Conservatism as a philosophy has failed America

Is there any doubt that the Bush 43 administration is one of the worst and most ineffective Presidencies America has ever survived? Or that the conservative Republican -controlled Congress is not only incompetent but also the most corrupt since the days of the American Robber Barons?

Why have these problems been laid upon America? What is the core problem with our government and our country?

Conservatism.

Conservatism is the source of the majority of the problems America is dealing with.

Conservatism is a greater problem to America and Americans than Terrorism.

This is from Washington Monthly:

"The collapse of the Bush presidency, in other words, is not just due to Bush's incompetence (although his administration has been incompetent beyond belief). Nor is it a response to the president's principled lack of intellectual curiosity and pitbull refusal to admit mistakes (although those character flaws are certainly real enough). And the orgy of bribery and special-interest dispensation in Congress is not the result of Tom DeLay's ruthlessness, as impressive a bully as he was. This conservative presidency and Congress imploded, not despite their conservatism, but because of it.

Contemporary conservatism is first and foremost about shrinking the size and reach of the federal government. This mission, let us be clear, is an ideological one. It does not emerge out of an attempt to solve real-world problems, such as managing increasing deficits or finding revenue to pay for entitlements built into the structure of federal legislation. It stems, rather, from the libertarian conviction, repeated endlessly by George W. Bush, that the money government collects in order to carry out its business properly belongs to the people themselves. One thought, and one thought only, guided Bush and his Republican allies since they assumed power in the wake of Bush vs. Gore: taxes must be cut, and the more they are cut--especially in ways benefiting the rich--the better. "

Conservatism is so bad at governing that even the Conservatives are complaining, but like the ideologues of Communism who watched their ideology fail as a set of governing ideas, the Conservatives have to claim that Conservatism has never been tried.

Of course, their Conservative philosophy is perfect, so if it fails it must be because the so-called Conservatives in government are not real conservatives. It has to be the people failing because the philosophy is Perfect!

Sorry, Guys. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld are the final result of the Conservative movement that was championed by William Buckley, Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, Bill Krystol, Pat Buchanan, and so many others who knew that their ideology was so perfect that there was no need to identify and solve problems. Just apply the ideology and the problems would fall away as government shrank and the free market solved all problems.

It isn't a failure of the people trying to implement the ideas. It is a failure of the ideas themselves. Identifying problems, collecting information about them, applying ideas that might change the situation for the better, measuring the changes and correcting for errors is much better than any political philosophy. Communism failed because it was an ideology, not a problem-solving techniques. Conservatism has similarly failed. {And libertarianism is recognized in advance as a generally non-workable ideology.

America has tried Conservatism, and it has failed spectacularly. It is time to return to a pragmatic, rational, science-directed philosophy of government and bring back the adults.

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[See also More on what is wrong with conservatism.]