[Speed Gibson,
Thursday April 7, 2005 at 10:42pm]
The Fountainhead
Wrapped around a picture of Ayn Rand is a very thoughtful article by David Brooks of The New York Times. "Conservatives' feuding factions have found strength in their division" he claims.What caught my eye was this observation near the end, that "... modern liberalism was formed in government, not away from it."
I had never thought of it that way before, preferring the "ivory tower" and "I've got mine" explanations for cutting off the feedback so essential to rational thought and intellectual development.
For decades, Republicans were out of power, and had to talk - and bicker - among themselves. But now the Democrats are on the outside. They try to build think tanks like the Republicans, only they don't know how. Their model was a committee hearing with a gavel to silence any reactionary opposition. Our conflicts generate insight; theirs only policy.
We debate income vs consumption taxes based on their relative ease of collection and disruptive effects on the economy. They say raise all taxes because the total is falling as a percent of perrsonal income, as if that's a reason.
It also helps explain why the liberal versions of conservative media don't succeed. They have no roots in the real world outside government.
I had never thought of it that way before, preferring the "ivory tower" and "I've got mine" explanations for cutting off the feedback so essential to rational thought and intellectual development.
For decades, Republicans were out of power, and had to talk - and bicker - among themselves. But now the Democrats are on the outside. They try to build think tanks like the Republicans, only they don't know how. Their model was a committee hearing with a gavel to silence any reactionary opposition. Our conflicts generate insight; theirs only policy.
We debate income vs consumption taxes based on their relative ease of collection and disruptive effects on the economy. They say raise all taxes because the total is falling as a percent of perrsonal income, as if that's a reason.
It also helps explain why the liberal versions of conservative media don't succeed. They have no roots in the real world outside government.