The costs of liberal virtue—and who pays them

Diana West writes about the deadly damage done by the liberal elites who value the lives of our enemies more highly than those of our own men.

In fact, the phenomenon West describes can be seen as a variation on my analysis of liberal society, in which society consists of three main elements: (1) the liberal elite, who demonstrate the society’s highest ideals by showing “non-discrimination” toward the Other, or, specifically in this case, by caring more about enemies, including extremely barbaric enemies, more than about the well-being of our own side and our own military; (2) the Other/enemy, who is the recipient of this undeserved benefit, and whose existence our society requires in order to have someone upon whom to practice the liberal virtue of Other-love; and (3) the expendable drudges of our own society, namely our soldiers, who must bear the cost of the elites’ virtue.

For a devastating, graphic portrayal of this situation, see the Cox and Forkum cartoon, “Soldier’s Burden.”
Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 25, 2006 07:27 PM | Send