EuroConservative rejects:
Marxism
Social Darwinism
Nationalism and Racism, whether linguistic, biological or other.
Consumerism
On the definition of "Conservative"
American and European understandings of the concept of "conservative" can differ significantly. It is our belief that the European definition is closer to the etymological origin of the term, which comes from the Latin conservare, meaning "to keep, preserve." Thus, the liberal-left bumper stickers often seen in the U.S., "Conservatives, what are you conserving?", are right on the mark. Far too many American "conservatives" do justice to the notion that "conservatism" means raping the environment and ruining cultural heritage through unbridled, rapacious forms of capitalism. European-style conservatives put far greater emphasis on preserving, for instance, local tradition, rather than allowing the unchecked expansion of gargantuan corporations such as Walmart and McDonald's. (That said, European conservatives are not anti-capitalist, but they generally are anti-communist.)
the “
“You live in the greatest land on earth—how dare you attack our commander-in-chief in time of war!” says Sean Hannity as his eyes narrow and his right hand clenches, with the exception of his index finger. He is pointing at the guest on the Fox interview/debate program Hannity and Colmes, a guest who has had the audacity to question Bush’s decision to go to war in
In a similar vein, the July 2008 issue of Townhall magazine decided to run a cover theme “Celebrating America’s Strength: What Makes U.S. Great.” Executive editor Chris Field opines in his letter to his publication’s readers, “Conservatives hold that no country in the history of the world has done more for mankind than the
Well, I’m one conservative who holds enough of an open mind, and has spent enough time abroad, to understand that that point is debatable. That is, there are indisputably many great things about American, but are we really all that great? The best--BY A LONG SHOT!!?? While I disagree with far-left, post-modernist, quasi-Marxist ideas about the
So, I point out a few of
1 the world’s highest divorce rate
2 the highest rate of infant mortality in the industrialized world
3 life expectancies that lag behind all of Western Europe and
4 constantly poor rankings in terms of our school children’s knowledge of crucial subjects
5 the highest incarceration rate in the world
To their credit, the contributors to the July Townhall issue do confront some of these issues, but ultimately only to argue that the measurements are unreliable. On point 2, Michael D. Tanner points out in his article "The Doctor is In: When they get sick over there, they come here" that high abortion rates in other countries, especially as applied to fetuses that stand lower chances of survival, tend to artificially lower infant mortality rates. Put another way, more babies are brought to term in the
Tanner also points to the number of pioneering medical inventions and innovations that have originated in the
). As the authors of Leading Pharmaceutical Innovation: Trends and Drivers for Growth in the Pharmaceutical Industry put it in their preface, they chose to study
With the apples-and-oranges problem in mind, as well as issues of cause and effect, Tanner's reaction to the life-expectancy argument (my point 3 above) is somewhat understandable. Noting that many cross-country measures of health care rely in part on life expectancy data, Tanner opines, "In reality, though, life expectancy is a poor measure of a health care system. Life expectancies are affected by exogenous factors such as violent crime, poverty, obesity, tobacco and drug use and other issues unrelated to health care." Fair enough. But the knife cuts two ways, actually several ways, on this matter of life expectancy. It is nearly impossible to fetter out all the possible causes of mortality, and, therefore, using mortality alone would be a foolish measure of a health care system. But it is difficult to imagine a better measure of OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE than life expectancy. A "happiness factor" would be great, (some studies have been done on this--in one I read about recently, Iceland took top prize), if it weren't for the fact that happiness is nearly impossible to quantify reliably. But average life expectancy can be reliably measured, even predicted (just ask anyone who knows life insurance about mortality tables), and the factors that go into determining length of life, cover, well, just about all aspects of life. Finally, factors like violent crime, poverty and obesity are all present to shameful degrees in contemporary American life.
Violent crime is, of course, related to my point 5, the incarceration rate, but in a way that most Americans don't think about--heavy sentencing for non-violent drug offenders, many of them small-time dealers, has actually not reduced crime rate but created a new under-class of criminals. Sentenced once, they become hardened in prison and thereafter remain basically unemployable due to their felony record and are left to a life of crime. Poverty is also a notorious problem in
Obesity is a notoriously American problem, but one of the articles in the July Townhall seems to suggest that obesity is an indicator of affluence, and, granted, it is in some ways. But the business of being overweight is problematic, since weight problems are not usually the result of a quality diet taken in excessive quantities, but rather the result of a monotony of low-quality, processed foods high in unsaturated fats and carbohydrates. As has been pointed out frequently in recent years, Americans tend to suffer from obesity because they often substitute quantity for quality. Another problem, I submit, is the advertising and marketing juggernaut which keeps Americans, especially poor Americans, eating an unhealthy diet (for some recent offenders see http://www.aolhealth.com/diet/basics/bad-fast-food). Yet another factor is our fast-paced lifestyle which leaves little time for healthy food choices. Italians, for instance, live a slower, saner pace of life--indeed, often taking those 2-3 hour lunch breaks which Americans consider so "stupid"--and they eat better in terms of quality and live on average two years longer than Americans.
When it comes to pace of life, one might also consider the paucity of vacation time that Americans have. Germans, to take one example, have six weeks of vacation time per year, as opposed to Americans' 2-3 weeks. The result? Germans actually have a higher rate of overall productivity. Maybe there's something to the idea of coming back refreshed from vacation. There’s also something to the notion that people ought to have a decent amount of time to spend with their families—and no doubt the workaholic nature of American life contributes significantly to its high divorce rates.
To sum up, there are many great things about the