Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Conservatism

  • Leftists Know How to Fight . . .

    . . . and conservatives had better learn. I have been making this point for years. So I was pleased to see Jack Kerwick nail it down in Who are the Real 'Snowflakes,' Leftists or Conservatives? Related articles "If You're a Conservative, You are not My Friend" Is Man Basically Good? Same-Sex Marriage: No Surprise…

  • Is Conservatism a Belief System?

    I should think so.  But in an otherwise excellent entry, Tony M. writes, Conservatism is not really an ideology because it is neither a belief system per se nor a comprehensive social system. It is not a belief system because it does not take its foundational standards from belief but by reference to more basic…

  • A Poke at Some Conservatives (and at Rawls’ Difference Principle)

    Conservatives sometimes invoke facts as if the factuality of a fact justifies it. Rush Limbaugh: "Life is not fair." Bill O'Reilly: "We live in a capitalist society." But you can't say that life is not fair and leave it at that; for this allows the lefty to come back with, "Then let's make it fair!"…

  • The Conservative Mind

    Innovations are presumed guilty until proven innocent.  There is a defeasible presumption in favor of traditional beliefs, usages, institutions, arrangements, techniques, and whatnot, provided they work.  By all means allow the defeat of the outworn and no-longer-workable: in with the new if the novel is better.  But the burden of proof is on the would-be…

  • On Honoring Revolutionaries

    To show honor and respect is a conservative practice. There is therefore something paradoxical about leftists erecting icons to iconoclasts. Or is there? Once in power, revolutionaries become conservative.

  • Trump Against the Pussycons

    'Pussycon' is a crude moniker for those I have variously described as milquetoast conservatives, yap-and-scribble do-nothings, and bow-tie boys. Esther Goldberg: The hanky-clutching, cluck-clucking, tsk-tsking faction of the Conservative movement is in for a rough and bumpy ride over the next four to eight years. They’re the ones who wanted a Republican president who looked…

  • The Urbanites and the Rustics

    Here is Victor Davis Hanson in yet another penetrating column, Trump and the American Divide: Is there something about the land itself that promotes conservatism? The answer is as old as Western civilization. For the classical Greeks, the asteios (“astute”; astu: city) was the sophisticated “city-like” man, while the agroikos(“agrarian”; agros: farm/field) was synonymous with roughness.…

  • Thomas Sowell Bids us Farewell

    Thomas Sowell hasn't quit the mortal coil, but he has put down his pen at age 86.  A loss to us, but a release and a relief for him. Jason Riley and other sensible blacks will carry on. Related articles The Left's Central Delusion Soccer Moms Against Common Core Micro-Totalitarianism

  • The Life and Work of David Horowitz

    A good primer on the history of the New Left and an account of David Horowitz' transition from red-diaper Communist to formidable and prolific foe of the Left, with summaries of his works. Excerpt: In The Art of Political War Horowitz observes that progressives have inverted Clausewitz’s famous dictum and treat politics as “war continued…

  • Trump Wins, and the Left Goes Bonkers

    Here is the delusional Paul Krugman soiling, once again, the already piss-poor Op-Ed pages of The New York Times.  His title is the hyperventilatory "Thoughts for the Horrified." The political damage will extend far into the future, too. The odds are that some terrible people will become Supreme Court justices. States will feel empowered to…

  • ‘Women are Better at Looking After Children’

    The Opponent supplies the above-captioned sentence  for analysis.  He reports that a female family member was widely defriended (unfriended?) on Facebook for agreeing that it is true.  Of course the sentence is true as anyone with common sense and experience of life knows. It is an example of a generic statement or generic generalization.  It…

  • On Transcending Tribalism

    Jonathan Haidt: Humans are tribal, but tribalism can be transcended. It exists in tension with our extraordinary ability to develop bonds with other human beings. Romeo and Juliet fell in love. French, British and German soldiers came out of their trenches in World War I to exchange food, cigarettes and Christmas greetings. The key, as…

  • A Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives

    Liberals are horrified at any and all 'blaming of the victim.'  Conservatives know better: there are situations in which it is just and right to assign a certain amount of the blame for a crime to the victim.   Suppose I withdraw money from an outdoor ATM in a bad part of town on a…

  • Justice Thomas: “. . . so politically incorrect that he may not even be black.”

    Edward J. Erler, Last Chance to Defeat Political Correctness? Excerpt (exphasis added): . . . Progressive Liberals have viciously criticized Justice Clarence Thomas for refusing to represent his racial class on the Supreme Court. He sees his duty, instead, as following the rule of law and the Constitution. When the law classifies on the basis of…

  • Why Women are Under-Represented in Philosophy: A Politically Incorrect View

    TRIGGER WARNING!  Clear, critical, and independent thinking up ahead.  All girly-girls, pajama boys, and crybullies  out of the room and to their safe spaces and sandboxes.  If you play nice, Uncle Bill may serve milk and cookies. The following is excerpted from a much longer discussion with some alt-rightists/neo-reactionaries.  I am not one of them.…