The leading cruncon, Rod Dreher, apparently says our big problem is--too much individual freedom:
"Today, the greatest threats to conservative interests come not from the Soviet Union or high taxes, but from too much individual freedom. Look around you: Americans have been poor stewards of our economic liberty, owing to cultural values that celebrate unfettered materialism. Our families and communities have fragmented, in part because we have embraced an ethic of extreme individualism. Climate change and a peak in oil production threaten our future because we have been irresponsible caretakers of the natural world and its resources. At best, the religious right stood ineffectively against these trends. At worst, we preached them, mistaking consumerism for conservatism."
Yikes. He needs to re-read Frank Meyer and other conservative fusionists.
Let's quickly get to the core of it. Yes, of course freedom isn't an end in itself. Yes, we must strive for the right, the good, the Godly.
But when we don't get there, that doesn't mean that freedom is the problem.
Instead, that just means we have to work harder to educate ourselves and others on making better choices. Because the good is only good if we choose it freely. What good is it to try and march people towards the good, or into heaven, at the point of a gun???
