We’ll never know if Ayn Rand herself would have approved of Dub-Yuh’s unnecessary war in Iraq, or the neocon crusade to invade all the other countries of the Middle East (expect Israel), but the Randians sure are a pack of warmongers, some of whom have publicly advocated nuking Iran and Iraq — for starters. In light of this, I suppose all those Christian conservatives who used to back away from Rand’s atheism would now look at her and her disciples in a much more favorable light. After all, there’s no one more bloodthirsty in America than a Bush-loving evangelical Christian.

The Best of Thomas DiLorenzo

Tom–Oh, I don’t know… could it be, that conservatives have an incoherent, irrational, and unprincipled agglomeration of ideas masquerading as a sophisticated political philosophy? I never have been able to figure out exactly what a conservative–political or otherwise–is for. Take neocons, for example (please). Do they advocate today what their forbears did 20, 40, 60 years ago? Hardly.

At least liberals can be identified–they are the wussified, modernized remnants of communism-socialism-leftism, which, despite its evilness and faults, at least stands for something; has some principles–collectivism, egalitarianism, revolt against nature, redistributionism, modernism, the replacement of religion with state-worship, and so on. To that extent leftists are more like honest brigands; they are upfront about their rejection of the natural order (although admittedly, modern American liberals are more confused and less honest about it, than in Europe where people outright admit they are socialists; here, they use euphemisms like “progressive” etc.).

But what is a “conservative” for? against? Depends on the year, I guess. Conservatives stand for nothing except cautiously going along with the mainstream, prevailing ethos, whatever it may be. I liken conservatives to FM soft rock stations–they play now what was considered cutting edge, alternative rock 15 years ago. Likewise, today’s “conservatives” would never dream of touching social security, the Civil Rights act, etc., unlike their ancestors decades ago. They are similar to neocon or left libertarians, who almost faint at the mention of the right to secede, and can’t help but ape the latest mainstream preachings about the Fourteenth Amendment and its universal guarantees of rights, etc. 310910

The Best of Stephan Kinsella