The Most Dangerous Man according to H.L. Mencken
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.”
―
H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy
What Liberals Can Learn From Conservatism article Dec 2017
ReplyDelete...a conservative is “a person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes.” A radical, by contrast, is someone who advocates “thorough or complete change” and “departure from tradition.”
Which term best describes President Trump?
He’s a radical, of course. At every turn, Trump has challenged our most sacred national traditions: freedom of the press, the rule of law, independent courts, and more. He’s not a conservative; he’s the opposite of one.
So our own challenge, as citizens, is to defend those institutions. It doesn’t matter if we’re Democrats, Republicans, independents, or none of the above. We are all conservatives now, in a dictionary sense. Or, at least, we should be.
But we’re not acting like one...
the much-heard claim that fewer people voted for Trump than for Hillary Clinton, so she should be president rather than him. Under our Constitution, the person with the most electoral (not popular) votes wins. You might think it’s time to revise that practice; I certainly do. But there’s a system for
changing it, which is outlined in—yes—the Constitution. Donald Trump became President under the process that has governed America since 1787. So if you say he is “Not My President,” you’re not just dissing Trump; you’re saying that the rules are illegitimate when they yield an outcome you don’t like...
Enough already. Desperate times don’t call for radical measures; they call for conservative ones. So it’s time for everyone who loves our country—and its historic traditions—to rally behind them. If you don’t like
https://newrepublic.com/article/146192/liberals-can-learn-conservatism
What Liberals Can Learn From Conservatism
The New Republic
By Jonathan Zimmerman
Dec 2017