PrintJanuary 21, 2010
Conservatism unbound
As we watch the Brown-Coakley race in Massachusetts we are reminded of those unseen forces at work which the left never seems to acknowledge or comprehend about the American spirit. But fortunately a few thoughtful writers and philosophers have understood and articulated the existence of such forces in their writings.
In 1972 the anti-Communist German sociologist Arnold Gehlen described these unseen forces so evident at tea parties, town halls and now in Massachusetts:
"Nonetheless, what we (Germany) lack are the American reserves in national energy and self-confidence, primitiveness and generosity, wealth and potential of every kind."
And Paul Gottfried in his book The Strange Death of Marxism explains why certain groups, whether "aristocratic, bourgeois or working -class have succeeded in preserving traditional class loyalties" against the Marxist ideology in America.
"It is hard to recode bureaucratically those who have learned to think and act as members of a functioning stratified society."
Finally, Paul Belian, writing for The Brussels Journal in 2006 built on Gehlen's observations:
"America's conservative reserves are far stronger than Europe's because America, unlike secular Europe, has remained rooted in traditional Christian values."
Now we need to remain true to those values and hold anyone we elect accountable to the same principles so evident in the American spirit.
M Catharine Evans - former liberal Democrat, tea partier, town hall participant, healthcare worker and mother of five.
