Confessions Of A (Former) Liberal

Will Hudson (who has also switched over to Moveable Type) has an absolutely brilliant piece on how he became a conservative. His own process of political realignment provides a good look into the way in which many, if not most, liberals think.

Based on my own encounters with people who take liberal issue stances, his observations are highly accurate. Most liberals have bought the line that conservatism is a selfish and egotistical ideology that lacks any caring for other people. By contrast, in their minds liberalism is an expression of compassion and caring and decency. That dogma is often so deeply planted that any attempts at persuasion fail. This is the crux of dogmatic liberalism, a belief that any view outside of the left of the political spectrum is inherently wrong and destructive.

Most liberals (and even a fair amount of conservatives) have no clue about what their ideology really means. They have no clue about politics, the political process, or public policy. If they did, many of them would probably be reexamining their political beliefs. There are some who argue liberalism and are able to back it up with substantive arguments. While I may disagree with them, at least their arguments are based on something other than a sense of dogma or that liberal "false consciousness." (Dear God, I’m ripping off Marx! He must be rotating in his grave at very high speed right now…)

In some ways, I think Ann Coulter is right. Liberals, at least a good majority of them, don’t make arguments, they make slurs and epithets. When one’s entire basis for political ideology is based on a sense of moral superiority and a desire to change the world, demonizing the opposition becomes almost reflexive. Yet as this attitude slowly begins to change and conservative ideas start spreading past the liberal gatekeepers and theologians of the media, this ideological rock which has supported so many modern liberals may soon crumble to dust.