THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

RIGHTIST MORALITY CAN'T FACE THE FUTURE | 2003-01-04

Conservatives deal with every technical reality of the new millennium the same way liberals do

They Clamp Down.

Conservatives can't deal with tomorrow's weapons of mass destruction any more than liberals can. Anybody who wants to be a respectable conservative has to be every bit as fanatical about "diversity" as liberals are. Conservatives are always trying to prove they are more against "divisiveness" and "racism" than leftists are.

On human cloning and human embryo research the right wants to ban it all. But the millions of people sitting in wheelchairs or who are otherwise handicapped are not going to put up with that. Please see May 12, 2001 - TWENTIETH-FIRST CENTURY AMISH and FRANCE - THE BOY IN THE BUBBLE.

There is actually very little real difference between liberal moralists and conservative moralists on these matters. It is true that liberals favor abortion and conservatives oppose it. For people whose political debate is rooted in today, that is a big deal.

But where it really counts leftist moralizers and conservative moralizers are very much alike. Harvard sociology professors who call themselves "ethicists" talk about developing medical technology in much the same way conservative preachers and priests do.

On human cloning both liberal "ethicists" and moralists on the right say that all we need to do about the future is Clamp Down.

That saves a lot of thought. You can hide behind that moral posture and raise money with it and run for office on it.

But back on Planet Earth the clock keeps right on ticking.