Even if it comes from a conservative.
In this age of self-congratulation, every political movement needs self-criticism. Steven F. Hayward does that favor for conservatism in Breakthrough Journal. He notes that conservatism is failing on its own terms. The conservative base, the white middle class, is experiencing stagnant wages and social decay. Government is bigger than ever.
Hayward offers some suggestions. The Starve the Beast strategy — reducing taxes as a way to induce spending cuts — has failed. Better to adopt a Serve the Check strategy. Confront people with a tax bill that accurately reflects their public spending choices. See what decisions they make then. ...David Brooks, NYT
That would tame the defense industry, curb the mayhem we create overseas, and, by god, it could be the greatest gift to our environment we could make.
Brooks, however, is blind to a key factor in our politics. The people who claim to be conservative are not conservatives at all. They would find hundreds of ways to work around that "Serve the Check" strategy, finding ways to continue their venality and make others pay for it.
