2009-07-26 Op-Ed Comments

The right-side of the political scale has always been made-up of different political archetypes. Today however, the philosophical archetype's have factionalized within themselves. This is a study on the philosophy of conservatism.

The goal is to find some common ground shared by each. At first, I didn't think it mattered beyond "getting along," but I've come to believe the war between conservative factions does matter. Here's why ...

The battle being waged is about more than conservatism, it's about laying claim to being the champions of America's moral, intellectual, cultural, and political heritage. The outcome of this battle will either uphold or undermine the meaning of that inheritance.

Of critical importance in this battle is the primacy of the individual versus the primacy of society over the individual. Whether it is viewed as founded on natural rights and limited government—or upon pragmatic expediency and unconstrained statism, is of vital importance to our heritage.

The postmodern relativists on the Left don't think about such things. In fact, they're doing everything they can to obliterate what remains of the American Enlightenment legacy. Today, only on the political right are these matters seriously addressed and debated. Therefore, who wins these arguments will decisively shape our future as a nation and culture.