Stalin for Surgeon General!
Topic: Liberal Fascism
I often catch flak for saying that progressives are stupid. Now as I’ve explained before, when I say this I don’t necessarily mean to imply that they’re stupid in a general sense. I mean that when it comes to political, economic or ethical issues, progressives have stupidity imposed on them by their ideology. Believing in things that simply aren’t so—that George W. Bush is a fascist, that government can solve “social problems,” that poverty causes crime, etc.—requires a suppression of one’s native intelligence. And that inevitably leads one to say and do very stupid things—even if one has an above-average IQ.
Here’s a good example of what I mean. In a desperate attempt to buttress the crumbling case for big government, Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times points to the US armed forces. They have socialized medicine! They have free day care! And if the armed forces can do it, why can’t the whole country do it?
Oh, for crying out loud, Nick, give your brain a chance!
It’s true that the US military is a paternalistic organization with some elements of socialism in its makeup. But Kristof’s point rests on the specious implication that the military is an autonomous society. On the contrary, in economic terms the military is a parasitic organism. It doesn’t generate the resources needed to maintain its various social services—it draws them from the productive economy of the nation in the form of taxes.
Furthermore, while our political culture is democratic our military culture is undemocratic. While our national economy is based on market principles, the military runs a command economy. The peculiar features of military culture, both those that Kristof mentions and those that he skates over, are tolerated in the interest of readiness and morale. And the system only works because all members of the armed forces are legally obligated to obey orders.
I seriously doubt that Kristof grasps all the implications of the point he’s trying to make, so let me help him out. Discerning historians have noted that socialism, properly understood, is really the application of military methods to economic management. “War Socialism” in Germany during the First World War and Bolshevism in Russia are but two examples of this phenomenon—gruesome ones, at that. So what Kristof is really advocating is the militarization of the nation’s healthcare system. And that’s incredibly stupid—even for a progressive.
Posted by tmg110
at 9:06 AM EDT
