I'm continuing my reporting on the next installment from Conservative Estimate, the new website that is devoted to demolishing Conservatism. Today's post introduces the seven "Major Myths" that underlie the Conservative mindset.
Come below the double doodle.
Alfred George begins today's entry by introducing the seven Major Myths that he is going to investigate in the weeks ahead.
Conservatives believe a host of mistaken opinions, or Myths, that misguide them and cause them to misapprehend the entire world around them. There are a large number of them, and to them all would be a prodigious undertaking. So I have chosen seven Major Myths that I judge to be the most pernicious. They are:
1. The Myth of Scarcity: We need to fear running out of resources, and we need to fear other people, who will harm or kill us in order to steal our resources.
2. The Myth of Self-Interest: Everyone acts out of self-interest, but the combination of all these self-interested actions results in the best possible outcome.
3. The Myth of Competition: Competition is necessary for survival.
4. The Myth of Independence: The strong succeed in life on their own.
5. The Myth of Religion: Morality and decency depend on religion.
6. The Myth of Tradition: Tradition is the repository of wisdom gleaned from the past, and the cornerstone of stability in society.
7. The Myth of Capitalism: Free-market capitalism is an unquestionably beneficial and moral economic system.
And then he tracks all of them to the most fundamental of all Conservative instincts:
Fear.
From the very first, you will notice that all the Major Myths get their vitality from Fear. Fear is a debilitating passion. It makes you re-act rather than act. You give power to the thing feared, you allow yourself to be manipulated, and you make poor decisions. The Major Myths blend like the ingredients of an impotence potion. They generate a world view in which people have little power, whereas the scary forces out there have nearly all the power. It is no wonder that Conservatism, immersed in this fearful world view, always has a whiff of terror about it, no matter how much its adherents put on an optimistic air.
Take a look at
the whole post.
I'll be reporting back each day as a new installment appears.