European Dream The Political Theology of George W. Bush's Faith-Based Initiative
In: Theoria: a journal of social and political theory, Band 55, Heft 115, S. 32-63
ISSN: 1558-5816
In: Theoria: a journal of social and political theory, Band 55, Heft 115, S. 32-63
ISSN: 1558-5816
In: Dissent: a journal devoted to radical ideas and the values of socialism and democracy, Band 55, Heft 3, S. 59-66
ISSN: 0012-3846
Critiques the New Right's "Jeffersonian" conceptualization of limited government as not reflective of the founders' intent. The founders' laissez-faire thinking & notion of limited government are reviewed, suggesting that they were in fact not against government innovation & expansion to protect freedom & that limited government ought to be a tool for the development of an egalitarian society & prevention of economic tyranny. It is argued that the New Right movement is a betrayal of Jeffersonian ideals with the attack on government accompanied by record economic inequality & wealth concentration. Attention is given to the retreat from laissez-faire as it became clear in the 19th century that limited government was insufficient to prevent the resurgence of aristocracy in the US; the revival of laissez-faire in a form decoupled from egalitarianism & linked to positivistic concepts of economic inequality; the New Deal challenge to elite laissez-faire; the emergence of the new laissez-faire under the auspices of the New Right; & what the original laissez-faire thinkers would make of its current iteration, which is anathema to the welfare state. It is concluded that the welfare state does not run counter to Jeffersonian principles & in fact, proponents of the current understanding of limited government support an antiegalitarian doctrine of elite self-defense. Adapted from the source document.
In: Dissent: a journal devoted to radical ideas and the values of socialism and democracy, S. 59-66
ISSN: 0012-3846
In: Dissent: a quarterly of politics and culture, Band 55, Heft 3, S. 59-66
ISSN: 1946-0910
In the fall of 1964, Ronald Reagan went on national television to tell the American people about a growing tyranny in their midst, "subtler, but no less dangerous" than Soviet communism. He also told them to cast their presidential vote for Barry Goldwater, who was ready to tame this new political beast and put a stop to those people who would "trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state." Now known simply as "The Speech," it was a performance that launched the extreme right wing of the country from the political margins into the highest seats of government. The resulting political realignment sharply affected how wealth and power are distributed in our society. Less often noted than his frightening analogies with communism was Reagan's view that the welfare state violated the "freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers." As Reagan declared in The Speech, "The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing."