Recapturing the Fortress

Winning counts in politics. When you win, either by election in a liberal democracy, or by overthrowing and replacing a current despotic regime with another despotic regime, it counts. Reason, morals (values?), and discourse might help you gain power, but if you do not plan and organize to win, you lose.

Reason and Justice are understood via many different sorts of metaphors. That makes it important to master them and use the ones that are effective in gaining power. Ideals and values only count when they are deployed so as to activate the appropriate metaphors as spurs to action in other minds.

I locate myself along the political spectrum somewhere on the Left. I vacillate between socialism and leftist liberalism. I finally see that locating myself precisely on the spectrum is of secondary importance. It doesn't mean shit without winning.

The interesting thing about conservatism is its conglomeration of different ideas, ideals, values, and metaphors. Equally interesting is the result of so called conservative policy making. The policy of the Bush administration looks as though they never believed in the values they espoused. The errant results and the complete incompetence in carrying out conservative ideology never ceases to amaze either. I don't say this to denigrate the true conservative thinker, merely to point out the fruits of victory as opposed to defeat. You get to be wrong and incompetent as long as you know how to win.

I have this feeling the people situated along the Left have a long difficult siege and battle to recapture the fortress. It took forty years to lose it. I might be dead before the prize is recaptured if ever.