In a perverse way, that the most serious economic recession since the Great Depression occurs at the end of President Bush’s second term has a sense of poetic justice to it. After eight years of unchecked government and corporate excess, neglect of the most fundamental issues, and a subscription to outmoded ideas, we witness their ultimate consequences — and failings.
But this unprecedented financial disaster in modern times is not merely a referendum on the Bush administration. It is a reassessment of the Republican Party, and conservatism, as a whole.
In a way, the emergence of the modern conservative movement begun in 1964, when Barry Goldwater’s ascension personified the framework that defined the Republican Party’s direction. Already, there were the indicators of the soon-to-be encompassing goals — the emphasis on individual self-sufficiency, the combat for government’s reduced role. Goldwater lost, but he set the tenor and endurability for modern conservatism.
But if Goldwater helped organize the conservative base, Reagan crystallized the ideas. On many issues, Reagan committed dubious choices — creating the largest national budget deficits then while simultaneously engaging in war and reducing taxes.
Yet in the most pressing problems of the day — the battle of individual liberty against communist, government-mandated regulation, as well as the function of government — he, and conservatism, were right. He reasserted American military strength and confidence and reduced the government’s role, empowering individual choices. In turn, these victories didn’t just alter the domestic and foreign policies of the next decade. They shaped them.
That his achievements are still constantly celebrated today is not only testament to Reagan’s abilities, but an echo of the power of the conservative ideas.
But the world has changed since then. Today is not 1964 or 1980, but the era of global interconnectivity. Globalization — precipitated by the fall of the Berlin Wall, improved bilateral trade, the invention of the Internet — altered the underlying dynamics. This structural order, rather than championing sole power hegemony, primes integration. Multiculturalism permeates, pluralism grows. Our interactions are not confined within national borders, but expand outside of them. This is the world we inhabit, one of shared kinship and common ideals.
Thus, conservatism’s problems today are, firstly, denial. Despite overwhelming evidence of how minimal government oversight over markets of the last eight years is disastrous, conservatives are still focused on the same ideas. They are still championing tax cuts to the wealthiest as the solution for all societal ills, still warning about bailouts as steps to socialism. These methods ignore context.
And the context is this: At a time when home values are dramatically dwindling, when income distributions have become so widely skewed, when millions of Americans lack basic healthcare, when the economy is recessing, when lifetime savings are disappearing, when the world’s confidence in America is shaken — the government needs to lead the way. This is not an issue about big government, advanced socialism or abandonment of the free-market. It’s about a government that can restore faith in the markets, guarantee every Americans with their basic rights and liberties.
Conservatism’s second problem is irrelevance. For instance, the neoconservative idea of unilateral military response is an indictment to a field where other major actors possess stakes, one that bypasses cooperation and ignores interdependence. This response needs changing.
That the Republican Party still holds steadfastly to the brand of old ideas is symptomatic of a party in decline, bereft of ideas and devoid of content, constructs that have outlived its usefulness. The party is in a dire need for a period of sustained remake and reinvention not out of choice, but of necessity. Until they become the party of ideas once again, they must change.
From the direction of 1964, for the better.
Change begins at the grassroots level, so start that by emailing ZACH HAN at zklhan@ucdavis.edu
