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American Character - Ch. 7: Dixie Takes Over (1968 - 2008)

Please use this thread to discuss the above chapter.

It seems to me that the Christian conception of “free will” is derived from a Neolithic version of social Darwinism. There is a form of libertarianism that could be considered an precursor to the Greek (Plato) notion of aristocracy.
If it can be claimed that religion is a natural evolutionary development surely that must’ve been expanded from the more barbarous tribal traits of pre civilized cultures. Libertarianism must then be that early developmental strategy though as we see now it, it is an unrecognized cultural underpinning, a sort of subconscious mechanism that even then was acted on with no knowledge of the fact.

The psychology of libertarianism could bridge the differences between both Freud and Jung. Libertarianism is a natural unconscious neurosis. Libertarianism is a bestiality, it’s that savagery that has been passed along the ages of homosapien ascent. The yin and yang is that through the emergence of self awareness or rise of consciousness there is the curse of the duality of mind, unconscious libertarianism competing with the conscious community.

I'm not quite as down on libertarianism as you are, Taylor. The Jefferson strain that competed with the Hamilton strain from the beginning is part of the country's makeup, I think. Libertarianism comes out looking worse in Woodard's book, but that seems to be due to our never having experienced extreme communitarianism, which would be true socialism. FDR wanted to move toward that in the 40s, but he met strong resistance. We did experience the extreme form of libertarianism. What has hold of us now I'm not sure how to label. Trade protectionism and strict immigration restrictions don't seem to fit well with laissez-faire, while deregulation and social safety-net cuts do.

I agree that there's some queer politics going on now. My inclination is that there is a hybrid style that can only be explained by GOP desire to complete an agenda that is 4 decades in the making. Over turning Roe v Wade comes to mind. In general I see them as achieving the ultimate goal of a moral majority in the vain of Jerry Falwell.