L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
I've lived in D.C. long enough to have witnessed more than a few elections. Some have gone very badly for Republicans, some have gone very badly for Democrats. They never go well for libertarians concerned about the size and scope of government. But something about this week was different. Conservatives aren't glum out here. They're somber.
People always talk about how few people lined up behind Mitt Romney initially. That doesn't surprise me at all. What's noteworthy is that after so many people begged, pleaded, and prayed for a better candidate, the moment Romney locked up the nomination, they got behind him. Why? Because they knew that this election was important in a way that a choice between a Bill Clinton and Bob Dole wasn't.
If you don't understand why, you must read Jonah Goldberg's explanation of the gravity of the situation ("Becoming European: The Founders’ vision of the people as sovereign lost on Tuesday"). It also explains the different mood this year:
The words “government” and “state” are often used interchangeably, but they are really different things. According to the Founders’ vision, the people are sovereign and the government belongs to us. Under the European notion of the state, the people are creatures of the state, significant only as parts of the whole.
This European version of the state can be nice. One can live comfortably under it. Many decent and smart people sincerely believe this is the intellectually and morally superior way to organize society. And, to be fair, it’s not a binary thing. The line between the European and American models is blurry. France is not a Huxleyan dystopia, and America is not and has never been an anarchist’s utopia, nor do conservatives want it to be one.
The distinction between the two worldviews is mostly a disagreement over first assumptions about which institutions should take the lead in our lives. It is an argument about what the habits of the American heart should be. Should we live in a country where the first recourse is to appeal to the government, or should government interventions be reserved as a last resort?
The key to "marrying our interests to the state," Goldberg explains, is the decline of mediating institutions, the chief of which is the family:
One of the stark lessons of Obama’s victory is the degree to which the Republican party has become a party for the married and the religious. If only married people voted, Romney would have won in a landslide. If only married religious people voted, you’d need a word that means something much bigger than landslide. Obviously, Obama got some votes from the married and the religious (such people can marry their interests to the state, too), but as a generalization, the Obama coalition heavily depends on people who do not see family or religion as rival or superior sources of material aid or moral authority.
Goldberg notes how marriage has gone out of style among non-elites. Religion, too.
In the aftermath of massive American urbanization and industrialization, and in the teeth of a brutal economic downturn, Franklin D. Roosevelt promised to fight for the “forgotten man” — the American who felt lost amidst the social chaos of the age. Obama campaigned for “Julia” — the affluent single mom who had no family and no ostensible faith to fall back on.
In short, the American people are starting to look like Europeans, and as a result they want a European form of government.
We had a pretty good run, didn't we?
- Comment (70)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (13)
Comments:
May '10
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Chuckles:
Now we each have a question - how shall we prepare for the future we expect? · in 1 minute
I have posted my answer to that question already.
May '11
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Isn't there a difference between voters rejecting the conservative message and voters rejecting a caricature of the conservative message and in this case, messenger?
Just enough voters rejected Romney the plundering plutocrat, Romney the guy with no details whose math didn't add up, Romney the guy who'd take us back to the tax policies of Bush that led to the recession, Romney the contraception snatcher. This was relentlessly reinforced by the MSM and Romney's failure to aggressively offer a counter-narrative.
Sadly, these were such easily refutable lies but we perhaps found them so ridiculous, we underestimated how reasonable they might seem to someone who hears or reads them from NPR, the NYT, Washington Post, CNN etc. Between the image of Romney as a cold hearted job killer and Romney the immensely decent, generous job-creator, which do you think broke through into the mainstream? Or even between the idea of liberal policies that saved the economy and auto industry and liberal policies that led to the recession and promote cronyism?
Which idea broke through to even potential Romney voters?
We'll not have success until we find a way around the MSM.
May '10
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Pensworth: The people that rejected Romney for all those reasons are too blind to see the truth about America, or too busy to take the time to see it. My wife, who hates politics, did not even know about Bengahzi, NLRB, or any of the hotbutton issues, was sick with Obama's victory.
You have to be either on the take from the government or a useful idiot to vote for Obama or to not vote for Romney.
Jul '11
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
drlorentz
Bryan G. Stephens:
...
It is time to say no to charity and yes to family.
...
I'm dismayed at the selfishness of some of the responses on this thread. Say no to charity? We're the good guys, remember? Charity isthe alternative to government entitlements. Lead your fellow Americans back to the right path by example. · 43 minutes ago
It seems a natural response when gut hit, especially when many of the punches were delivered by the very people dependent upon my charity. In my case it's my free patients, some of whom voted for the president.
What I'll do in the end is what I believe God expects of me, so don't fret too much drlorentz.
Sep '10
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
DocJay
It seems a natural response when gut hit, especially when many of the punches were delivered by the very people dependent upon my charity. In my case it's my free patients, some of whom voted for the president.
What I'll do in the end is what I believe God expects of me, so don't fret too much drlorentz.
I knew you would, as everyone else will too. Your free patients who voted for the president are the ripest targets for your good example. Perhaps it will dawn upon them someday that DocJay is a nicer guy than a faceless bureaucracy, and a better guy to count on when the going gets rough.
