More of Ben Stein's Wisdom

[sailaway21]

Yet more evidence that the end is nigh, offered by an amazingly down to earth genius.
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11860

[Valiente]

I agree with Mr. Stein. America is less in danger from outside "security threats" than from drowning in a syrup of trivialities of its own making. It's all circuses, no bread these days. I grew up during the Vietnam years, when it was inescapably obvious that America was involved in a war (irrespective of the validity of the casus belli). Now, it's Item Five after the blather about celebrities, sports figures and diet tips on what is laughingly referred to as "the news".

The resemblances to end-stage Rome are remarkable, really. What few seem to acknowledge in the rush to bash America and its drunken-sailor approach to foreign policy is that the only thing worse than an interventionist U.S.A. is one that retreats behind the laager of its own fears and obsessions. Roosevelt knew this, of course.

I see no one in the current U.S. leadership or contending leadership able to rise above the corrupt and money-lubricated political system to actually steer the country away from self-immolation.

Be aware that I consider most Americans' use of the terms "liberal" and "conservative" to be parochial in the extreme. The last liberal I liked was Edmund Burke, and the last American conservatives I can recall who merited the name were Eisenhower and Goldwater. Everyone else just loots the public purse bleating a different tune and leaving differently worded apologies.

[freddy4888]

Maybe things are improving in Iraq because the news media didn't have any bad news to report, god forbid if anything good happens, they don't report it.

[PBzeer]

Val - most consider Edmund Burke the father of modern conservitism. As it's meant to be, not necessarily as currently practiced

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by PBzeer

Val - most consider Edmund Burke the father of modern conservitism. As it's meant to be, not necessarily as currently practiced

True enough, but as a Whig he was considered liberal for his time, as would have been most of the U.S. Founding Fathers, opposed as they generally were to landed interests (despite being almost exclusively land owners themselves), aristocratic patronage, Church endowments and other typically Tory attributes.

This is among the reasons I find the current use of the terms "liberal" and "conservative" in North American political discourse so misleading, as they are essentially two relatively close colours on a dim spectrum, and are largely disassociated from their historical antecedents.

[PBzeer]

They're terms coined more by the press than by the practioners. Kinda like how so much of the current "country" music is what we called pop, back in the 50's and 60's.

[sailaway21]

Val,
Quite right you are. Burke was a product of classical liberalism, and the founder of the modern conservative movement; upon his shoulders Goldwater, WFB,jr, and Reagan all stood. Classical liberalism refers more to a system of men governing themselves and their culture than current notions of hedonism. In any event, when classical liberalism was revolutionizing the modern world, those educated in that manner often received a degree in liberal arts. How they did this without a women's studies curriculum continues to mystify current liberals.(g)

Ben Stein is a national treasure.