From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Tue Nov 09 2004 - 21:19:44 GMT
Hi Sam,
I'll take a look.
I think that saying conservatives are merely selfish is an over-
simplification, but a certain generalization is possible, I'd say.
It's more like they are afraid, afraid of losing what they have, of
not being able to get everything they want, afraid of diversity, and,
most of all, of death. And, in general, if the amelioration of their
fear involves the suffering of distant strangers, especially when
those strangers are of different color, nationalities, social
classes, well then that's just life, and what are ya gonna do....
There's also the unattractive tendency to blame the victims of our
economic system for their own misery, as if there was not an obvious
connection between extreme wealth and extreme poverty.
There's a DVD documentary version of Manufacturing Consent which
covers the main points of the book, and a lot more. It's much more
accessible and entertaining than the book. I'll be happy to loan you
my copy, if you want. Just give a snail mail address.
BTW, thanks for The Venerable Bede quote; it is quite beautiful.
More later,
msh
On 9 Nov 2004 at 18:52, Sam Norton wrote:
Hi Mark SH,
> "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest
exercises
> in moral philosophy: that is the search for a superior moral
> justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith
Galbraith's quotation would seem to suggest that a modern
conservative
is selfish, with the various philosophies advanced to defend
conservative points of view merely ideological cover for vested
interests seeking to preserve the status quo. Is that actually what
you believe?
A couple of years ago we had a debate here about conservatism; I'd be
interested in your views. The following are links to the archives
which might be of interest.
In this one I set out how I understand conservatism:
http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/0209/0448.html
that was then amplified in various discussions with DMB, this one
being particularly full:
http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/0210/0288.html This is a
brief 'summa' on some relevant 'hot topics'.
http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/1838.html
And I've read a little Chomsky :-) although Deterring Democracy and
Manufacturing Consent are still UNread sitting on my shelf awaiting
that mythical 'spare moment'.
Regards
Sam
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