Overreaching

Back in January, around the time of the inauguration, I wrote a post where I talked about how all political movements have their peaks and valleys and they ultimately end with a big overreach.

I wondered in that post whether this current wave of republican conservatism that started with Nixon and is reaching its peak with Bush II, would end in an overreach on Social Security.  While Bush looks like he's going to come up empty on that one, I don't think the general public is upset with Bush's Social Security plan. They just don't think Social Security needs to be changed (they are wrong - it is broken).

After talking to a bunch of people who are more sophisticated about politics than I am, it now seems to me that the overreach is more likely to come in the area of separation of church and state (or in this case the lack thereof).  The religious right is the source of most of the republican conservative movement's base and strength and they are exercising their power more and more every day. This will ultimately backfire and cause their downfall.

I don't think the Schiavo matter is going to be the thing that does it.  But its certainly getting people's attention. Jeff Jarvis has a great Easter morning post on this subject.  And this comes from a religious man on his way to church.

One of my mentors in business used to say "beware too pious a man".  Religion has its purpose in the world. It's a source of great comfort to many. It forms the foundations of many communities. It does enormous good in the world.  But religion taken too far is also the source of most of the worst things in the world (terrorism, bigotry, hatred, strife).

So I say beware too pious a political party. We've got one and I am wary.  And I believe many Americans are becoming wary of it too.

Comments

[Jeremy Punnett]

Maybe you could give us your opinion on why Social Security is broken given that the majority of professional economists don't believe it is? Its always good when someone from outside the profession finds something those inside have been too blind to see.

I await you economics lecture with great anticipation.

[Ivan Chong]

Just curious -- how do you fine relgion? what do you consider religious beliefs vs. non-religious beliefs?

[Jonathan]

Ivan, non-religious beliefs are theories developed to best explain the available empirical evidence. Such theories may contain an element of speculation, but that speculation is then tested by reproduceable experiements or real world results. As additional facts come in, they either support or contradict such theories and such theories are readily modified, by consensus.

Conversely, religious beliefs derive their weight from interpretation of sacred texts; they do not rely upon observable evidence for the derivation of their theories. That's what faith is all about; not requiring proof. A moral framework is developed from studying such texts, and the validity of behavior or policy is filtered through the resulting moral lens.

Neither system is perfect, and some would say they serve different needs equally well.

Where the principal debate seems to lie today is which system should provide the principal basis for public policy in the United States. Should we have a "faith-based" government or a "reality-based" government.

I agree with Fred that the pendulum has swung much too far in favor of the former, and the Schiavo matter may have started it swinging back toward equilibrium.

None of this explains the social security "debate", which is based instead upon a fundamental deception. Even if you grant that the system needs fixing, the Bush Adminstration is being disingenuous about wanting to fix it. It is an affront to their economic philosophy, like the rest of the New Deal, and they want to undermine it and eventually replace it. But once again, rather than admit that, they deliberately and cynically confuse, manipulate and obfuscate. So far, it isn't working.

What we need is for the two parties to appoint bipartisan panel tasked with recommending real reforms that will fix the problem, like was done in 1983 under Reagan.

[Tony]

One of my favorite quotes about religion from Steven Weinberg:

"With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion."

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