I'm curious about something
You touched on one of the areas of bedrock conservative belief that, to me, is one of the most irrational:
What we have in the West works despite the ever-tightening collar of the government, not because of it. The balance point of freedom and state control was probably reached in this country a long time ago, and yet we are told we have to keep going further.(underlining mine)
OK, America's going to hell in a handbasket is literally the eternal refrain of the conservative. I heard it as a kid circa 1960 and it never changes.
Let's see, today is the first of the month...yeah, on even-numbered days conservatives celebrate the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the beginning of the Reagan Revolution that "put America back on the right course". And recent economic studies show with certainty that America did indeed take a sharp 180 turn 35 years ago.
Do you see any inconsistency between those views? Is there a factor I don't see that squares the circle? Is Saint Reagan really a failure? Enquiring minds etc.