Time to Remove the Conservative Appendix

The conservative perspective is like an appendix, and I don’t mean the one at the end of a scholarly book. It serves no purpose now that we walk fully erect; it can only cause trouble when irritated; and it can bring down the house if it is not removed in time. In short, it’s an old organ associated with ancient times when survival was the threshold of nobility and getting enough fiber in our diet was the least of our problems.
Conservatism is a lean and mean ethos applied by fat cats to the weak and frail. It says that success comes when you try hard enough; failure is a sign of laziness; and rich people deserve all they have. It concentrates power and wealth in the hands of the few and blames the many for their failure to achieve similar success. Its catch-all refrain, when all else fails to explain, is life is not fair, so just live with that fact.
There is a sociopathic dimension to this primitive perspective. It pins any notion of progress on survival of gauntlets, never on trying to make the gauntlet less severe. In fact, it celebrates the severity of gauntlets as opportunities to earn badges of courage. It says “I made it on my own;” therefore, you can too if you try hard enough. It’s as if the meaning of life necessitates an enormous struggle, an overcoming of great difficulties, and a self-confidence that is proclaimed to have existed only after the success is achieved. It is easy to say this when you stand atop the mountain. It’s patronizing and cruel to say it to those who will never get there even with your help.
The conservative’s notion of a stimulus package is a whip. That’s what reductions in services will feel like if conservatives have their way. By cutting aid to the poor and disadvantaged, the conservatives hope to balance the federal and state budgets without costing themselves a dime more in taxes. If you think that is fair, by all means vote Republican. If not, be sure to do whatever it takes to keep conservatives from wreaking havoc with America ever again.
Conservatives say mutual aid through organized communal action should always be local. Never mind that resources may be unevenly distributed from community to community. If you are not on your own, your community is. Take what you have and do the best you can. Never mind the fact that you don’t have the tools and wherewithal to do it.
Meanwhile, the myth of equal opportunity is promoted as if it actually exists. Beneath that myth is the game-fixing structure that keeps poor neighborhoods poor, poor schools poor and poor people poor. The poor start the race with cement shoes even if they wear ill-afforded Nikes like the rich kids. But life is not fair. That’s the way it is, says the conservative perspective.
I, for one, am sick and tired of the conservative perspective. We need to cut it out of the body politic like the useless appendix to civilization it is. We can best do that at the voting booth next November. Just pay attention to who mouths the conservative perspective and be ready to remove him or her from office or from ever holding office in the first place. It is the only hope America has at this point.