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War of the classes
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Jan. 24, 2000 |
Since I was working on a conservative project in the entertainment community and the occasion was a cocktail reception for a Republican senator, I quickly moved the conversation into a pitch for support. But I was only able to run through a few bars of my routine before Gold put a fatherly hand on my arm and said, "Save your breath, David. I'm a socialist." I remember this story every time a leftist critic assaults me and deploys the Marxist cliché that I have "sold out" my ideals, or suggests that an opinion I've expressed can be explained by the "fact" that somewhere a wealthy puppet-master is pulling my strings. I am not alone, of course, in being the target of such attacks, which are familiar to every conservative who has ever engaged in a political debate.
David Horowitz David Horowitz's column appears on the News site every other Monday.
Of course, those who traffic in socially conscious abuse have a ready answer for anecdotes like mine, namely that it is an isolated and aberrant case. Even if it's true, therefore, it's false. Because there is a larger Marxist "truth" that trumps little facts like this. This truth is that conservative views express the views of corporate America, serve the status quo, defend the rich and powerful and legitimize the oppression of the poor. Whereas leftist views, however well paid for, are inherently noble because they oppose all the injustice that corporate America, the status quo and the rich represent. The "truth" is that conservative views must be paid for because they could not possibly be the genuine views of any decent human being with a grain of integrity, an ounce of compassion or even half a human heart. In the fantasy world of the left, the figure of Stanley Gold can only be understood as a human oxymoron: a uniquely good-hearted capitalist who is a friend to humanity and a traitor to his class. But, then, so are such famous left-wing billionaire (and centi-millionaire) moguls as Ted Turner, David Geffen, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Michael Eisner and a hundred others less famous but equally wealthy. In fact, the only exceptional thing about Stanley Gold's politics is that he is also a witty and candid fellow. For, unlike the publicly self-identified progressives named above, the CEOs of most major corporations studiously avoid ideological politics whether left or right, because such politics are not at all in the corporate interest. To become identified with a hard political position is to become a sitting target for opponents who may control the machinery of regulation and taxation and exert life-and-death power over their enterprises. Besides, from a business point of view, most politicians are fungible. For the kind of favors businesses require, one can be had as easily as another. It is safer to stay above the fray and buy them when necessary, Republicans as well as Democrats, conservatives and liberals. Money, not ideological passion, is the currency of corporate interest. Power rather than ideas is its political agenda. Therefore, politicians rather than intellectuals are the usual objects of its attention.
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