I'm still struggling to come to terms with the outcome of the election. I think at some point, my "casual observer" facade crumbled to reveal the shock, horror, and disbelief. That aside, I just had a thought.
When you think about it, the irony of the situation is surreal. Here in this country, the election came down to a struggle between those who wanted to protect and promote liberal values of freedom, equality and tolerance, against those who preferred to preserve traditional values and morals (mostly conservative Christian values). Half way around the world, we're fighting a war (some say) to spread freedom and democracy (i.e. liberalism) while Muslims are fighting back to preserve their way of life, culture, and religious values.
At the end, people everywhere want the same thing: stability. People want to continue to live the way they always have. They want fundamental values to be protected, not challenged. People prefer to be with those who are like themselves, and fear disruption from outsiders. People don't want to reason, they want to believe. They don't want to know, they just want to follow.
We liberals promote a way of thinking and living that contrasts all those things. We liberals are a minority, an anomally. And unnatural.
If there's one thing we liberals fear most, it's the possibility that liberalism doesn't work. But I think the possibility is real. Liberalism, like communism, may only be an ideal; an ideal that would be perfect, if it didn't run contrary to human nature. Maybe we've only been deceiving ourselves for the last few centuries. It seemed like it just might work. But last Tuesday, it failed.
This should not come as a surprise to any of us. After all, there has never been a long-lasting state, culture, civilization, society, village or household founded solely on liberality. Somewhere in there, almost by definition, is a conservative force that preserves the status quo.
The future for liberalism is dim. The great beacon of freedom, equality, tolerance, and peace has fallen. What may follow, is merely a repetition of man's long standing tradition of oppression, bigotry, deception, fear, hate and war. And the worst is to know that this is the path our fellow men have chosen. That this, is man's fate.
Posted Fri, November 5, 2004 10:30 by dirvish
I don't know about unnatural. Liberality has never been long-lasting but it has persisted. Humans have been around long enough that if the trend you describe were absolute we would allready live in a totalitarian state. It seems to be cyclical...out of the ashes the liberals keep rising. Unfortunately for us in our lifetime we may only server as the fuel, not th phoenix.
[moderate]