THE CONSERVATIVE MENTALITY


What goes wrong in the human species
to produce such a disappointing finished
product? Is it a virus? A mutation? A
learning disability? Or is there an actual
"Conservative gene" that is passed on to
the unsuspecting baby?

Conservatives share certain beliefs and attitudes that when taken together form a mindset or mentality that is both revealing and depressing. To begin with, Conservatives believe in the concept of self interest. Everyone should be allowed to follow his or her own selfish pursuits free from all interference and regulation. Those persons who disagree with this narrow, egotistical approach to life, who express a concern with those less fortunate than themselves, or place a value on the public interest or the common good are labeled as "do gooders" and dismissed as "bleeding hearts."

Conservatives are pragmatists. They do whatever is deemed necessary to achieve their self-serving goals. The end always justifies the means. After all, they reason, this is a survival-of-the-fittest world, and, although they don't believe in Darwin's Theory of Evolution, it sure comes in handy when they're out there screwing their neighbors to get ahead. Winning is what it's all about, and there's always church on Sunday to make everything all right.

Conservatives are "bottom-line" men (and women) who believe in profit as an inalienable right, and they pursue it with a vigorous buyer beware philosophy. They operate within a conveniently short time horizon. "Get what you can now," they proudly exclaim, "and let the children pay the taxes on our greed and clean up what's left of the earth."

Conservatives and their institutions are passionate on the subject of government intervention. They cry out for deregulation, indeed self regulation. "What we don't need," they declare, "is government on our backs".....................until they get into trouble at which time they plead for the government to bail them out. After all, Corporate Welfare is OK; just don't give any aid to people. In fact, place government squarely on the backs of human beings in the most personal and private areas of their lives.

Conservatives will always support right wing military dictatorships that suppress and murder their own citizens until the situation becomes overwhelmingly and unavoidably embarrassing. Even a "death squad" is preferable to social reform. After all, you can do business with a Nazi. But let that dictatorship be of Communist or Socialist origin, then, all of a sudden, the same tyranny represents the embodiment of evil in the world.

In the Conservative Hierarchy of Fear the Marxist doctrine of sharing the wealth has gone unchallenged as the threat most capable of capturing the Right Wing's imagination. Add to that the religious element---the godless, atheistic, heart-of-darkness, satanic "Evil Empire"---and you have the stuff of madness. This pathological obsession with Communism has extended through the most advanced stages of psychotic paranoia. In the Conservative Mind, set so rigid and stiff in its ideological cement, there is only one thing worse than a Communist---and that is an American Liberal.

Conservatives are big spenders---every bit as big as liberals---only they have different priorities. They prefer to disburse the taxpayers' money overseas where it does Americans no good. By steering clear of any discernable domestic policy, they can employ their doctrine of weapons over people while keeping the under dogs down at home.

Conservatives routinely cut nutritional programs for the poor while bailing out the banks and S&L's. They're big on Law and Order but soft on corporate crime. They prefer management over labor, legality and religion over morality. They are horrified by media sex but media violence is just fine. And alcohol and tobacco are perfectly OK ("buyer beware," after all), but let's prosecute the hell out of those degenerate "Pinkos" who smoke pot. (We've got the law on our side).

Conservatives rely on shallow, empty gestures and simplistic, spoon-fed cliches to solve the world's complex problems. They employ illusion, appearance, "blue smoke and mirrors," "spinsmanship," and a never-ending filibuster of polyanna dribble to deflect genuine public concerns. Everything is always "coming up roses"---and lollypops---and jelly beans---and balloons. Those citizens who demand more substance and content to political debate are called "negative thinkers" and "doom and gloomers."

Conservatives can look the camera right in the eye and lie---and later call it an "error in judgment." They are forever wrapping themselves in the American Flag and hiding behind "National Security." They believe in censorship. And they spend a lot of time....saluting.

Conservatives view with suspicion and hatred anyone who does not share their philosophy, and they malign those who threaten the status quo. One of their primary tactics is to utilize a "divide and conquer" campaign of fear and prejudice in order to polarize the American People.

This, then, is a peek at the Conservative Mentality, and, as you can see, it is not a pretty picture.

08/05/1986