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| | | Message 13 of 14 in Discussion |
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In the current climate, no, the culture war cannot be won. In fact, I think the extremes in control of most American political institutions actually work to fuel the conflict. It's like the movers and shakers of both parties perpetually attempt to drive wedges using emotional issues as a hammer. Sadly, the politicos responsible for the constant pounding seem often to care little about the issues themselves, but instead for simply using the conflict to maintain control of the process.
Do the libertarians have a way out of this mess? Sure. It's the notion of limiting the functions, and methods, of government--reserving the use of governmental authority to a few specific tasks, and shackling the methods with a robust respect for personal liberty. In that way, the extremes of both sides are prevented from actually imposing their will through force of law. They still get to bitch and moan--indeed declare, "There ought to be a Law!"--but their ability to impose their morality would be so curtailed that the rest of us could relax a little. The threat we feel from "those guys" would be minimized in a way that would lessen our desire to oppose them through the dubious method of supporting "the other guys."
So, no. The culture wars can't be won so long as it's considered normal that government have a role in every social discourse. Yes, libertarians have a way out of the mess--the limitation of governmental authority to only a very few, and very specific, functions. Functions that may only be executed through methods that leave in tact a vast degree of individual autonomy. |
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