10-25-2016, 07:07 PM
(10-25-2016, 06:28 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: He's a freakin' cocoon builder. Specifically, the so called "Restorationism" cocoon. But I somewhat resent that term. I consider myself a bit of a Restorationist, but I can damn well tell anyone who'll listen - Trump ain't it! Of course, my own Restorationism draws a bit from Hart's "Restoration of the Republic" aka PhD thesis.
I have my own streak of restorationism. In my youth, when America saw a problem, there was generally a massive commitment to solving it. To some degree this was an outgrowth of FDR's twin crises. We faced problems that we just couldn't ignore and walk away from. From there, if big government solved those problems, why shouldn't big government solve the smaller and simpler problems we confronted in the 1950s and 1960s? America was great then, but full of hubris. Not even the United States had enough resources and drive to do everything that needed to be done all at once.
But these days, a lot of folks are so much in love with tax breaks that they pretend problems don't exist, or pretend attempts to solve problems always make things worse. I don't want to go back to the tax and spend without question or pause of the JFK and LBJ era, The population of the US is not ready today to bear any burden, pay any price, support any friend, etc... Still, a few healthy steps in that direction seem necessary.
I bet a lot of us can look into the past, find values no longer valued that ought to be, and advocate a return to some aspect of yesterday.
But ultimately I'm a Neo Whig. We are facing new problems. Technology is changing the jobs mix, and thus the entire economy. Energy is getting limited and expensive. The world is getting crowded and warmer. I won't say there aren't values that can be found in the past that are worth restoring and expanding, but we've got brand new problems to solve too. Eyes forward. Not all answers will be in the past.
But I definitely disagree with Cynic's desire to restore Agricultural Age militaristic values.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.