Conservatism is a permanent facet of human nature

When we watch the rather amazing degree to which conservatives have worked to destroy America and make the government nonfunctional, it is difficult not to view "conservatism" as a form of mental illness, but if it is, it appears to be a natural aberration that people who have it are born with. Digby reports on a Profile of Rick Perlstein in the Chicago Reader.

Conservatism is not an aberration. It is a facet of human nature and a permanent fixture in American life. At the moment they have a successful political movement that first grew out of a genuine grassroots uprising and was soon funded by the aristocrats (who are always conservatives) to help them protect their interests.

We will not eliminate conservatism or even transcend it. But we might be able to win a governing majority for a while and do some good. This back and forth and give and take, between the polarities of our American philosophy --- freedom and equality, opportunity and security, tradition and progress--- is America. We are, as a people, both conservative and liberal.

The conservative movement is adept at advancing its agenda from the minority and keeping the movement alive when they are out of power.But they have a problem:

Perlstein and other bloggers have been making the case that conservatism is a failure—not because of incompetence or cronyism but because it is not and cannot be a governing philosophy.

Progressivism, on the other hand, is a governing philosophy. The key for us is to create a movement that pushes its political party to govern in both principled and effective fashion when it holds power and knows how to advance its agenda when it's out. It can be done. And progress most certainly can be made, in spite of conservatives' best efforts to thwart it.

The interview with Rick Perlstien is worth reading.