A Problem of Good and Evil - Just Get Rid of Both!

One of (the many) shortfalls of leftist doctrine is its reliance on social and moral relativism. Just as Friedrich Nietzsche predicted a future society Beyond Good and Evil, his writings prophesied the modern world and the ideology of liberalism.

Allan Bloom, in his seminal book The Closing of the American Mind points out how moral relativism has invaded the educational system and has closed the minds of students to the benefits and higher ideals of earlier days. I've included a few quotes from his book as a general condemnation of modern liberal ideology:

[The education of openness] pays no attention to natural rights or the historical origins of our regime, which are now thought to have been essentially flawed and regressive. it is progressive and forward-looking....It is open to all kinds of men, all kinds of life-styles, all ideologies. There is no enemy other than the man who is not open to everything. But when there are no shared goals or vision of the public good, is the social contract any longer possible? (27)

Indiscriminateness is a moral imperative because its opposite is discrimination. This folly means that men are not permitted to seek for the natural good and admire it when found, for such discovery is coeval with the discovery of the bad and contempt for it. Instinct and intellect must be suppressed by education. The natural soul is to be replaced with an artificial one. (30)

Openness used to be the virtue that permitted us to seek the good by using reason. It now means accepting everything and denying reason's power. The unrestrained and thoughtless pursuit of openness, without recognizing the inherent political, social, or cultural problems of openness as the goal of nature, has rendered openness meaningless.

Modern liberalism is adrift in the sea of moral relativism, with neither rudder to steer it, nor anchor to keep it from drifting into dangerous waters. Several problems arise from this ideology:

1) With no solid foundations, the good and the evil become whatever liberals say they are. Deficit spending and national debt are too high? Bush's debt was evil. Obama's debt is good. Bush's handling of the war in the Mideast was evil. Obama's handling of the war in the Mideast is good.

2) Moral relativism leads to an absolutist view of the world. This is dangerous when such views gain political power and attempt to disenfranchise others. This is especially dangerous when absolutist views baldly ignore the US Constitution. Americans don't like abortion? Use the courts to invent new rights not found in the Constitution. A liberal gets offended by religion? Use the courts to limit the 1st Amendment's free exercise clause. A liberal doesn't like California's constitutional amendment protecting marriage? Use the courts to declare the California constitution unconstitutional.

3) Modern liberalism preys on others through blatant emotionalism. The government spent too much money? Threaten to cut off school or police spending in order to raise taxes. The government is in a black hole of debt? Blame rich people for being greedy. Arizona passes a law to keep its border from being overrun while illegal immigration threatens to destroy its economy? Call everyone in Arizona racist, boycott the state, and threaten a federal law suit.

Notice the duplicity of thought that must accompany such an ideology. With no guidelines, anything goes - and expects the rest of the country to sit back and pretend nothing's wrong with the liberal ideology.