No more generalizations, please
A mini-deluge of corny articles by Phillip Longman are lately being cited all over the place. Longman concludes that the US is headed towards a "more Conservative future." When I hear such absurd observations, I have to wonder: "what does that even mean?"
It's similar to how I hear folks sometimes say things such as the US has become more Conservative. I guess they base this conclusion upon the make up of the Congress.
Gee, it seems to me that the Secretary of State is a black lady. "Liberals" fought for that, and "Conservatives" (whatever that is) have accepted that it could happen. I say bravo, look how far we've come (regardless of how incompetent she is). And we now have rural electrification and an interstate highway system. Conservatives fought those things, now Conservatives enjoy them. Social Security is here to stay. Conservatives fought that, too, now accept it, and depend on it. What is generally accepted to be a Conservative (or a Liberal) has changed. And it will change again. And again. But you won't hear me shouting that the world or the US is becoming "more Liberal." I stop dead in my tracks when I begin to consider what "Liberal" even is. It could be anything - and anyone could argue that anything is, well anything. Why waste time with such things? The trends can't be described with simplistic labels such as "Conservative." A 1964 Conservative ain't a 2004 Conservative.
The generalizations about trends which divide the population into either/or are indeed distasteful and inaccurate. If we are to describe what most people are, by all reasonable accounts, most people are neither Conservative or Liberal. They are Moderate. And they are all shades of Moderate. It's simply a fact that most people take nuanced positions on issues. And those nuanced positions are various.
As Bernard Henri-Levy points out, "When you go to a restaurant, do you order a dish or the whole menu?"
It's impossible to paint a portrait of tomorrow's landscape using today's terminology. Perceptions and meanings will certainly change. I'm not surprised that the word "moderate" doesn't occur in the Longman links above. I'm disappointed. Where are the articles in today's periodicals that discuss most people - the Moderates? Let's have some discourse about whether or not most people in the US will begin to be represented. Let's hear about why the media persists with this nonsense assuming two sides to every issue, in constant battle, as if the world we live in were like some kind of Superman Comic or a board game.
It's similar to how I hear folks sometimes say things such as the US has become more Conservative. I guess they base this conclusion upon the make up of the Congress.
Gee, it seems to me that the Secretary of State is a black lady. "Liberals" fought for that, and "Conservatives" (whatever that is) have accepted that it could happen. I say bravo, look how far we've come (regardless of how incompetent she is). And we now have rural electrification and an interstate highway system. Conservatives fought those things, now Conservatives enjoy them. Social Security is here to stay. Conservatives fought that, too, now accept it, and depend on it. What is generally accepted to be a Conservative (or a Liberal) has changed. And it will change again. And again. But you won't hear me shouting that the world or the US is becoming "more Liberal." I stop dead in my tracks when I begin to consider what "Liberal" even is. It could be anything - and anyone could argue that anything is, well anything. Why waste time with such things? The trends can't be described with simplistic labels such as "Conservative." A 1964 Conservative ain't a 2004 Conservative.
The generalizations about trends which divide the population into either/or are indeed distasteful and inaccurate. If we are to describe what most people are, by all reasonable accounts, most people are neither Conservative or Liberal. They are Moderate. And they are all shades of Moderate. It's simply a fact that most people take nuanced positions on issues. And those nuanced positions are various.
As Bernard Henri-Levy points out, "When you go to a restaurant, do you order a dish or the whole menu?"
It's impossible to paint a portrait of tomorrow's landscape using today's terminology. Perceptions and meanings will certainly change. I'm not surprised that the word "moderate" doesn't occur in the Longman links above. I'm disappointed. Where are the articles in today's periodicals that discuss most people - the Moderates? Let's have some discourse about whether or not most people in the US will begin to be represented. Let's hear about why the media persists with this nonsense assuming two sides to every issue, in constant battle, as if the world we live in were like some kind of Superman Comic or a board game.
Labels: Culture War, Media Criticism
posted by Martin Lane at
3:03 PM
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