There is little left to American liberalism. One of its earliest
achievements, universal public education - back when there was something
genuinely liberal about American liberalism - is an unqualified failure,
churning out legions of American dropouts and underachievers who can't
read, write, do basic arithmetic (let alone higher math) or engage in
any kind of critical thinking.
Socialism, something once dear to the hearts of American liberals after
the abandonment of anything liberal, is dead. Progressive taxation is
on life sup****t, and welfare - general relief, AFDC, food stamps, etc. -
is severely curtailed.
Civil rights is done. Official state-sponsored and protected
discrimination does not exist.
So, what's left? And what is the connection of what's left to original
liberal philosophy?
Environmentalism, and "multi-culturalism". Neither has any positive
intellectual connection whatever to the great classical liberal
tradition going back to John Locke, extending through the Age of
Englightenment (Age of Reason) and up to the first few years of the 20th
century. Environmentalism is primitive religion, basically animism, and
is irrational, hence fundamentally illiberal. "Multi-culturalism",
however, isn't merely illiberal; it is intrinsically ANTI-liberal.
The great contribution of classical liberalism is the belief that man is
essentially rational, and that individual persons, endowed with
rationality and the ability for critical thinking, have a fundamental
right to make their own choices in life. The change in American
liberalism that occurred with the rise of the "progressive" movement
meant a switch, a 180 degree turn, from the idea that the individual is
paramount to the toxic idea that the individual is of no im****tance;
that only groups matter. That is why contem****ary American liberalism
is correctly called illiberal.
"Multi-culturalism" is the philosophical dogma that serves as the
intellectual justification for the pernicious belief that individuals
don't matter; that only groups and group affiliation matter.
The core belief of "multi-culturalism" is that all cultures are equally
"valid" - of equal intrinsic value - except, of course, western culture,
which is considered contemptible and evil. It is one of the great
ironies of all time, almost certainly the greatest, that
"multi-culturalism" has any acceptance at all within...western culture.
So, while the dogma is that all cultures are of equal moral and
intellectual value, except for western culture which is contemptible,
the necessary and unavoidable implication of "multi-culturalism" is that
western culture is *superior* to all other cultures, because it is the
only one that allows for any intellectual acceptance of
"multi-culturalism"; indeed, the only one that has any tolerance for
other cultures at all.
"Multi-culturalism" is junk. It is worse than junk - it is pernicious.
If you accept "multi-culturalism", you are stating unequivocally that
you, as an individual, are worthless. No rational person with a shred
of self-respect would ever accept that verdict, let alone say it about
himself.
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