Conservative Kakistocracy

I was a kid who couldn't understand how the Catholic Church threw out beauty for horrible ritual and nuns in polyester pants suits -- undoubtedly an odd kid. Through Catholicism I had felt tied to a huge history. I thought I had roots. 

My mother's father was nearly 80 when I was born. I remember thinking, not saying it was right, that the three generation thing was kind of a fundamental unit through which culture got passed down. I haven't changed my mind.

Seeing grandparents with their grandkids reinforced it. And, I thought -- this was still as a kid -- that the three-generation thing spanned 100 years. Which meant, there were 20 of those between us and the Romans and Christ. 

In other words, nothing. 

And the Church threw it out for insipid guitar music and kumbaya bullshit. I was appalled. I was always instinctively conservative. A preservationist. But I was sensitive, to a degree, if I may say it. I parted ways with conservatism. 

Because they were the destroyers. And this was early, meaning Nixon days. I wasn't an identified lefty then. More politically uninvested and homeless. But, for all intents, left. Because I was a preservationist and had faith in humanity.

Not on evidence but as a shot in the dark. Because I believe that how we view things is not at root analytical but aspirational. Creative, in the matter of outcomes. So as it goes -- my political homelessness -- it has been a rough ride. 

I'm a committed liberal now. They are the preservationists, favoring optimism, decency, the common good and continuity. I think conservatism is flawed, by its nature. They stress character, not behaviors. Which is racist and arrogant.

More than that, it's racism. 

Behaviors define people. Our judgments of character have to depend on behaviors. So, there. Conservatism is a scam. It's derivative, defensive, and tied to feeling superior. And inferior people need to feel superior.

Better people have better things to do. They don't need to keep other people down, or make bogus hierarchical distinctions. They simply live, and feel more secure when others are secure. The USA is the example. Of how to do it wrong. 

American 'conservatives' are run by their lowest character faction. The worst among them. And those persons are driven to run everything. Which gets us to kakistocracy. Rule of the worst. And not as a malfunction or misfire. 

It's in the nature of conservatism.