If you don't want Americans, especially younger ones, to reject conservatism, then stop living up to as many negative stereotypes as possible. To start with, stop trying to act as if Old Man Potter from It's a Wonderful Life or Gordon Gekko from Wall Street, or, worse, Ebeneezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, are really the good guys. Stop coming in to say George Bailey's life still stinks because he doesn't have a huge home, expensive car, and massive bank account.
In short, stop acting like the acquisition of financial gain is the source and summit of a meaningful life. Stop acting as if the lusting for material wealth to the exclusion of all other priorities is what life is all about. Stop acting as if what liberals say about conservatism being for the greedy and money obsessed and Mammon worshiper is actually onto something.
Every year, you see things like this, whereby we're told that it's the money, stupid. What's life? What's friends? What's the joy of a close family? What's walking the extra mile? What are these things if you don't have a crap ton of money in the bank? Are kids or Christmas good? Sure! But only if you can squeeze that extra dollar out of them somehow!
Geeesh. The point of this particular piece seemed to be that in light of the growing number of young'uns who are warming to a socialized economic model, despite what a logical appraisal of socialism should warrant, an obviously harsh message railing against greed and wealth might not be the best message.
Perhaps. But did it ever dawn on conservatives that when conservatives write that a man's life isn't about family, friends, or helping others, but it's about the size of his home, car and bank account, you're falling into the very type of world that most people will ultimately rail against. Yes, there are those who will become successful because that's all they care about. But most people - God included - seem to think there are other things that are every bit as valuable.
What's more, young people who see things like this article are apt to conclude that even if we might make more money following such a conservative message, in the end, we might end up more like Old Man Potter than George Bailey. And if all conservatives can say is that they are wrong, and it's better to be Potter than Bailey if you just compare their bank accounts, I have a feeling we're in for a long, slow road down to the very socialism that conservatives are trying to avoid.
A lot of conservatives don't do culture well, I have often observed. The article linked to is a case in point. Part of the old Marxist argument is that all capitalist end up being Old Man Potters and that the George Bailey's don't exist. So yeah the article misses the point of the film.
ReplyDeleteYou're right there. And yet it seems to happen every year, that someone, somewhere writes 'what's so wrong about Scrooge - he was right!'. Missing, of course, the key point of any good villain: the best villains are usually the ones who are right about almost everything, but wrong about the most important thing (see Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark for a perfect example).
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