By Mark Rhoads
The election of President Barack Obama in 2008 was supposed to be like crossing the Jordan River for many on the Left and delivery to the promised land. I realize they might not appreciate the religious meaning of that exact metaphor but there should always be room for a little humor on IR. President Obama and very liberal congressional majorities during his first two years out voted GOP opponents and delivered on a wide range of long-term goals for the Left and yet millions of people in his former core constituency are still unhappy no matter what Obama says or does to try to please them. Why is that?
Most people are not perfect in any way and do not want to be slaves to the government. But Utopian socialists honestly believe their heaven on Earth is best for everyone and if force and coercion by the state must be used to convince the holdouts, then so be it. They know the greater good and you are too selfish to govern yourself. You want a health insurance system that covers all people including young and healthy ones? If coercing eveyone to buy a policy they do not want is the price the socialists have to pay to make their universal scheme work, then everyone will just have to obey the state. If you don't like it, then that is just too bad for you because your personal freedom or rights are not important in Utopia because only the elite socialists know for sure what is best for you. The amorality of dictating the details of your life to you does not even enter into their thinking because everyone must comply or the scheme will not work.
Socialism is a secular social religion with a jealous god that does not want any competition from the God of Abraham or Ibrahim of Jews, Christians, or Islam. Freedom of religion or tolerance of diverse religious beliefs are a threat to the Utopian Socialists who can never be happy until the day when secular Utopia arrives on Earth. As Reagan once said, the more the central planners plan the more their plans fail and the Left Wing Utopia never arrives as long as some people still want to be free to spend the fruits of heir own labor as they see fit and not as the state autocrats see fit.
Most conservatives would rather not spend all their time thinking about government and politics because for them the stakes are not as high as they are for Lefties who have no other life to lead and nothing else to believe in. The fundametnal morality of econmomic, political, and social views on the Left and Right are very far apart and it is hard to close that gap when one camp wants paradise on Earth and another camp hopes for Eternal life and complete happiness with the loving Creator of all people. We are happy because God knows we are never going to be perfect people but he loves us anyway. But the paradise of the Utopian socialists looks at people not as individuals with basic human worth but merely as useful vassals to serve the all powerful state. If you serve the state, the state will take care of you but not just because you are a child of God. If you want some measure of happiness this side of the grave, you can find it in voluntary service to others based on respect and for their infinite worth as children of God. But if you try to find happiness by forcing your neighbors to only agree with your world vision here and now in this life then you are doomed to be unhappy because the all consuming state will bleed you dry and leave you with no private life at all that does not serve the state.