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Mollie,
I'm trying so hard not to agree with your heart-wrenching sentence:
We had a pretty good run, didn't we.
Anne
Sep '10
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Anne R. Pierce: Mollie,
I'm trying so hard not to agree with your heart-wrenching sentence:
We had a pretty good run, didn't we.
Anne · 1 minute ago
Until they put up a wall keeping you guys inside its not over.
Mar '11
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Folks, we have LOST AMERICA.
We have NOT lost the American ideal. And while we probably cannot get all of America back, we CAN coalesce and regroup in a new City on the Hill. That is where the Obamacare lawsuits, refusing government mandates, and passive-aggressive resistance to the federal government leads.
But there MUST be an actual piece of land. As individuals, we do not stand a chance. Hence the talk of Texas.
Jul '11
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
drlorentz
DocJay
It seems a natural response when gut hit, especially when many of the punches were delivered by the very people dependent upon my charity. In my case it's my free patients, some of whom voted for the president.
What I'll do in the end is what I believe God expects of me, so don't fret too much drlorentz.
I knew you would, as everyone else will too. Your free patients who voted for the president are the ripest targets for your good example. Perhaps it will dawn upon them someday that DocJay is a nicer guy than a faceless bureaucracy, and a better guy to count on when the going gets rough. · 32 minutes ago
Can I have some of that drug you are on? It sounds warm and fuzzy there. Takers are takers and all they do is take. When you stop them from taking they tend to get violent, they very seldom have epiphanies except maybe how they can take some more from somebody else.
Jul '12
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Grendel
We must never, ever, ever concede that there is the slightest scintilla of charity in coercive state expropriation and transfer. There is a world of difference between being a charitable donor and being forced to give your produce for the benefit of another. The latter is servility. · 1 hour ago
Perfect. Just the words I've been trying to come up with. Well done and thanks!
Aug '12
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Grendel
There is a world of difference between being a charitable donor and being forced to give your produce for the benefit of another. The latter is servility. · 6 minutes ago
We are already there and it is only going to get worse from here on out.
This was a generational defeat and Boehner all but asked for terms of surrender in his conference this week.
Two starkly different visions of this Republic were placed before the electorate and the result was not even close. Personally speaking, after a third of century spent fighting The Republic's coarsening culture, creeping indolence and perpetual adolescence, I am at last free of the delusion that my efforts can affect the national fight.
I agree with Bryan, our army has been decisively routed on the cultural field of ideas. I'm headed home with other like-minded survivors to focus on my life, my family and my community.
Mar '12
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Jul '10
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
drlorentz
I'm dismayed at the selfishness of some of the responses on this thread. Say no to charity? We're the good guys, remember? Charity isthe alternative to government entitlements. Lead your fellow Americans back to the right path by example. · 1 hour ago
I think it's unconscionable that any single, solitary U.S. dollar is sent to a foreign country in aid while there are Americans still without.
So, when I'm asked to give I reply,"I already have. I paid My taxes. Perhaps You should petition the federal government for a piece of the billion We sent to Pakistan or the six hundred million We sent to Columbia or the four hundred million We sent to Russia or....."
Mar '12
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Mar '11
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Yep - as Mr Delingpole knows, this does not end well.
Oh, well, life in Europe can be pleasant if you are one of the lucky ones with a job. Less disposable income, for sure, but people seem to get by.
Oh, apart from Greece.
So, yeah, fundamental change has to come to America.
Mar '11
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Because religion went out of style. When you kill God, something has to take His place. That something will always be rotten.
Mar '11
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Ed G.
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
.....
The weirdest thing. I sat down to write a positive post and this came out. I'm totally serious. We don't need to be down in the dumps or anything, but I do think people need to be taking this situation more seriously than they have other setbacks. · in 1 minute
I've experienced the same. There seems to be some weird link between optimism and pessimism as if they're circling around to one another, like an emotional moebius strip.
I mentioned on the podcast last night that everytime I start to despair, I see someone else doing it and want to tell them "cut it out!"
Oct '12
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
As much as I love Mollie I like Jay Cost's take much better
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/morning-jay-shake-it-conservatives_662109.html?page=1
Aug '12
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
drlorentz
I knew you would, as everyone else will too. Your free patients who voted for the president are the ripest targets for your good example. Perhaps it will dawn upon them someday that DocJay is a nicer guy than a faceless bureaucracy, and a better guy to count on when the going gets rough. · 2 hours ago
Or, they won't give it two thoughts at all and will just continue along, happy to have their hand out and spit at anyone unwilling to just hand them anything.
I see it everyday in public health. People scream and complain that they can't cover a four dollar prescription but have plenty of dime for a new car, two packs of smokes, hair extensions, a lunch a Wendy's and a couple of double deuce magnums for that evening's party.
Where is the line between setting a good example and just being taken for a ride?
Re: L'etat C'est Nous: America Waves Goodbye to Limited Government
Kate Logsdon: As much as I love Mollie I like Jay Cost's take much better
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/morning-jay-shake-it-conservatives_662109.html?page=1 · 1 hour ago
I have a couple more seriously introspective posts to put out there but plan to move on to the happy place soon, Kate!