Conservatives, Stop Losing and Start Winning!

Statism is debauchery. We can't fight debauchery with debauchery.

Growing up in a conservative church in the 80s and 90s, I was warned against harmful satanic influences like Kid Rock who was making a living out of peddling hedonism, promiscuity and a pimp lifestyle. It is ironic that this moral pariah from my younger days is now being lauded as a moral hero for boisterously boycotting Bud Light for pandering to gender ideology. 

The immorality that was railed against 20 years ago is now accepted as normal and is actually occupying the moral high ground in the fight against the newest immorality. In 20 years it wouldn’t surprise me to see Dylan Mulvaney being lauded as a conservative hero for standing up to whatever is creating moral panic then.

Why is it that, as Michael Malice observed, “Conservatism is progressivism driving the speed limit”? Or as Theologian RL Dabney put it in 1871, “…American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition”? 

Let’s take a look at the current moral panic among conservatives-drag queen story hour and transgender ideology. I share their concerns. I would never take my kid to see a drag queen and I would never agree to allow my kid to have irreversible hormonal or surgical intervention. I also share their concern that the proliferation of these things is a troubling sign of societal decay.

Yet it troubles me when I see conservatives push to ban these things. Congratulations, you’ve banned drag queen story hour! Victory right? Not so fast. These kids still have parents who have no problem taking them to see drag queens. Surely having this type of parent in the home raising the children is a bigger issue than one exposure to a literate drag queen. Is that child’s day to day life going to be meaningfully impacted by this new law? 

I mean please tell me you accomplished something with this prohibition other than animating the left and reinforce the progressive left idea that child welfare is the primary responsibility of the state not the family. What argument are you going to use when the progressive left inevitably takes power, overturns your prohibition and seeks to ban Christian homeschooling in the name of child welfare? You can’t argue anymore that child welfare isn’t the responsibility of the state, you’ve conceded that point with your vociferous demands that government protect the children.

Conservatives have insisted that government be involved in marriage. Marriage is good, therefore government must protect and nurture it. The state must define and be involved in marriage. The left wholeheartedly agrees that government must be involved in marriage. We end up with no-fault divorce wherein one party to a contract can unilaterally break the marriage contract without any consequences. In fact if you unilaterally break this contract you get rewarded with monthly payments by the non-custodial parent (the man) for the next 20 years.  The conservatives noble desire to protect marriage with the guns of government has contributed to skyrocketing divorce rates and an epidemic of fatherlessness homes. Fatherless homes drastically increase the prevalence of crime, addiction, and unwanted pregnancy leading conservatives to call for yet more government involvement.

Conservatives are rightly concerned about the moral quagmire of drug use. They insist the government do something about this problem. The drug war amplifies all the environmental factors that lead to drug addiction and abuse, drives the  black market towards more potent and dangerous drugs, and creates criminal cartels and gang warfare. The left agrees that government ought to do something about addicts and promotes programs that insulate addicts from taking any personal responsibility for their behaviour; drugs are provided for free, property crimes are tolerated, food shelter and clothing is provided. Now we have open drug use on the streets of every major city with state sponsored hopeless, desolate, empty-eyed addicts wandering the streets engaging in criminal activity. 

In the 80s and 90s free speech advocates weren’t fighting woke cancel culture they were fighting conservative statists who wanted government to do something about profanity, sexually explicit material, and rock and roll. Turns out progressives agree that government ought to regulate and impose morality on us. Conservatives teeing up the ball for progressives to knock out of the park!

The more conservatives use the state to fight debauchery the more debauchery we get. Why is this?

Well its because the state itself is an institution of debauchery. It is a violation of basic human ethics, decency and personal responsibility. It can only exist through conquest, plunder, violence, and violation of the individual. It is can only exist through a corruption of morality, through sin. 

In fact I would argue that the moral decay of society is in large part due to the state. And it’s not just because the states very existence requires acts of debauchery. It’s also because the state allows us to outsource what ought to be our personal responsibility. Have a fear or anxiety? Ask the state to take it away. See a problem in the world that troubles you? Ask the state to fix it.

As Leader of the Libertarian Party I heard over and over again from conservative supporters that as much as they like my message and they support me and my ideas they have to vote conservative. “Now just isn’t the right time to be principled, we are facing an unprecedented emergency.” Conservatives have been saying some version of this for as long as I’ve been alive. In fact they’ve been following the radicals towards perdition for well over a century. It turns out that throwing out principle for the illusion of pragmatism just isn’t practical. Turns out you can’t defeat sin by sinning.

Conservative statism hacks at the branches that sprout from the tree of immorality while watering and fertilizing its root. So the first thing conservatives must do is disavow statism. Stop asking the government to solve problems. This is easier said than done because conservatives often support statism in nearly imperceptible ways.

For example in saying “we don’t need government intervention because there is no climate emergency” they are shouting that “we need government in emergencies”. In saying “these mandates are garbage because the vaccine doesn’t work, masks don’t work and the virus isn’t that dangerous” you might as well be shouting “when we face a serious virus and have an effective vaccine, then mandates are justified.” 

To disavow statism you must DISAVOW it. Vow that you will not engage in statist debauchery even if there is a climate emergency. Vow that you will not engage in statist debauchery even if everything the establishment says about a pandemic is 100% true. Vow that you will not engage in statist debauchery to protect the children or marriage or any of the values you hold dear because statist debauchery DOESN’T work, its not practical, AND, it will make the problem worse, AND, it is likely the biggest threat to that which you care about. 

Using the state as a short cut to promote or protect culture only works if you are trying to promote or protect a culture of debauchery. The road to a virtuous culture has no short cut. It starts with addressing the man in the mirror and taking personal responsibility. It involves exemplifying an attractive way of being and living in a world advertising empty hedonism and superficiality. It entails growing and nurturing what Edmund Burke (father of modern conservatism) called “the little platoons”. The family, the church, local charity, local associations, local business etc. 

With the economy and moral fabric of society seemingly hanging on a dangerous precipice it is all too tempting to be attracted back to alluring temptress of conservative statism. However sweet her siren song we must tie ourselves to the mast of principle and morality and avoid temptation. Then we must get to work building the world we want to see.