The Most Fresh & Cordial Political Thread Ever

[nonniey]

Being the boards resident neocon, I thought I'd post this article. A good read.

"The neocons were right"
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opini...4119f68e&ei=26

"......Another important truth the neocons learned from the ’60s is that you can’t separate policy making from moral character. The political scientist James Q. Wilson put it this way in The Public Interest in 1985: “The most important change in how one defines the public interest that I have witnessed—and experienced—over the last twenty years has been a deepening concern for the development of character in the citizenry.”......

...The first big lesson of neoconservatism is that character is destiny. That lesson applies whether you’re talking about the character of a leader, an organization, or a nation. If you disregard truth—as many Republicans plainly do these days—you will wind up in some pretty ugly places.

If you want to improve the character of a nation or an organization, you have to change its culture so that it nurtures basic decency. Which leads to the second lesson of neoconservatism: The most important values in a democratic society are the pedestrian bourgeois virtues. Aristocratic societies may do better at inspiring heroism, genius, love of honor. But democratic societies rely on showing up on time, working hard, being there for your neighbor, listening with curiosity, respecting traditions....."