Reason: Ronald Bailey- ‘Progressives Won the Social Culture War: Can Libertarians and Conservatives Win the Economic Culture War?’

Source:Reason Magazine- don't just love free speech in America?

“In a smart analysis over in the journal Democracy, New York University psychologist Jonathan Haidt sets out the campaign map for the looming war between Progressives and Economic Liberals. First, he declares that it’s all over except for shouting in the decades-long Social Culture War between the religious right and secular liberals:

Issues related to sexuality, drugs, religion, family life, and patriotism were particularly vexing, and many people over 40 can recall the names of battlefields such as Mapplethorpe, needle exchange, 2 Live Crew, and the flag-burning amendment. But the left won a smashing victory in the 2012 elections, including the first victories at the ballot box for gay marriage.

The Culture War has moved on to the Economic Theater in which the fight is over the size and cost of government. Using insights from his moral foundations theory which probes how people put their together moral beliefs based on six different foundations – Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Liberty/Oppression, Loyalty/Betrayal, Authority/Subversion, and Sanctity/Degradation – Haidt delineates the battle lines for the culture war in the Economics Theater. To make a long story short, Haidt’s data suggest that leftwingers chiefly rely on the first three moral foundations, Care, Fairness and Liberty, whereas folks with a conservative bent construct their sense of morality using all six. At stake are the hearts, minds and votes of the younger generation…

Source:Reason

Lets face it, Liberals with the help of Libertarians have won the culture war. America has now become the country that Barry Goldwater envisioned when he ran for President in 1964. A big government out of our wallets and bedrooms country. Where both economic and social freedom are embraced and where ignorance and intolerance and governmental interference with how we live our lives and spend our money is looked down upon.

Which is great news for Classical Liberals (the real Liberals) such as myself and others who’ve been fighting for this type of country at least since Bill Clinton ran for President in 1992. But even as far back as when Jack Kennedy ran for President in 1960 before the social democratic wing of the party took over in the 1960s. And this is something that the real Liberals should celebrate, but shouldn’t relax because we have another political battle to fight and to win as well.

The next political battle in America won’t be a culture war as far as how much social freedom is tolerable and can  be afforded. Like I said, Liberals with the help of Libertarians have already won that war. But the next political battle in America will be fought about what type of an economy do we want to have and what exactly will government’s role be in the economy. But this political battle won’t just be fought between Democrats and Republicans, but between Democrats and Democrats:

Progressives who want to expand economic freedom for those who don’t have it so they have the same economic freedom as the rest of the country. The other side in the Democratic Party the left-wing (or Democratic Socialists)  Democrats who want government to have more control because they believe the rich are too wealthy and by in large don’t trust Americans to make their own decisions.

But what will also make this political battle interesting will that it will be fought between Republicans as well. Conservatives who want government to use market oriented ideas to expand economic freedom to Americans who don’t have it. And Libertarians who simply want government to get out of the economy all together. The New Gingrich wing of the GOP versus the Ron Paul wing of the party. 

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