Talking to Liberals About Revolution
By Jonathan Bean • Thursday February 17, 2011 11:51 AM PDT • 5 Comments
During any age of unrest, left-liberals and right-conservatives (and even some classical liberals) will reveal the worst side of their respective political positions. In short, the visceral kicks in and the brain flatlines. While I could write about the conservative response to Middle Eastern unrest, they seem quite divided. Not so the left-liberals who are in full “brain-dead” mode (to grab playwright David Mamet’s quote about “brain-dead liberalism”).
In the past month, I have listened to the Left’s rhetorical giddiness about “Revolution!” As the father of teen and pre-teen daughters, I can assure you that this brain-dead response is reminiscent of young girls dreaming about Justin Bieber.
Here are the questions I ask of any revolution in the Middle East, along with the usual mindless liberal answers:
1. Will there be more or less religious freedom?
Liberal #1: “I don’t really care about religion.”
Liberal #2: “What are Jews and Christians doing over there?”
Liberal #3: “It’s all our fault anyway” or “some people have different values” (that is a catch-all brain dead response to ANY question).
2. Will there be more economic freedom?
Liberal #1: “Economic freedom is code for neoliberal exploitation of those lands”
Liberal #2: “They will seek a Middle Way between capitalism and socialism”
Liberal #3: “Who cares about the economy? Let those people be free!!!!” (The incapacity to care about economics underlies much of the stupidity that passes for analysis in daily punditry).
3. Will democracy last or will something disagreeable replace it?
Liberal #1: “It can’t get any worse”
Liberal #2: “What is the meaning of ‘disagreeable’”?
Liberal #3: “Democracy is a basic universal right. Ask the U.N.”
4. Will women be freer?
Liberal #1: “Many women are in the streets so the answer must be ‘yes.’”
Liberal #2: “We must respect other cultures” (ignores the question)
Funny Liberal #3: “What’s wrong with having four women as servant-slaves?”
5. Will the revolution be in the best interests of America?
Liberal #1, 2, 3: Who cares?
Tags: Civil Liberties, Middle East 
As a classical liberal who seems to more or less fit your caricature in being greatly inspired by these mostly peaceful revolutions against dictatorships, I will address your questions:
1. I don’t know if there will be more religious freedom. It is hard to predict the consequences of revolution. Even the American Revolution had many negative consequences. It does not mean the Declaration of Independence is not inspiring.
2. I imagine economic liberty will continue to be trampled. In the case of Egypt, the military is essentially a fascist central planner, and this appears not to be ending any time soon.
3. I am not a fan of “democracy,” but if we mean something like “liberal democracy,” I don’t think we can expect that to follow, but I also don’t think the status quo ante was defensible in any respect whatsoever.
4. Women may not be freer. I doubt they will lose as much freedom as Iraqi women have, thanks to the US.
5. Ultimately, I think it will be good for America. It might not be good for the American govt. I don’t consider this to be a contradiction at the least. Moreover, I think there is actually some justification to saying “who cares” — with caveats. People around the world have a right to topple their dictators, so long as they do not initiate force against the innocent. This is mostly what is happening. I must cheer the toppling as an individualist, humanitarian and classical liberal, regardless of what it means in the short-term for the nation-state I happen to live under.
Overall, I find the celebration of what is happening here to be warranted. And in fact, I am much more troubled by the reaction I have seen among many conservatives, who seem more concerned about realpolitik and “stability” than freedom and the right of peoples to resist their oppressors.
Anthony Gregory | Feb 17, 2011 | Reply
Mr. Gregory did a great job in giving answers to your questions that would have mirrored my own answers.
The only thing I would add in answer to #5 is to ask you to clarify your question. Do you mean are the actions in the Mideast in the best interests of the U.S. Federal government or in the best interests of the people of America? They are two entirely different things.
I cheer and support anything that diminishs the scope and power of the Feds and believe that any increase in freedom in the world is good for all peoples, Americans included.
I hope I live long enough to see the U.S. central government fall and be swept into the dustbin of history.
Paul | Feb 18, 2011 | Reply
Well, Anthony, it seems we agree on all points. On #5: I mean Americans, not the government.
Jonathan Bean | Feb 18, 2011 | Reply
It is unlikely that there are many classical liberals in the Middle East. In that sense, it is unclear whether the new boss will be better than the old boss.
The inspiring part, however, is that the people successfully resisted The State. That’s always a great thing to see.
Downsize DC | Feb 18, 2011 | Reply
Here’s a link to an article about a great Middle Eastern Muslim classical liberal.
Here’s a link to a Turkish classical liberal group.
Bill Evers | Jun 30, 2011 | Reply