Leviathan on the Right

Went to hear Michael Tanner talk about his new book: Leviathan on the Right which is about the spread of "big government conservatism."

It's a sobering topic, but he was an entertaining speaker - and there was free beer and pizza! Thank you, Cato and Heartland Institutes!

He distinguished 5 types of big government conservatives:

1) neocons, former Marxists who still think the welfare state is great
2) "national greatness" conservatives who believe we need a great national purpose because individual purposes are unworthy
3) religious right, who are want to impose their values
4) supply siders, who think if you keep the economy going strong, then you can afford a nice big welfare state
5) technophiles, who want to use computers to control behavior

At one point, he said something I've heard before: "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

That's not always true, but it's true often enough. The thing is, freedom lovers really do care. We know that freedom is the best system for generating human happiness. But we do get sick of all the fake syrupy "caring and sharing" stuff that is always being trumpeted about by political cynics.

faustin left an insightful comment the other day that ended:

You and I know well the need for independence and the benefits of independence. But the environment and survival conditions which shaped us give us all sorts of challenges, and there are compelling reasons why we've strong tendencies to turn towards each other and help each other in times of suffering. It doesn't change the metaphysics of the individual, the need for independence in cognition and the unarguable power of self-reliance, of course.

I think that's right.

Leviathan declares
It cares
And then creates a giant lair
Where caring is rare.