Conservatism: A Legacy of Whining
A centuries-long pedigree of pitiful
NOTE: Within this text, wherever gender is not key to the explanation, I am using the Elverson ey/em construction of the Spivak Pronouns.
First essay in A Conservatism Triptych.
Seeing oneself as a victim at the merest slight is traditional among Conservatives. In his autobiography, Karl Rove admits that he became a Conservative when he was beaten up by a nine-year-old girl who supported Kennedy and was repulsed by the Nixon sticker on his bike. The Conservative understanding of suffering is enigmatic at best. Case study after tedious case study reveals the pride shown by most Conservatives in their nearly super-human ability to suffer. This ability among the poor, while misguided, is truly beyond what we may expect from an average human. Arlie Russell Hochschild, in her book Strangers in their Own Land, details stories of Louisiana technicians literally bathing themselves in toxic waste in order to accomplish their tasks for their employers. Meanwhile, wealthy conservatives pretend at horrible suffering with every liberal slight and every public failure.
Raised in a conservative Catholic household, I myself was initiated into the culture of penance and petition; begging, through suffering, for God and my community to recognize me as virtuous…
