The Possible Futures of the Right
A post by The ZMan caught my eye. He was examining the changes that Conservatism and Libertarianism had gone through.
Conservatism used to mean that the adherents held traditional ideas about the proper functioning of American society. Such morality as was the function of government, was dealt with at the lowest level - community or state.
Likewise, the role of government was ruled by the Constitution - if it wasn’t one of the specifically named powers, the citizenry was generally opposed to expanding it.
Lincoln did the GOP no favor by ruthlessly using Executive Powers to wage war on the South. He trashed many of the guaranteed rights, plunged the government heavily into debt, and allowed the legislative branch to make laws that directly opposed the plain text of the Constitution.
The rapid post-war surge into the West, with Americans living in the terrorities, led to an acceptance on governance from afar. Many of the women who did travel West were in a position of power in their family, as the shortage of females allowed them considerable autonomy. Where women did live closer to town, they were able to take over much of the public sphere - education, establishing churches and community institutions, while the men dedicated themselves to economic activities.
The early Progressive Years were a Liberal’s Dream. A lot of women weren’t able to marry after the Civil War - the shortage of men (at least those whose financial and physical condition was attractive) left a lot of single females with time on their hands, and a society that told them, “YOU are the ones that will improve this nation!”
And, boy oh boy, they sure did:
Abolition/Temperance was one of the most fervent causes. The Wine Women were a long way off, although many of their predecessors sure made use of Laudanum and patent medicines (many of which had opium or alcohol as their main active ingredients). They cast their reasoning on the ‘purity of the family’, and used that hobbyhorse to, eventually, bring in the Volstead Act.
Civic organizations - they drove prostitution underground, pushed for mandatory education of the young, used the various ladies’ clubs to try to force local, state, and national legislation to subvert the established political norms, and generally raised ladylike hell with politicians.
“There oughta be a LAW!” - that could have been the motto of the Progressive Women. After the Progressive wing of the GOP took over, they brought in the FDA, trustbusting and anti-trust laws, direct primary elections (and we’ve all seen what idjits that can bring about - yeah, I’m talking about you, Fetterman), and their favorite cause - women’s suffrage. Medicine, insurance, banking (the Federal Reserve was started in 1913, at the end of the Progressive period), and regulation of the railroads (which led to the WONDERFULLY EFFICIENT system we have today). /snark
They took away child labor. Yes, there were some children employed in dangerous industries. But, those children also made a considerable contribution to the family budget. Without the capability of providing that contribution, many of those children ended up on the streets.
Imposition of the Federal Income Tax. Which, after WWII, became a permanent part of the Federal budget. The ability of the government to take that tax, a little at a time, keeps people from realizing just how much of their paycheck is taken without their consent. (I sell Medicare policies, and it always surprises me how few people realize that they have to pay - this year - $164.80 every month to get their Part B benefit).
In some ways, the GOP has never recovered from that era. The Liberal/Progressive wing still controls many of the local organizations of the Northeast and Midwest. The very idea of radically reducing the size of the federal government leaves them faint with outrage.
That’s my take on the Liberal GOP, and their lasting effect on the party. In a later post, I’ll look at the rise of Leftism in America, and how it changed the party.