The (OK, One of Many) Flaws in American Conservatism

Greg Anrig is right. Perhaps the biggest problem with American conservatism is the idea that the United States is right in everything. We know how to do everything better than everyone else and if you don't like, you are an anti-American commie. That sounds like such a stupid way to put it, but it is accurate. The responses I got from my recent post questioning the value of the American Revolution reflect this perfectly.

In the article's most important section, Anrig writes:

"You never hear the conservative movement's leaders talking about how the United States might learn from, say, France's successful approach to early childhood education, Germany's effective worker training policies, or Canada's politically neutral election administration system. Why not? What would the harm be? Well, those policies entail an active role for government, involving budgetary commitments, and the conservative movement in the United States will have none of that. The success of those initiatives in advancing their goals, endorsed by the voters, is immaterial. More government is inherently bad in the right's worldview.

Conservatives invoke experiments in other countries as models for the United States only when they are trying to sell one of their anti-government agenda items. So they have touted the experiences in Chile and the United Kingdom with privatizing public pensions, and in South Africa with health savings accounts. In those cases, though, the results of the right's initiatives have been unmitigated failures, notwithstanding the spin churned out by their well-financed marketing machine."

Precisely. Whatever might actually lead to more healthy, happy, peaceful, and contented Americans doesn't matter. What is important is ideology and greed wrapped in a moldy lettuce wrap of patriotism.