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Entry: From Richard to Rowan Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/from_richard_to_rowan#32993 Post contents: Kudos to Mr. Piatak for this column telling it just like it is. But I do think we have to draw a careful distinction with regards to liberalism. The anti-religious love to prate on about how the churches are full of hypocrites and really bad people. Of course they're right. But bad people always try to do bad things under the color of good things, such as religion. The same is true of Left and Right. Both have good points, which allows those with malevolent intent to use them for their own purposes. Liberalism is two good things: First, it is the reformist impulse. As no culture is without flaws, some reform is needed, and when liberalism is at its best it reforms the worst aspects of our society. For example, it's the reason the eight-hour work day became standard. Liberalism is also necessary for innovation. A purely conservative society would be as unchanging as feudalism. This is why so many liberals are able to portray conservatism as something neanderthal with approbation from many quarters of our societies. Because the reformist impulse is basically a good thing, those people who hate our society for one reason or another are able to tear our culture apart under color of the good in liberalism. This is particularly true of immigrants or their descendants who want to recreate our society in their own image. This is more than an academic point. Liberals who are fully aware of what I've described above are able to get away with feigning moral superiority because of liberalism's reformist impulse. And they are succeeding. If paleoconservatism is to succeed, it must draw these distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate liberalism very starkly, for all the world to see. If we can succeed in doing so, the gig will be up for those bent on destroying our societies. And since moral oneupmanship is part and parcel of Western culture, I don't see any alternative. We must make the distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate liberalism clear for all the world to see. Sent at: 2008 12 02