I want to discuss, in the brief space I have, the roots of modern Leftist philosophy, and why they believe government and force are the essentials to a more perfect society. There is an inherent contradiction in their system which would nullify it, but the Leftist’s fundamental understanding of human nature is in error, and thus any arrangement based on it is doomed to failure. And has.
Modern
leftism has an interesting history, but one I cannot fully elucidate here. Though it has predecessors (Locke, Helvetius),
its current manifestation is rooted in Darwinian materialism (one foundation of
Marxism). According to this hypothesis,
humans evolved, naturally and by chance, from “lower” forms of life. Pure, undiluted Darwinism, thus pure leftism,
is atheistic—no God created or controlled the process. That means human beings are nothing more than
blobs of matter in motion. The only
difference between you and a cockroach is a different configuration of
molecules, and that totally by chance.
You can no more help being a human than a cockroach can help being a
cockroach. There is, of course, some
verity to this.
However,
since humans are nothing but groups of molecules in motion, we can react only
to whatever environmental forces surround us.
There is no freedom of choice in such a system. And no free will implies we are not
responsible for what we do. Criminals
aren’t guilty of “crimes”; it isn’t their fault, they respond exclusively to
environmental factors. Also, poverty has
been said to be a root cause of crime. Thus,
by changing the environment (a “war on poverty”), human behavior can be modified. Put an apple tree in an environment of good
water, soil, sunshine, etc., and bigger, tastier, juicier apples will be
produced. The apples have no “choice” in
the matter, they only respond to their surroundings. Since humans are, like apples, only molecules
formed, by chance, into what we are, then, like apples, we will react only to
whatever external stimuli we receive.
People thus aren’t “good” or “bad” except as their environment dictates.
Leftist intellectuals
believe that humans (especially them) have evolved to the point where they can
control the evolutionary process, if only we will give them power. They will create a Utopia, by good laws and
education, so that everybody can be in a “good” environment and respond
accordingly.
This
philosophy is, of course, contrary to Christianity and many world religions,
which believe that man is, in some ways, the offspring of a Divine Creator,
given freedom of choice by that Creator on how they choose to live. Most conservatives believe in a philosophy
like this, whether they are “religious” or not.
People are not just naturalistic, materialistic animals, with nothing
but instinct and response to environment.
Some environmental forces are obviously evident in human behavior
(culture, tradition, etc.); no one can, or should, deny this. But, in the conservative mind, humans have
free will, and can choose to rise above their circumstances and form their own
destiny. Not so, says the liberal,
people only do “good” or “evil” in response to their (“systemic”) surroundings,
whatever stimuli they receive from without.
Again, change the stimuli, change the environment, and behavior will
automatically be modified. It’s “science.” When people do evil, it’s the fault of the
system (capitalism is usually blamed, or now, “white supremacy” and “racism”),
not the fault of the individual.
The
difference between liberalism and conservatism is thus based on a fundamentally
different belief about human nature.
Liberals want power so that they can create an earthly paradise. They believe
they can now control all environmental factors, including the climate. Conservatives believe in freedom, but a
freedom that has boundaries based on eternal principles of right and
wrong. Humans can be, must be, incentivized
and disciplined towards virtuous conduct, and thus to use their freedom for
good, not evil. Family and religion best
do this, not government.
Socialism
is a prime example of liberal failure.
The government, top-down, controls the economy. It never works because it denies humans the
freedom to choose their needs and desires, rather than what the elite thinks is
best. Nobody can control what another
person wishes to purchase. Only the free
market fits with human nature.
Liberal
morality also is disastrous. Let Edmund
Burke explain: "Society cannot
exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere;
and the less of it there is within [freedom of choice], the more there must be
without [government tyranny]."
People must use their freedom to control themselves—self-government. Or government will have to do it for
them. Freedom or tyranny. The Right vs. the Left.
Thus,
liberal politicians’ fundamental mistake is believing that human beings can be transformed
by legislation, in effect, by force. But
they are wrong, and that is why political systems, nations, and dynasties rise
for awhile and then collapse. They fail
in the most basic concept, viz., that freedom is in the human heart, not produced
by government laws. And forcing people
to outwardly conform will only lead eventually to resentment, rebellion, and
revolution. That is why religion has
always existed. Christianity, for
example, has survived for 2,000 years through every kind of political system
and upheaval. Jesus knew that humans can
only truly be changed from within, in the heart, not by external laws. Therefore, religion has always existed, and
will continue long after current political tyrannies have either disappeared
completely or devolved into something else, something as useless and
reprehensible as what they had replaced.
But,
religion remains the greatest threat to the self-serving, elitist politicians
who lust to control others and create the Shangri-la that gives them
totalitarian power. The only people more
pitiable than such politicians are the people who believe their lies, lies that
have been repeated countless times throughout history, and have cost innumerable
people their lives. For, what do you do
with the rotten apples, the apples that don’t respond to the perfect
environment you created for them?
You
destroy them. As many as necessary.
