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Reagan Rebellion or National Renewal
| Article
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13610 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1988 |
5,887 Words |
| Author
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William R. Hawkins
William R. Hawkins is a policy analyst at the U.S. Business
and Industry Council. |
There has been no "Reagan Revolution," but only a rebellion. The American people, stung by decades of inept liberal rule marked by domestic anarchy and foreign defeat, demanded a change. Conservatives, thinking that their moment had finally come, rushed to storm the citadels of power. However, eight years later, conservatives have yet to even consolidate their position on the ramparts. They have not carried the central strongpoints, which remain well-manned by a determined garrison of left-wing activists. The same dangers that have faced the country for a generation--an expensive and intrusive welfare state, economic stagnation, political factionalism, a declining politico-military position in the world, and a collapsing moral order at home--still face us.
Dissatisfaction with liberalism, so acute at the start of the decade that liberals searched for another name to call themselves, was only a negative impulse. A rebellion is a cry for change; a revolution replaces one system of values with another. Conservatives, as long-time critics of liberalism, were natural rebel leaders. But when it came time to fashion a coherent and persuasive philosophy of government to put in the place of liberalism, the offensive stalled. The old opposition to the liberal order has not become the dominant party of government; it remains a band of insurgents fighting against the establishment.
The conservative movement failed to make the most of the opportunity offered in 1980 because it abandoned its traditional philosophy in favor of "new ideas" presented by libertarians and neoconservatives. The movement's very rhetoric revealed its susceptibility to risky experiments and abstract theories. It was intended to be a "revolution" rather than a "counter-revolution." It was not a return to the sound principles and time-tested policies of the past, but an exuberant rush into the unknown. The president even quoted that radical Thomas Paine to claim that he wanted "to begin the world over again."
The rush was marked by simple solutions and simpler slogans. Such devices are more conducive to maintaining a high level of excitement and optimism than are hard-headed analysis and realpolitik. And the rush was marked by emotional outbursts directed against any gloomy Gus who dared to point out continuing problems or who paused to ask where the party was heading. This was a perfect situation for refugees from other movements who were not only eager to jump on the bandwagon but were invited abroad and often handed the reins!
This is not to say that the Reagan
...
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