Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Aren't we all

Utopia
Tom Brosz — (archived)

What I hoped to offer you was a chance to create an idealized model of what conservatism done right might look like, in the spirit of utopian literature. Utopian literature has tended toward happy communalism; I'm curious to see what a utopia based on conservatism might look like.

Does it occur to you that maybe the ideals I have and the standard concept of "utopian" are not compatible?

A European royalist might ask me to imagine what a nation might be like if one could select the ideal king. What characteristics should he have? What kind of person should he be?

How do I explain it to him that he's not even on the same planet I'm on?

Political ideals are not just a matter of utility but philosophy and morality.

Ayn Rand in "Atlas Shrugged" wrote of an idealized utopia of individual freedom, and better than I could. L. Neil Smith has done it too. I have yet to run into a leftist who thought either of them had anything at all to teach them.

The problem with a conservative ideal society is that it is not only incompatible with "progressivism," but shows progressivism for what it actually is, and that isn't easily tolerated.

Like I said, if the thousands of words I have written showing how a free society works hasn't made a dent, a thousand more aren't going to make much difference. In a world where Belgium and Sweden are considered the blazing lights of human achievement, what can I say?

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