I've always been interested in the way people interact..in the way they treat one another. As well, my political leanings tend to be towards identifying root causes, instead of just relieving symptoms. So I read information from a lot of sources, in order to further refine...to drill down my view of things. To get to a lower level.
Lately, however, I've been hitting bedrock. This, to me is not a bad thing. It's actually fairly relieving to actually find some good place to put in some real hard-core roots.
The idea is basically this. Conservatism does not exist as an important political force. This is no shock to most people, Glenn Greenwald has been doing a great job talking about this stuff. So what's replaced it?
Exclusivism.
So what is Exclusivism, where did it start, where did it form, and how did it become so strong in politics?
Exclusivism is the idea that for one reason or another, one person is inately better or more worthy than another. Now, we're all exclusivist to a degree. I'm sure we would all value our family/friends over a complete stranger, if we could only save one person. It's the way we are. There's nothing wrong with this.
What's wrong is when it's so strong that people are willing to cut off their nose to spite their face.
Where did it start? It's always existed. From early conflict between tribes, to nationalistic grandor, it's always there. Sometimes it's strongly maintained..kept to a reasonable level. The country can act as a good citizen of the world. Sometimes? Not so much.
So what's changed over the last 50 years?
The current exclusivist movement started with the Southern Strategy as we call it. Wink Wink Nod Nod to the racists..racism of course, being a form of exclusivism, a particularly viral kind.
People talk about violence in movies or games being desensitizing. I'll tell you what REALLY is desensitizing. Thumbing your nose on people. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. The more natural it becomes. Look at the people who would support a stronger social safety net...but don't because it would help THOSE people.
So why is it so strong in politics? Because as the culture stands right now, there's very little can be done about exclusivism, because of how strongly it's tied into religion.
Now get this straight, I'm not saying that all religious people are exclusivist, and I'm not saying that all exclusivists are religious. What I AM saying is that to those religious folks who ARE exclusivist, it's the core of their beliefs, and they feel that any attack on exclusivism is an attack on their religious beliefs. Remember the "John Kerry wants to take away your Bible" ads in W. Virgina? That's what this is about. It's much more prevalent in Canada than the US, by the way.
Things such as the 10 Commandments in courthouses (which by the way, the focus is usually on the "Thou shalt have no gods before me" one...the exclusivist one..note how all their complaints are about "atheists"), or forced prayer in public schools. It's all about exclusivism. Making people who are different FEEL excluded, and making sure that they know that they're not wanted.
Exclusivism also has another side effect. The idea that as long as you're part of the group, you can't do no wrong. At the very least, you're assumed to be a good person. This first assumption is very important for shaping both the justice system and popular opinion. This is another reason why exclusivism is so popular...there's actually less moral demands on you. Do the right thing? I don't need to. I'm one of the right people.
No sacrifice needed.
Anyway. This is just an idea I've being mulling over for a while. Conservatism is dead. We all know that. We need to know what ideology has replaced it.