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08/30/2003: "“More” on the Big-C Conservative Philosophy of the Double-burning Candle"

If you had to boil Big-C Conservatism down to one word, that word would have to be “More,” as in more tax cuts, more resource consumption, more subsidies to favored constituencies, more deregulation, more cuts to services benefiting non-favored constituencies, and, always, more political power through whatever means are available. Of course “more” is something that has a place in every political philosophy, but the Big-C’s More is accompanied by a total lack of moderation, balance, and concern for consequences. That’s why the analogy of burning the candle at both ends is so apt. It makes no sense to burn the candle that way – the extra light it produces is at the cost of a greatly diminished period of illumination, enormous wastage, and a big mess. Yet all of these negative side-effects are present in abundance for the Big-C Double-Burning Candle (DBC) policies in place today. Deficit spending is a perfect example of a DBC policy – greater government funds are available to light up the party for favored constituencies, without the pain of actually having to pay for the fun. DBC’s nasty side-effects are well-represented in the significant number of wasted dollars consumed in interest over the decades that debts are outstanding, and the fiscal mess that DBC practices leave for posterity. Similar analogies are found in every sphere of Big-C Conservative interest, including social and environmental. One sphere of particular personal interest to me is the security sphere, where the biggest component of spending is on military power. I believe that Eisenhower’s famous warning of “a disastrous rise of power” by the nation’s military-industrial complex was triggered by his recognition of the danger to the nation’s long-term security of double-burning the security candle. Let’s look at this timely issue in depth next week. Tomorrow we’ll close out this week’s topic on the intersection of science, religion, and politics.