Culture Wars
One simply has to look at the ultimate goal of the religious fundamentalists to understand that you don't pacify them by throwing them the proverbial bone. They are like the family pet, once you begin feeding them from the table it becomes a life long habit. There are some in our ranks who believe it would help. One argues that the National Endowment for the Arts would be a reasonable candidate. I disagree, but whether you agree with his arguments or not the point is that it wouldn't accomplish the goal of appealing to the culture police. It would simply be seen as a sign of weakness and despised. It would energize the right, and further delay a society where rational thought is valued. As reader dende said, "Are we going to win by trying to out-privatize the privatizers, out moralize the moralizers, out voucher the voucher guys and out budget-cut the budget-cutters? In one sense it really does seem like we're elitists--we must think that we're so much better than the GOP that all we have to do is give in on one tiny little cultural issue and they'll come running back into our arms." His conclusion is they wont and I agree. I don't think the culture war framed this way is real anyway. The vast majority of the country, red-state and blue, dont buy into most of what is being claimed as important moral values. One example will suffice. The TV program "Desperate Housewives" is pointed to by many as an example of programming that shouldn't be on TV and yet it is a favorite of the reddest of the red states. This article (salon) makes the case that it is the 60's culture that is winning the culture wars, perhaps that's why the right is pushing back so hard.
Despite Bush's election, the cranky old conservatives' days are numbered. The future belongs to middle-aged boomers and their kids, who embrace the tolerant values of the '60s.
Tolerance is a value of the left and one I believe in, but it is not tolerance for pseudo science, religious dogma, or other superstitious nonsense. I'm tolerant not of what they believe in but only of their right to hold those views. The right-wing is correct about one thing, appeasement will get you nowhere, so let's not appease them. Let's not feed them from our table.
Update: The Politics of Victimization Read this now it makes the point much better than I did. Highly recommended!
Comments
Thanks for posting this one, Norm. My problem with the NEA idea is not that I think we've all got to be hardcore and inflexible. The idea was presented not as a popular way to find common ground with those who voted against us or to find novel progressive proposals. The idea was presented as a way to buy off the religious right by selling out institutions that we aren't that attached to. "What has the NEA done for us lately? Let's abolish it and then we can pretend to be just as anti-government and pro-morality as the other guys."
Many people on the left have bought into the idea that progressives have pushed through programs like the NEA against the will of the people. So we act like we're the ones who have to be embarassed about our record. It's a very self-defeating mentality.