Barry Goldwater was Wrong

[akirlu]

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice." --Barry Goldwater

This sounded good when I was younger. I called myself a libertarian back then. But looking around me these days and observing various internet flame wars, the state of Congressional politics, and all the other places where unbending extremism exacerbates disagreements and completely undermines the possibility of communication, I now think that extremism in defense of pretty much anything is precisely that: vicious.

Comments

[history-monk.livejournal.com]

There is, of course, the problem of defining extremism.

I hold a minority political opinion: it seems to me that the British government of 2003 committed a crime in going to war in Iraq. The charge would be making aggressive war, and the case seems to justify a trial. I've talked to members of the Labour Party (whose leadership formed the government at the time) about this, and they intellectually acknowledge that there may be something in it, but their emotional attachment to their party overrides their worry about it.

Who's the extremist? I'm not arguing for anything more than enforcing the law, and I have yet to meet anyone who claims that wars of aggression are a good idea.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

You're right, definitions are where the shoe rubs, as usual. I wouldn't consider your position extremist. Thinking about it, I guess the kind of extremism I'm thinking of may be better described as dogmatism.

[history-monk.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. Can I check an observation about US Culture? I've gradually come to the opinion that having strongly held beliefs is considered a virtue within the culture, almost irrespective of what the beliefs are. This seems as if it might be a side-effect of the importance of idealism in the US Constitution, and the thinking that surrounds it.

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

This is so context-free as to be fairly useless.
We now have the perspective to see that Goldwater was selected to be the sock-puppet of the plutocracy. He was intelligent and principled, so it didn't work out. (And for other reasons.) The next pick was Reagan, then CIA Bush, then phony cowboy Bush, and we can see that they learned their lesson.

I have accumulated, somewhat at random, some comments made by Goldwater after his Presidential run in my .sig file:
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I've spent quite a number of years carrying the flag of the 'Old Conservatism.' And I can say with conviction that the religious issues of these groups have little or nothing to do with conservative or liberal politics. The uncompromising position of these groups is a divisive element that could tear apart the very spirit of our representative system, if they gain sufficient strength.
-- Barry Goldwater, Sept. 15, 1981
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Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.
-- Barry Goldwater
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A lot of so-called conservatives don't know what the word means. They think I've turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That's a decision that's up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right.
-- Barry Goldwater, 1994
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The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are?
-- Senator Barry Goldwater, Congressional Record, September 16, 1981
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I don't have any respect for the Religious Right. There is no place in this country for practicing religion in politics. That goes for Falwell, Robertson and all the rest of these political preachers. They are a detriment to the country.
-- Barry Goldwater in The Advocate
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Now those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth, and let me remind you they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyranny.
-- Barry Goldwater
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I am a conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state. The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process.
-- Barry Goldwater, 1994
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You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.
-- Barry Goldwater
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While I am a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment.
-- Barry Goldwater
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When Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1981, Jerry Falwell told the news media that "every good Christian should be concerned." Barry Goldwater replied , "Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell's ass."
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