Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Posted here Wednesday, August 18, 2004 at 4:37:37 PM     Highly recommend this article http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/conservatism.html What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It? Philip E. Agre August 2004 Liberals in the United States have been losing political debates to conservatives for a quarter century. In order to start winning again, liberals must answer two simple questions: what is conservatism, and what is wrong with it? As it happens, the answers to these questions are also simple: Q: What is conservatism? A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy. Q: What is wrong with conservatism? A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world. These ideas are not new. Indeed they were common sense until recently. Nowadays, though, most of the people who call themselves "conservatives" have little notion of what conservatism even is. They have been deceived by one of the great public relations campaigns of human history. Only by analyzing this deception will it become possible to revive democracy in the United States. I think he fails to analyze left authoritarianism, but the aalysis is so good, and raises such good questions, and is so courageous - read it. ********

Posted here Wednesday, August 18, 2004 at 11:56:52 AM     Things move. This man was a supsporter of the war, and an expert in military histiry and strategy. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/18/opinion/18luttwak.html Time to Quit Iraq (Sort Of) By EDWARD LUTTWAK Published: August 18, 2004 Chevy Chase, Md. — Many Americans now believe that the United States is depleting its military strength, diplomatic leverage and Treasury to pursue unrealistic aims in Iraq. They are right. Democracy seems to interest few Iraqis, given the widespread Shiite proclivity to follow unelected clerics, the Sunni rejection of the principle of majority rule, and the preference of many Kurds for tribe and clan over elected governments. Reconstruction was supposed to advance rapidly with surging oil export revenues, but is hardly gaining on the continuing destruction inflicted by sabotage and thievery. And in any case, it is unlikely that the new Iraqi interim government will be able to oversee meaningful elections in a country where its authority is more widely denied than recognized ********