It’s Time for a Cultural Detente
The Democrats in Congress have elected not to include the Hyde Amendment in their budget proposal, clearing the way for federal funds to be used to pay for abortions. It may be added before all is said and done but that’s not the point. Permitting the use of taxpayer money to fund abortions a majority of Americans are opposed to is an act of aggression in the culture war.
In the past few weeks, there’s been a robust conversation about who started the culture war. I’m persuaded by the arguments of Kevin Drum, Peggy Noonan, and Jonah Goldberg that it was the left that shot the Archduke. But since the start of the “war”, there have been offensives on both sides. And peace requires both sides to come to the table.
In a pluralistic democracy like ours, populated by 300 million people from diverse backgrounds and with wide-ranging preferences, one-size-fits-all solutions are likely to fit almost no one. People want to live differently, they value different things and if we’re going to continue to exist as one nation, we have to find a way to live together. One side forcing the other into submission isn’t an option.
Luckily, we have built into our system a release valve for this kind of conflict: federalism. Iowans don’t want to live like Marylanders. Texans don’t want to live like New Yorkers. Even further, Lubbockites don’t want to live like Dallasites. And that’s ok. We should be willing to make allowances for our fellow citizens to make the kind of life they want to live.
Devolving as many political questions to the most local level possible allows a flowering of diversity in the way people live that fosters civic harmony.
Right now, each side fears the other is eager to use federal power to force their cultural values on the whole country. Red-state conservatives fear that California liberals want to require all states to permit abortion until birth. Blue-state liberals fear that conservatives want to break up the marriages of their gay friends. (It’s worth pointing out that an awful lot of us Conservatives are opposed to that.) And looking at the demagogues running the show in both parties at present, I have a hard time faulting them for their fear.
But there is another way. When confronted with the chance to exercise political power to enforce our notion of the “common good,” we should choose tolerance and non-aggression toward those who disagree with us. Conscience rights shouldn’t be viewed as some begrudging carve out for the enemy. They are the very bulwark against cultural totalitarianism.
If we want to turn down the political temperature, embracing federalism and cultural detente is the way.