Contact Jim: jdipeso@rep.org (253) 740-2066 / 2008 Archive / 2007 Archive / 2006 Archive / 2005 Archive

The Conservative Insurrectionary

October 13, 2005

New York Times columnist David Brooks is a conservative who has been sounding insurrectionary – his words, not mine – of late.

Brooks believes that Americans have grown weary of the fetid, small-minded politics of score settling, name-calling, and polarization that leaders of both major parties are serving up in the world’s greatest democracy. The body politic may be close to what Brooks calls a “bursting point” – ready for a vigorous sort of politics that inspires more, challenges more, and demands more, a high-minded nationalism in the mold of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

Brooks may be on to something. Like tectonic plates, politics is subject to buildups of pressures that can let loose in dramatic fashion. If Brooks is right, a bursting point could ignite the political will that is necessary to drive urgently needed changes past the usual barriers of quarreling interests and partisan gridlock.

What might be accomplished if a bursting point arrives? Start with energy, a convergence of both potential disaster and spectacular opportunities. Climate change, global economic development, and geopolitical strategy argue for a transformation in how energy, the foundation of modern civilization, is produced and used – phasing out wasteful consumption of carbon-heavy, depletable fossil fuels, phasing in efficient use of varied energy forms that can support a prosperous global economy without stirring up international conflicts or taking reckless chances with the climate.

Energy leads to a broader discussion of endowments. One of the lessons of this year of hurricanes is our dependence on essential infrastructure provided through communal effort – flood control, public health systems, transportation networks. Think of air, water, and soil as essential infrastructure that delivers indispensable services and requires protection through a balanced mix of public and private effort.

It’s hard to think of national parks and other protected places with such a sterile word as “infrastructure.” But dwell on it a moment. Our national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas are infrastructure of a different sort – embodiments of the historical and cultural heritage that defines our national identity as a people.

River levees guard lives and property from floodwaters. Our heritage lands serve an intangible purpose as levees that guard our national spirit – the flame that periodically bursts forth, as David Brooks has written, and calls us to higher purposes.