11/13/2019 - Ben Shapiro Townhall.com
This
week, The Atlantic released its newest issue, provocatively titled "How to
Stop a Civil War."
Leading its collection of essays is a fascinating piece
by Yoni Applebaum. In it, Applebaum posits that at the crux of America's
vitriolic politics lies demographic change: "The United States is
undergoing a transition perhaps no rich and stable democracy has ever
experienced: Its historically dominant group is on its way to becoming a
political minority -- and its minority groups are asserting their co-equal
rights and interests." This, he suggests, has led to an impasse for the
center-right, which refuses to adapt to changing demographics, instead doubling
down on President Donald Trump's white, working-class base. Applebaum explains,
"When a group that has traditionally exercised power comes to believe that
its eclipse is inevitable, and that the destruction of all it holds dear will
follow, it will fight to preserve what it has -- whatever the cost."
But
Applebaum's thesis doesn't explain why, in his view, conservatives have
abandoned the attempt to persuade new populations. Applebaum himself
acknowledges that a "conservatism defined by ideas can hold its own against
progressivism, winning converts to its principles and evolving with each
generation." Why, then, have conservatives supposedly given up?
The
answer lies in a simple truth: Conservatives haven't despaired of
winning over new converts. While a slight majority of Republicans believe that
immigration should be reduced, pluralities or majorities of Republicans in the
majority of polls believe that immigration is good for the country; a heavy
majority of Republicans favor a "merit-based" immigration approach.
Conservative
opposition to increased immigration isn't driven by fears of demographic
change. It's driven by fear of ideological change. And that fear of
ideological change is actually driven by Democrats' radicalism -- and their
overt suggestion that demographic change will provide the fodder for that
radicalism. Applebaum rightly states, "The United States possesses a
strong radical tradition, but its most successful social movements have
generally adopted the language of conservatism, framing their calls for change
as an expression of America's founding ideals rather than as a rejection of
them."
But today's successful social movements -- the movements of the
Democratic left -- no longer bother with such niceties. Instead, they declare
that America was, has been and always will be a racist place,d riven by
hierarchies of power, a corrupt structure to be overturned by that emerging
demographic majority. These movements overtly call for curbing essential
American freedoms -- freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, freedom of
religion -- in order to overthrow the corrupt power structure. The Democratic
left then insists that immigration levels be increased both legally and
illegally and suggests that its opponents are driven by unbridled racism.
In
essence, the Democrats have decided that rather than expanding the application
of American principles to new groups, they prefer to fundamentally change
the definition of American principles and utilize immigration policy to
facilitate that change. No wonder conservatives have responded by calling for
immigration restrictions.
Conservatism
must indeed root out and destroy any elements of race-driven policy from its
midst.
Conservatism speaks every language and can reside in any human heart. If
the left wishes to avoid a civil war, it can start by doing the same:
refraining from the argument that demographic change innately signals rewriting
the definition of Americanism, and arguing in favor of that revision.
Ben
Shapiro, 35, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of "The
Ben Shapiro Show" and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the author
of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller "The Right Side Of History."
He lives with his wife and two children in Los Angeles.
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