One of the people who objected to my desecration of a murdered man’s memory assumed that I was not interested in “listening without trying to make a counter-argument.”
Since he and I rarely interact, and he demonstrated little familiarity with the way I think, I take this in line with a common Conservative complaint – that they are unheard and misunderstood, and if they were only listened to – all would be accepted.
My friends, as a former Conservative – as someone who grew up in a family of moralizing Republican-voting right-wing small government free market capitalists with a passion for Israel, who spent his “rebellious” teenage years doing Conservative and pro-Israel activism – I have listened to you for 38 years.
I have listened to you ask.
I have listened to you answer.
I have listened to you educate.
I have listened to you preach.
I have listened to you condemn.
I have listened to you justify.
I have listened to you inspire.
I have listened to you complain.
I have listened to you explain.
I have listened to what you say about yourselves and about your opponents.
I have said many of the same things.
I have heard your theories and your dreams, I have seen the world from your eyes.
I understand what animates you and attracts you. I understand what you fear and what you desire. I understand what kind of society you want and why you want it.
i understand, because I shared those fears and desires and goals.
I was one of you, until I began leaving the confines of your orbit. Until experiences led to questions that what I heard and what I repeated and what I argued, could not answer. Until I continued my journey through life to broader views and more rational opinions.
But I have not stopped listening to you. I still maintain relationships with Conservatives, right-wingers, Republicans, amongst family, friends, and acquaintances, even those that have come to support and promote what I believe to be outright fascism. I still read your words and I still think about what the world’s like in your shoes, with your views.
I understand your non-negotiable need for security and stability, to be safe and have your other basic needs taken care of. (A need you share with most other people, by the way.) I understand why your interpretation of that need, in the context of your interpretation of your social environment, has led you to certain conclusions that I once shared, but no longer entertain.
Not all your conclusions, mind you – I’ve integrated the best of what I learned and thought as a Conservative into whatever type of political animal you want to classify me as now. My opinions are complex, if your frame of reference is American Partisan Politics. My positions are natural, if your frame of reference is the practice of Torah. But I bring the ideas of classical liberalism, individual responsibility, free exchange, and continuity of tradition, with me from my roots, into the ideas I share with you today.
But some conclusions – many conclusions – I no longer accept. Not just because I believe they derive from bad arguments based on false premises – but because I came to realize that, ironically, they contradict the moral values and political principles with which I was raised, as a Conservative.
Furthermore, over my decades of study and discussion, it’s only natural that I would learn more about the ideas and ideologies that are verboten in Conservative circles. As a rational, growing person, it was equally natural that I would integrate many of the perspectives, questions, and even conclusions associated with those ideas, into my own take on economics, politics, society, and culture.
That doesn’t mean Conservatives need to become Progressives – if the right-wing is wrong or insufficient, it doesn’t make the left-wing right or the answer.
It means, first of all, that a bird needs to learn how to use both wings together in order to fly.
And it means, second of all, that my desecration of the memory of a man whom you happened to admire for his debate skills, but who also supported fascism, trafficked in antisemitism, defended Israel for all the wrong reasons, and promoted violence against academics and minorities – and, at the time of this writing, was most likely murdered by a member of a rival White Christian Nationalist faction – is not a desecration of what you actually believe and hold dear. The man in question did not truly stand for the best of American Conservatism, he stood for the worst. And despite your admiration for him, rejecting him is not rejecting you.
As I’ve said before, I believe that social media technology radicalizes people, skewing their perspective, relationships with people, and emotional landscape. I don’t think there’s ever been a point in the past 38 years when people were more susceptible to polarizing propaganda.
And as I’ve learned on my journey, it pays to become aware of your own triggers, biases, and background.
Stay Frosty Friends 😎