Brain Fertilizer

Please Note: This is not my best post. It is full of gaping holes and not organized all that well. Have fun reading it anyway.

In the 1800s, there was a concept called Manifest Destiny.

Simply put:

In the 1840s the phrase was used by politicians and leaders to justify and promote territorial expansion across the North American continent by providing a sense of mission to citizens. It promoted this sense of mission by fomenting a desire to establish a large empire-like nation in which the ideals of democracy, freedom, and progress are ostensibly protected and promoted.

See? Wikipedia is wonderful.

But not so good when it defines the modern "Manifest Destiny", or Progressivism. Its description seems to be somewhat lacking to me.

Because a good third of our population is committed to the idea that freedom and "rights" will be expanded endlessly until we have achieved a standardless society, a in which anyone can do anything they want without fear of anyone expressing disapproval. This is more than a goal, you see. They think they have already won. They think it is destiny. It is more than a belief, it is nearly a delusion.

And you see the ramifications of this played out on the national stage. If they've already won, then all that matters is getting the right numbers to appear that express that victory. So there is no such thing as a "fraudulent" vote, and there is no crime in disallowing a conservative vote. Because any dirty tricks, any intimidation, any dishonest tactic, well, it's all justified as necessary to sidestep the schemes and dirty tactics of the evil conservatives who want to deny the free, standardless society. Any rhetorical device is allowed, any cheating is fine, as long as humanity inches closer toward the nirvana of total freedom.

Okay, none of this is news to most of you. Stick with me a moment.

It's been said (and I agree), that Conservatism took a big blow when the general population of the United States failed to support Republicans in the standoff with Clinton that resulted in the temporary shutdown of the federal government. But then liberalism took a big blow when the general population failed to support Hillary Clinton's plan for Universal Single-Payer (i.e., govt-funded) Healthcare. The conclusion was obvious: Americans didn't really want a bigger government, but they didn't really want a smaller one, either.

And here's the point: how did each side react?

The Progressives went underground. They pushed their agenda through litmus tests for politicians regarding abortion, through public demonization of morals arising from religion, and through activist judges. They are attempting to litigate their vision into existence, and have no problem imposing their will on an unwilling but hapless majority. That's why you see Progressives fight like anything to disqualify conservative judges. That's why you see Progressives attempt to control the reins of govt bureaucratic power, so they can maintain funding and agenda control for Planned Parenthood, PBS, affirmative action programs, etc.

The Conservatives retooled their whole organization. Rather than trying to impose a vision in an underhanded manner, conservatives set out to educate and persuade at the lowest levels, and wait until a later date to try again to reduce government.

That's one of the reasons you see a resurgence of conservatism on college campuses. That's one of the reasons why you don't see current Republican lawmakers making much attempt to reduce spending. That's why you see Republicans more than willing to turn things over to democratic systems, like Constitutional Amendments and Initiatives and Referendums. Because Conservatives are confident that most of the major platforms of the Progessive Movement are in the process of being rejected. Gun Control is nearly completely debunked, as "Shall Issue" concealed carry laws sweep the nation, as Britain's disaster with gun control becomes more evident. A majority of the US population wants abortion outlawed in "most circumstances". 11 states, including liberal Oregon passed Amendments to their state constitutions to ban SSM.

But both sides seem committed to their chosen tactics. Conservatives will continue to try and persuade and convince, but leave it up to the people. Progressives will continue to try to seize and maintain significant power nodes from which they can impose their ideology on the nation until we get used to it.

I think that Americans are growing to understand that individuals must sacrifice some freedom in order to gain security and stability. Americans are starting to realize that it might be nice to pretend for a while that choices don't have consequences, but that they don't like it so much when the consequences they avoid fall like a ton of bricks on their children and grandchildren.

The pendulum might be swinging back toward morality. Let's hope.