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Posted on 05/10/2010 7:35:27 PM PDT by Bokababe
Should America cling to the principles of a constitutional republic or break free and embrace European style social democracy? President Obama, to his credit, has been fairly open about his own postmodern beliefs and leanings toward social democracy. His policy initiatives and increasingly his stump speeches are lowering the thin veil he used while campaigning to sell himself as a supporter of American Constitutional style governance. Many want to blur the debate and make it about Republicans versus Democrats or human rights or Wall Street “fat cats.” Social democracy is not the best way forward and its proponents know this on some deep level. History and current events across Europe bear this out over and over. This is why Obama and his Progressive allies are not willing to lay it on the people straight up. Americans, despite being pretty well brainwashed over the last seventy years to believe that ever increasing government expansion and entitlements are a good and righteous thing, still like the Constitution and want to strive for a Meritocracy.
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Social Democracy?? Didn’t we try that in Greece?
Actually it’s a social democracy over-ruled by liberal judges who view the constitution as an open book to write in.
Constitutional republic means the government is small and works for the people, i.e., the individual has rights that the government must protect. Social democracy means the government is big and the people are its servants (slaves) and must surrender their rights for the good of the government.
Obama is afraid to Stick his socialism straight up just as the Republican Party wont stick Conservatism straight up.
Everyone just caters to this Mushy so called Middle, The Idiots who are to cowardly to take a stand until someone else tells them where to stand
Social Democracy? Think Weimar Republic. Think the next stage, national socialism. The one after that? “Arbeit Macht Frei”
I’ve noticed the shift in terms with the Kagan nomination -
both 0bama and Kagan are using the term “constitutional democracy”.
That’s “third way communitarianism”, folks.
Socialist control of the people with some capitalism to fund it.
the way to the middle is for conservatives to rename themselves pragmatists while retaining the pragmatic values of conservatism. If communists can continually rename themselves and co opt the term liberal which in the classical sense it’s what most today’s conservatives are, then we should use the same tool. Perception is reality in politics and we have allowed the left to rename us and define us. It’s time to take the bull by the horns and start redefining ourselves. After all who is against pragmatic approaches? Nothing that is advocated by the left can be dubbed pragmatic. Envious? Jealous? Emotional? anything but pragmatic.
Too many of them - all on the left and an annoying chunk on the right - redefine the objective terms ( like Conservatism or Socialism) to fit their needs. That’s not how it works. The terms are objective and static. They do not change. Conservatism is what it is. Socialism is what it is.
Politicians who govern in conservative manner are conservatives. Politicians who govern in a socialst manner are socialists. When they vote opposite what they say they are (i.e. When Snow or Collins vote for TARP) they do not change the definition of what a Conservative is. They have abandondoned conservatism.
The problem we have is that they still cling to the mantle even when their actions say otherwise. And in a soundbite on the nightly news, the newscaster might say “Leading conservative republican George Voinovich agreed to vote in favor of the Stimulus package”. That happens alot and it’s wrong. If a politician is governing away from conservative principles then that politician is no longer a conservative.
I prefer American ,even though in todays venacular that makes me a Right wing Extremist,so I say Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice
Good question...Asked 100 years too late!
Given that we just bailed out Euro-style Social Democracy (even as we move ever closer to it ourselves), the answer should be obvious that Euro Social Democracy isn't a workable construct because it is economically unsustainable!
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