Is there a conservative or liberal trend in the world?

We live in the most revolutionary times in history. Never has human progress been more rapid—global—-profound than it is today.

Isn't it often said these days that we live in an age of rapid change? Isn't it the often-heard complaint that things are changing too fast?

If things are changing very fast—how then can there be a "conser­vative trend" anywhere?

The fact is that in our age of lightspeed advances the conservative trend is a myth. There is nothing conservative about our age. There is not even a liberal trend. Conservative and liberal are no longer adequate terms for defining our age of perturbations.

The confluence of rampaging advances on all tracks is revolutionizing everyone and everything. Even conservatives and liberals are contin­ually transformed—often without their own awareness.

Here are some specifics:

1— The conservatives and liberals of today embrace technologies considered futuristic hardly ten years ago.

Until the 1970s embryo transfer—genetic engineering—solar energy—robotics—ultraintelligent machines were still dismissed as sci­ence fiction. Today these are thriving industries.

People who only a few years ago approached the "computer" as though it were a tarantula today brag about their home computers.

Until the 1970s "robot" was a stigmatized term imputed to anyone who was seen as cold and estranged. Today robots are glamorous cy­nosures at conventions and viewed as intelligent and friendly little fel­lows that do a lot of useful things for us.

How quickly we forget our earlier resistances.

These and other technologies are forward-contexting all areas of life.

2— It is not only new technology that comes on line with increasing rapidity. Conservatives and liberals embrace values and lifestyles con­sidered far-out hardly a decade ago.

"In the past few years there has been much talk of a retreat . . . toward more conservative values—" notes Daniel Yankelovich the respected analyst of social trends in his book New Rules. "Our recent studies show evidences of startling cultural changes—changes that pen­etrate to the very core of American life . . . Tens of millions of women no longer regard having babies as self-fulfilling . . . There are fewer 'typical American families' today than households consisting of a single person—the fastest-growing category of households in the U.S. . . . Vast shifts are taking place in the composition of the workplace . . . For the first time in our history, more women than men were admitted to U.S. institutions of higher learning . . . Change is the only constant."

Even the religious are moving to higher orbits. John Bennett—former president of Union Theological Seminary of New York—recently dis­closed a list of seventeen "inhumane" moral stances long espoused by the church leadership that have now been abandoned or are increasingly out of favor. These include: "male superiority—white supremacy— excesses of capitalism—narrow nationalism—support for capital punishment—belief in the inherent sinfulness of sexuality."¹

American conservatives who until recently supported racial segre­gation in the southern states today openly condemn apartheid in South Africa.

3— What about political swings to the right in recent U.S. presidential elections?

Things are not as they appear.

• In our age of discontinuity voting conservative may be an attempt to grasp at something familiar and effect a semblance of slowdown.

• In postindustrial societies such as the United States politics is no longer an accurate gauge of a society's moods. In the U.S. nearly half of the eligible voters persistently do not vote. Of those who do vote millions adhere to values and policies that are the antitheses of every­thing older conservative and liberal politicians stand for. These young generations have vastly different orientations and expectations than the people they vote for. They are like young Catholics who stand in streets and cheer the Pope—then go ahead and defy the church by voting for birth control measures—abortion—the right to divorce—women's rights—high-tech reproductive techniques.

• In countries such as the U.S. where telecommunication is powerful and information spreads laterally government rarely sets the pace. Gov­ernment is increasingly reactive. The buildup for change coalesces out­side politics. (Please see Monitor 8: Power.)

An administration may call itself conservative but the environment in which it operates and which propels it is revolutionary.

4— Finally who are today's conservatives and liberals? They are often business people and investors who unwittingly underwrite the most revolutionary forces in the world.

They are the people who pride themselves on their patriotism yet insist on open-world trade policies and invest in global telecom­munication—global transportation—transnational corporations—all of which are helping us outgrow the nation state.

Conservatives and liberals who glorify "the work ethic" invest heavily in "leisure industries" and automated office equipment— supercomputers—teleconference technology—robots—smart machines —all of which are helping phase out labor-intensive economies.

Conservatives and old-line liberals who revere family—marriage— parenthood invest heavily in genetic and reproductive technologies that this very day are reformatting age-old patterns of procreation and par­enthood.

There is nothing conservative about the new economy. This new high-tech economy transforms everything.

How ironic that the business community which is universally viewed as conservative is unwittingly among the most revolutionary elements in the world.

Something new is happening. The world's ideological base is shifting. In the past when conditions unfolded slowly the world was basically conservative. As the pace accelerates the world grows more pro­gressive—more future-oriented.

We are all evolving from a basically conservative world to a revo­lutionary one.

When there is an apparent shift to conservatism in some area—for example in national elections—it is a "conservative trend" within an increasingly progressive world.

We are all on a fast track.

All humanity is riding a giant escalator. Everyone is continually moving up. Even those who appear to be standing still and those who look back.

Traditionalists everywhere are more vocal than ever because the world is increasingly untraditional.

No government—no political or religious movement—no corporate interests—no combination of antifuture forces can any longer slow down the cumulative acceleration of progress.

Whether we call ourselves conservative or liberal—reactionary or progressive—right or left—we are all swept along by the stampede of history.

The only trend today is fastforward.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 751