At a Loss

Comes a time when words fail. To be of much use, words need to have agreed-upon and universally understood meaning. When they no longer do, they fail us. They’re failing us now.

For ages and ages, conservative meant caution and stability. Those calling themselves conservative today are radically impulsive, with a zeal for creating chaos. Conservatives of old championed limited government, now they favor intrusive and oppressive rule. Conservatives trumpeted individual liberty, now they are hell-bent on silencing or disappearing those they consider enemies. Conservatives stood for free markets, now they’re all for protectionism and isolationism. Conservatives were by definition resistant to change, wanted to keep things more or less the way they are. Now they want to tear things down, blow stuff up, drag us all back to the 1920s or better yet the 1890s—those storied chapters in American history when the rich cashed in and markets crashed and financial ruin soon visited many a doorstep, …