The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : On Gersonism and George W. Bush

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The Spectacle Blog

On Gersonism and George W. Bush

By W. James Antle, III on 12.17.08 @ 1:57PM

The John O'Sullivan article I mentioned earlier is now available online. It is useful reading not only as a rejoinder to Michael Gerson's "conservatism," but also as a reminder that George W. Bush was actually not all that conservative himself.

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Jeremiah| 12.17.08 @ 5:10PM

RE: "George W. Bush was actually not all that conservative himself."

Perhaps someday there will come a time when we acknowledge the unworkability of terms like "conservative" and "liberal."

The two words are helpful when talking about sweeping cultural identifications -- only they are properly used only in completely different spheres:

"Conservative" properly is used to describe an attitude towards the past and tradition (good) and human potential to change (not so good).

"Liberal" signifies a theory of human rights as essential to human nature (when they are thought to be derived from nature or from God).

By analogy and metaphoric leaps these terms wander out of their right use, and confusion prevails.

"Progressive" and "reactionary" are better terms when discussing a kind of political temperament, although they still aren't really binary opposites.

Progressives are generally optimistic about the power of government to change things; reactionaries are hostile to the idea of change (for example, because they sympathize with dominant classes for whom the status quo is always desireable).