” in modern America, you might share my enjoyment of this thoughtful post by Patrick Stephens.

In fact, Patrick’s discussion here, and his weighing of the various positions, strikes me as one that comes squarely from a second-tier perspective (in the Integral / Spiral Dynamics model of human development). …Which already says a little bit, politically, if you’re familiar with that model.

After reviewing some very sensible arguments from those who are uncomfortable with both of the labels “liberal” and “conservative” — as well as their various hack modifiers — Patrick concludes:

The problem is that all the words we use to describe political discourse in this country are hopelessly corrupted.

“Liberal” has come to mean the worst aspects of “leftist” ideology. It’s statist, progressive, victimized, new-age, anti-reason, amoral, libertine populism.

“Conservative” has come to mean the worst aspects of the ideology of the “right.” It’s statist, reactionary, bigoted, fundamentalist, anti-reason, moralistic populism.

“Libertarian” has come to mean the worst aspects of both. It’s progressive, reactionary, bigoted, victimized, new-age, fundamentalist, anti-reason, moralistic, libertine populism.

If those of us who love liberty, who cherish autonomy and personal responsibility continue to define our beliefs and allegiances with terms that lost their coherent meaning years ago, we’re dooming ourselves to irrelevance.

I’m not a liberal libertarian or a conservative constitutionalist.

We need a new name. We need a new party. Suggestions?

Good damned question.

In fact, it may be the best and most important question (for those many of us who agree with Stephens) we face in our political lifetime.

I wonder if it would help at all, if people who agreed with the above observations were to start their own project (wiki, blog, or some other format) to discuss the situation, propose constructive solutions, and weigh their respective merits.

If so — I might, as an enterprise-scale web developer, be willing to lend my technical expertise in helping create the project infrastructure.

Who’s in?

Posted by Joshua Zader · Trackback URL · Link
  • http://blog.psjs.net Patrick Stephens

    Thanks for the kind words!

    I’m in.

  • http://www.philosophyblog.com/ Shawn Klein

    Sounds like an interesting project.

  • http://www.flowidealism.org Michael Strong

    This is very much what we are trying to do at FLOW, http://www.flowidealism.org. Assistance welcome.

  • http://www.andrewschwartz.net Andrew Schwartz

    May not be what you’re asking at this point, but I have a suggestion for a name:

    Constitutional Libertarianism

    It retains the central focus on liberty, but removes the anti-structure connotations of the term “libertarianism.”

  • Noel

    Hello,
    This is a great article, I have been pondering the same questions and concerns myself. In light of all the different ‘types’ of libertarianism, why don’t we instead focus on the true original meaning of the word? LIBERTY. Too many other ‘Libertarians’ start to deviate away from the core importance when getting on social and especially, economic issues. What we need is ‘ABSOLUTE LIBERTARIANISM’! the exact and ultimately fundamental necessities of freedom as defined by Americas founding fathers. Every issue can be compared against the constitution. The constitution guarantees all our fundamental freedoms in all aspects of life. If we had a completely independent council of constitutional scholars directly elected by the people who had ultimate analytical privilege and veto power over any motion that breaks the constitution, it would keep government in check (and only allowing them to do the base necessities without any chance for seizing power), and would insure that NO ONE and NOTHING could steal our freedom – ever.

    I could elaborate on this very extensively

    What do you think???

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