Comments for An Anatomy of Our Politics at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 11 out of 11 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Sun, 26 May 2013 04:25:23 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9226 @Michael: I don't think it was just deregulation that brought about the S&L Crisis. For example, it was Democrats who forced subprime mortgage lending policies on the banks, with the help of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Dept. of Housing and urban Development. In any case, I agree that we should make our allegiance to "conservatism" or "liberalism" subordinate to our focus on being Catholics. - Howard Kainz Sat, 17 Dec 2011 07:05:39 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9225 I enjoyed this piece very much, and would like to comment on one part of it: "It is also conceivable that conservatives, in their opposition to government encroachment on the rights of individuals or groups, may tend toward anarchic dismissal of legitimate and necessary governmental controls. But this hasn’t happened yet." Many conservatives are having second thoughts on how to define civil marriage; many, if not most, libertarians naively believe that government should stay out of marriage. - Gwenevere Sat, 17 Dec 2011 06:25:35 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9219 I must take umbrage with Mr. Kainz's statement that "It is also conceivable that conservatives, in their opposition to government encroachment on the rights of individuals or groups, may tend toward anarchic dismissal of legitimate and necessary governmental controls. But this hasn’t happened yet. At present, the “ball is in the other court.” This hasn't happened yet? What rock are you hiding under? Or perhaps whose neocon payroll are you supporting your family with? Highly financed "conservatives" (read Republicans) have successfully lobbied Congress for the passed thirty years to successively ease "necessary governmental controls" on the finance and business sector which helped to create the S & L crisis in the 80's / 90's (cf. Harvard professor turned Dem Sen. Elizabeth Warren a la "Fighting for Main Street Against Wall Street"), the junk bond boondoggle (just ask CTFC regulator Brooksley Born), and the recent near miss of the collapse of the entire international financial sector (a la FDIC's head regulator Sheila Bair, cf. "Too Big To Fail"). And then ask all the taxpayers who bailed out these big wigs or who have lost their life savings or their jobs if "this hasn't happened yet". It's high time we stopped being either "conservatives" or "liberals" and started being either catholics or Catholics. - Michael Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:54:37 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9211 The article is a nice, scholarly and safe exploration. In the real world, centralized government power has grown steadily for decades and the growth has become more rapid lately. Government policy continues to weaken traditional sources of local power such as family, community organizations (including school government), and in case one hasn't noticed, church assemblies, state and local governments. Has anyone looked at the statistics for marriage and co-habitation recently? A "clasiic" liberal traditionally is for the little guy not for state machinery uber alles. What is called a liberal today is actually a progressive left-of-left statist who believes in centralized state control of all aspects of life. It's called "regulation". And it is for "our own good" as defined by secular interest groups. Both political parties offer policy fixes to problems either created or enabled by government policy. None of the Republican front runners are anarchistic! The more severe merely want to slow the increasing growth of centralized power (and money translates into power hence the deficit spending). Meanwhile a self-described "liberal" television presenter, Barbara Walters, last night celebrated the Kardashian family with free prime-time marketing exposure for their fame enterprise, which included actual frames and video clips of Kim's sex tape with a man she had merely hooked up with! The liberals I knew growing up recognized the difference between being informed and being pandered to with filth. So while the thought exploration is nicely mannered and achieves a kind of flourish of "balance", the world we live in is becoming increasingly nasty, brutish and vulgar. The rule of law is increasingly ignored. Our families are not healthy and we have to beg, as Catholics, to keep some semblance of the rights of conscience. I am neither a gentleman nor a scholar, but I know trouble when I see it. I am merely amplifying Mr. Kainz's last two paragraphs in less scholarly tones. - Other Joe Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:52:13 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9210 One of the problems is that the 'conservative' party has progressed to the point where a lot of the top people share the liberal social values that broadly dominate the upper class. I'd point out that the response from the R establishment to the dismissal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' was pretty muted, especially since it was happening at the same time as a major treason scandal allegedly perpetrated by a homosexual soldier specifically because of his homosexuality (Bradley Manning). Also, high level Rs like Dick Cheney have come out in support of blasphemarriage and its not exactly a secret that the NY State approval of this institutional revolution was greased by high net worth Republicans. In other words, do we prefer to be (slowly) stabbed in the back or in the front? Its important to remember that social conservatives have votes but not money. While 3rd party candidates can't realistically be elected to nationwide offices, they can force the major parties to change course to embrace the principles that animate the 3rd party. - Ben Horvath Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:08:07 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9209 Several monumental changes have taken place in the academic and philosophical environements in US since the WWII make understadning our country based on the conservative-liberal model ompossible. First of all, those beliefs by which those who now call themselves liberals define themselves would have been thought of as radical by earlier generations of of liberals. For example, the very sine non qua belief that is necessary to hold in order be regarded as enlightened is that homosexual acts cannot be differntiated morally or biolobically from sexual inetercourse between a man and woman. When millions cheer a president who says that no one should be denied the right "to serve their country based on who they love" and supports abortion because he woulldn't want his daugher "punished witha baby is she made a mistake" we know we have moved away from mere liberalism. Another chagne is that more people today go to college than ever before and while there are indoctrinated with the set of beliefs that they are told sets them apart from those trogledyte conservatives who are holding mankind back from further evolution toward a world of absolute freedom and government prorvided wealth, leisure, and health. We have NOT been here before even if some of the terrain seems vaguely familiar. - Thomas C. Coleman, Jr. Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:00:21 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9208 @Gian: A writer would be severely restricted if he had to check the attitude of his sources towards Christianity before citing their research findings. Yesterday's column on abortion utilized the opinions of Margaret Sanger, who was no friend of Catholicism. St. Thomas Aquinas used the ideas of Jews, Muslims and pagans copiously. The scholastics making use of non-Christian and even hostile sources compared themselves to the Israelites stealing from the Egyptians at the Exodus. Stephen Pinker's book has a wealth of research data cited in his footnotes, much of which I find usable, e.g., in philosophical anthropology. - Howard Kainz Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:53:40 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9205 Nick: You are a gentleman and a scholar and have impeccable taste in websites. Thanks from all of us, and have a blessed Christmas. -Brad - Brad Miner Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:30:20 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9204 We are reminded by your excellent summary that there is sometimes benefit in the "gridlock" of our political institutions. In a constitutional republic "gridlock" becomes the ultimate defense. Our founders designed this defense to provide the opposition with a tool to prevent, or at least delay until the next election, radical ideas and deviations by the majority. - Ray Hunkins Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:35:19 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9203 Brad, in response to you question in itals at the end of the article: If TCT weren't here tomorrow, I'd be bummed out. Donation made, I only wish I could do more. This is my first stop in the morning. Your stable of contributors is phenomenal, and they do a great job of packing a lot of thought into a small amount of space. God bless you all at Christmas and into the New Year. Keep it going! - Nick Palmer Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:30:10 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/an-anatomy-of-our-politics.html#comment-9201 Steven Pinker is rabidly anti-Christian and given to making loose, erroneous, sweeping statements about Christianity and the Catholic Church. Eg the FAQ on his site about his latest book, states that Catholic Church did nothing about the Nazi Govt. He does not deserve to be quoted in a Ctholic website. - Gian Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:13:50 +0100