3 posts tagged “political theory”

So for anyone who happens to read this, I'm wondering if you think that Neoconservatism is even a remotely viable option in today's marketplace of ideas?  That is, can one even consider the tenets of Neoconvervatism as being realistic in dealing with the national and international political issues that we face?

I'm sure you can more than guess what my opinion is based on the way I phrase the question, but I'm still interested in other opinions.  I tend to think that everyone has something to contribute to the marketplace of ideas.  But I also find that some ideas seem very detached from reality.  And some groups of ideas seem to attract less critically-thinking minds than others.

If Neoconservatism has any merit at all, I would love to have someone explain it to me.  From what I've seen, it is about the least tenable of social-political ideas that one can possible hold on to. 

I decided it was time to re-read One-Dimensional Man by Herbert Marcuse since it has been awhile since my last read.  It struck me as timely given that we (Americans, in general) seem to find ourselves in a socio-political climate in need of stepping outside the box for two seconds to think about what it even means to be American.

Now I can honestly say "I'm a card carrying member", and I can't believe how happy I am about that.

There's nothing like having personal and civil liberty assaulted to spur one to action.  Why it took me so many years, I really don't know.

I blame it on having studied too much political theory, and a few other things.  The more I learned of political theory, the less I seemed to be interested in actual politics.  Then again, they may not be related at all - it could just be the place where I live. 

But a recent conversation with a colleague, in which I was having decribed to me the rather "oxmymoronic" free speech zones (there is nothing free about them), was the straw that broke the camel's back.  I finally wanted to say that I care about losing my civil liberty (oops, too late, we've already lost a great deal), and joining the ACLU was my way of saying it. 

So I did a little skip when the card arrived in the mail.  I don't know why I was so excited, but I did a little skip anyway.