Thursday, September 30, 2004
Pols should stand up to the voters when they disagree with them
Jonah Goldberg on National Review Online: "Once an entitlement becomes widely held, it is permanent. Once any group swells its ranks to sufficient size that it becomes, well, a 'group' in democratic parlance, its members begin to be treated with increasing respect, no matter how wrong or 'deviant' we might have thought them not long ago. Wiccans, Druids, Goths, even fans of Margaret Cho, and, to a very limited extent, pedophiles have gained grudging acceptance.
The reasons for all this are complex, with some trends dating back to the French Revolution, when the Jacobins deified the masses and democratized God. Identity politics, pandering, multiculturalism, pragmatism, the decline of political parties, etc. all factor in too. In a sense this is just one more gripe about modernity. I do have some suggestions about how to fix things, but they'll just have to wait for another column. Fostering an appreciation for delayed gratification is Step Number 1."
The reasons for all this are complex, with some trends dating back to the French Revolution, when the Jacobins deified the masses and democratized God. Identity politics, pandering, multiculturalism, pragmatism, the decline of political parties, etc. all factor in too. In a sense this is just one more gripe about modernity. I do have some suggestions about how to fix things, but they'll just have to wait for another column. Fostering an appreciation for delayed gratification is Step Number 1."
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