"Conservatism is modern history's greatest, most tragic, and most lethal failure." [View all]

[smorkingapple]

God this guy just ethered conservatism. Much of this is spot on:


Umair Haque destroys the idea of conservatism

1. What's going wrong with the globe? The problem really isn't economics anymore; it's politics. We are stuck with a broken politics.

2. The problem facing us isn't economics per se, but politics. Solutions are obvious; but politicians deliberately ignore them.

3. Politicians ignore obvious economic solutions to crisis because our politics is broken. There is NO incentive for them to fix anything.

4. There is no incentive for politicians to fix anything because our political systems aren't just corrupt, but badly designed.

5. Take the example of the UK. It's been plunged into FIVE YEARS of real depression. Why? Mostly, because politicians...wanted it.

5. Take the example of America. It's got a "recovery" where 90% are poorer than in the "recession". Why? Because...politics.

6. Conservatism is modern history's greatest, most tragic, and most lethal failure. It is plunging the globe into a lost decade.

7. Conservatism is a failure because it has succeeded beyond it's wildest dreams. And the result is a society unfit for the future.

8. Conservatism has succeeded in preserving an unfair distribution of income, social stratification, inopportunity, and injustice.

9. Conservatism's great success is it's failure; it's goals are precisely what rob economies of dynamism, and leave them fragile.

10. Conservatism EXPLICITLY aims for rent-seeking, social fracture, systemic externalities, and elite capture.

11. Thus, modern conservatism is not a political philosophy fit for a humane future; nor is it one built for a prosperous future.

12. America is a mini case study in conservatism's failure. It is off the charts compared to other advanced economies rightward.

13. Modern conservatism is a kind of intellectual poison that corrodes modern economies by degrading politics, society, and culture.

14. There are many avenues to fight the lethal toxicity of conservatism. But societies have to choose them.

15. Societies that choose conservative politics in the middle of historic transformations will, by definition, not move forward.

16. Societies that choose conservative politics today are choosing a nostalgic utopia: the late 20 century, forever.

17. A conservatism incapable of grappling with the challenges of today, instead of holding fast to the past. is little more than a fantasy.

18. Liberals who do not recognize the failure of conservatism, and take a more aggressive stance in highlighting it, are conservatives.

19. The great failure of liberalism is also it's great success: it is responsible for a golden age of prosperity. And it must claim so.

20. At this point, the central tenets of modern conservatism require NO refutation. They are disproven by recent history.

21. Liberals who engage in "intellectual" debates with conservatives are neither. Because there is no intellect left in conservatism.

22. We may trace the rise and fall of nations over the next decade according to this logic: are they conservative? If so, they're toast.

23. (Neo)feudalism is essentially the event horizon of modern conservatism. Where it comes full circle, and regresses into lunacy.

24. Reality: there is no example of an advanced economy anywhere in the world following conservative policies and prospering.

25. There are no conservative and prosperous countries. Hence, to attempt conservative politics today is an exercise in magical thinking.