Posted by
Mike on Sunday, November 30, 2008 5:16:12 PM
Much of the 2008 Presidential election involved the debate over whether Obama is socialist and would he usher socialism into America. This is rather like the medieval habit of arguing about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. As Pat Buchanan points out in his latest column "
Socialist Republic", Obama may be inheriting a legacy which will include 40% of GDP to be controlled and spent by government, certainly not a far cry from European-style socialism which Obama has espoused while in Europe. It is pointless to argue at this point whether America is still a capitalist country. The point is that we are rushing headlong into socialism like an engine locomotive with no brakes.
My father's family shared much of the traditional values of Joseph McCarthy and Ronald Reagan. His ancestors were Democrats like those of McCarthy and Reagan. The difference was that where my father grew up in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, there existed a natural stratification between two categories of persons. One was either shanty or lace. "Shanty" represented the masses of people or hoi polloi. "Lace" represented the privileged few. Reagan acquired his social characterization through serving two terms as governor of California before being elected President. My paternal ancestors were among the "lace Irish" but only after settling in Wisconsin, because my father's great-grandfather had been elected to several terms on the county board between 1850 and 1880.
My mother's family were from Appleton, home of Joe McCarthy. Her Irish grandfather had served several terms as a village trustee within a rural township, and so the family was also "lace Irish" and Democrat. My parents met at an American Legion post event in Milwaukee shortly after World War II.
Alexis de Toqueville and Gustav de Beaumont describe the process of social stratification occurring in New England in their book Democracy in America. This usually occurred at the local level through government service as Selectmen. Thorstein Veblin studied the process of stratification sociologically and in greater detail and found that the upper classes of society usually possessed greater wealth which some then mistook for a mark of nobility.
In truth, the stratification occurs because some families are more endowed with the ability to govern than others. This does not make them better and surely does not lead them to greater happiness in life.
Modern conservatism grew out of our nation's experience in both world wars. Within the Democratic Party, the more conservative wing supported Al Smith against Franklin Roosevelt. These are the people like my maternal grandmother who listened seriously to the advice of Michigan based "radio priest" Charles Coughlin during the Great Depression. For some he gave hope to continue on. For others, he sounded too anti-semitic. This only God can judge. The priest was finally silenced and his publications banned by Roosevelt's administration, just one more socialist attack on our hard won liberty. Incidentally, Pat Buchanan was criticized wrongly by association, Pat's father supposedly tuning to Coughlin's radio broadcasts which turned out not to be true.
The future of conservatism then is continued opposition to the Socialization of America, following the example of Goldwater and Reagan. We can expect Sarah Palin to play a large role in this, as she did in the election campaign.