4430 Loc: Little Egypt ** Southern Illinory

Opinion

Individual liberty without compelling moral vision leads us down a dangerous path
Posted Oct 18, 2020

By Cameron Smith

Conservative idolization of the rugged individual gave Karl Marx a path back into the mainstream. It’s a tough admission for any conservative to make, but America’s future depends on addressing it effectively.

American individualism has been around since our nation’s founding. In drafting the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson borrowed heavily from English philosopher John Locke who believed that all men were created equal with “inalienable” rights, specifically life, liberty, and property ownership. No, we’ve never held those ideals perfectly, but we have made tremendous progress in respecting the dignity of all Americans.

While individualism is indispensable to the American republic, it is not enough to keep it. Maximizing liberty and rejecting heavy-handed statism is second nature to most conservatives, especially those of us born during the Reagan Revolution. We were the kids who grew up with Rocky IV. Liberty is awesome. Captain Ivan D**go is not.

We saw President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate demanding that Soviets tear down the Berlin Wall. The wall came down. America won the Cold War. Almost immediately, Reagan’s rallying call to “the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated” began to fade.

The “traditional” hierarchy of faith, family and country weakened one generation after another. According to the Pew Research Center, only 10% of the Silent Generation (born 1928-1945) is unaffiliated with any religion. Among millennials (born 1981-1996), 40% do not identify with any faith. The number of Christian and Catholic Americans rapidly declines while “nothing in particular” continues to grow.

The divorce rate has fallen over recent years, but so has the marriage rate. Families have so many options competing for time and attention. It’s difficult to see family as a moral anchor when so many families don’t see each other at all.

And the cultural condition of our country speaks for itself. We’re literally a “selfie” nation that believes America’s purpose is fulfilling our personal desires. In a nation without shared purpose or values, conservative voices touting American individualism ring hollow.

Too many Americans don’t hear the clarion call of capitalist opportunity. They instead perceive a political class telling them that they are simply on their own.

Most Americans don’t want a solitary existence. Our lives are best lived together. We want a common cause. We need a moral purpose. Marx understood the human need for community. He recognized that so much of our individual identity is the relationships we form. Viewing history as a class struggle, Marx believed that citizens would surrender much of their individualism to the state in order to improve the conditions of their lives. In fact, Marx noted, “their power must assume the form of the state.” History tragically demonstrates how trust in extremely powerful governments has so often failed around the world. But modern Marxists recognize the power of class struggle and revolution in a nation that isn’t sure if it actually wants to live together, let alone craft a shared future.

If America is simply a geographic collection of self-interested individuals, using the state as a blunt force instrument to get what we want seems much more appealing. It’s also the formula for America’s decline that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev gleefully prophesied. Conservatives will never vanquish Marxist ideas by screaming “socialism” while simultaneously supporting massive government solutions to cultural problems.

We must instead use our economic and individual liberties to more effectively address the exact same human conditions Marx hoped to ameliorate through statist power. That is the American purpose. We must be free people willing to eliminate needless suffering and elevate human existence without our government mandating that we do so.

Marx’s socialist revolution hasn’t proven inevitable in America, but it’s becoming a concerning possibility. Conservatives should champion individual liberty, but we must also develop a compelling moral vision of what we should do with it.

Smith is CEO of the Triptych Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Triptych Foundation engages media, business, and public policy to lay the foundation for a better cultural trajectory. He was recently executive director of the Republican Policy Committee in the United States House of Representatives. You can reach him at cameron@smithstrategies.org.

zombinis3 Loc: Southwest

Have to agree with alot of what has been said. This country has gotten away from being a community where neighbors helps neighbors. Now if you are lucky you may know two of them. Which was in effect in government where one side reached over to the other side. Now one side just wants the power and will try to achieve it anyway possible.Next item is pretty much a blanket statement , especially since the citizens are not all into being a member of the selfie nation. Still see some actual selfless acts. I think I read this somewhere the people elected often times reflect the people who elect them into office.

4430 Loc: Little Egypt ** Southern Illinory

You're right , however here in rural flyover country there are still communities where neighbors helps neighbors especially in our farming areas .

zombinis3 Loc: Southwest

The reasoning is mostly meant to be for the people who live in the cities this is where the selfie belief really exists. So in part this is where the act of neighbors helping neighbors needs to be brought back. Out in flyover land a response from other then neighbors will normally take longer. The community is still close enough to realize that your neighbor needs help now you may be the one who needs it next. Which is one main problem with the cities , is that belief doesn't exist or hardly does.

4430 Loc: Little Egypt ** Southern Illinory

True