Political Trend or Cultural Shift?

November 4, 2008

Barring a sudden awakening to consciousness by the electorates in certain swing states (as in, “Who exactly is this guy, Obama, and what does he really stand for?”), there is a strong likelihood that Senator Barack Obama will be elected President of the United States.

I’ve been trying that reality on for size in the past couple of weeks.

The reality isn’t that comfortable. There are three concerns that immediately spring to mind, concerns that go beyond Senator Obama’s extremely thin resume and his talent for being all message and no substance. First of all, there is the Democrat tax legislation that has been waiting in the wings, legislation that will punish hard work and success.

Secondly, there is the legislation on union voting that will intimidate non-union workers and throw a wrench into the way of doing business in the country that will cause the United States to be even more uncompetitive in the global marketplace.

Lastly, there is the life issue. A Congress led by a pro-abortion party and a President who seems to have no regard for life in the womb is a dangerous combination and will doom any chance that developing human life will receive the protection of the law.

For at least these three reasons, I shudder at the prospect of Senator Barack Obama’s becoming President.

If, indeed, the majority of Americans favor an Obama presidency, is this a result of a political impatience that demands change no matter what shape it might take, or, is it an indication of deeper cultural shifts that are taking place? I think it is the latter.

The tax and economic plan of Senator Obama and the Democrats will create two classes: those who are dependent on the government and those who fund the government; the dependent and the taxed. More and more staples of life will be subsidized and controlled by the federal government: health care, housing, retirement, food, fuel, utilities. Entrepreneurship and the creation of wealth will not be encouraged. Mediocrity will be incentivized. Instead of boundless aspirations, a low-energy desire to be taken care of will be the order of the day.

It is not so much a change in economic emphasis from one party to another, it is a declaration that the days of growth are over, that the frontier has been reached, that the expanse of the American Dream has been filled. Maybe that’s the case; maybe the United States has reached its limits; maybe the Democrats are right, that the challenge of the future is not discovery but management. No new worlds are to be sought, we just need to maintain what we have.

This is a different American society from what we have known.

The implications of the life issue for our culture run deep and far. Those readers who are familiar with my writing know that my condemnation of the extreme pro-choice stance that is represented by the Democrat Party (and especially by Senator Obama) is not only about of the fate of fetuses. I oppose the pro-choice position because it is a radicalization of individualism that undermines basic societal relationships and obligations, and, because it allows right and wrong to be decided by the most powerful and not by the rule of reason and law. Human life is judged by utility and not by its having any intrinsic value.

Ironically, the pro-abortion platform that the Democrat Party has embraced will destroy many of the goals it has had as a party. The support of unlimited abortion rights is a Trojan Horse to the Democrat Party and will end up nullifying anything of worth they are trying to achieve. As long as this issue is not honestly addressed by the Democrat Party and our nation, we will become an increasingly ruthless society. Every person for himself.

Ultimately, a Democrat victory in the White House and Congress means that the worldview that reduces the currency of political life to power has won out. For a society to be healthy, politics must be about more than grabbing and holding power. Yet, that is what the Democrats are all about. For the sake of winning an election, they were willing to lose a war. For the sake of gaining more power, they were willing to destroy an economy (see the Community Re-investment Act and the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac debacles). Now, they are returning us to bread and circus governing. Look out below.

I believe there are cultural shifts taking place. More likely than not, they are not caused by the Democrats. Political tactics usually follow; they don’t lead the way. I think these things are happening already and the Democrat Party is taking advantage of undercurrents that are already out there. It is wise to take note of them.