Lens of Liberty

In an article posted at Cato, Will Wilkinson critiques Glenn Beck and his 9/12 movement by claiming that Beck’s professed love for individualism is inconsistent with his nationalism. While the article also takes on David Brooks and his “collectivist conservatism”, I would like to focus on the points raised about Beck. I think there is merit to the criticism, or at least some interesting areas for discussion, but wonder if deriding a sympathetic voice in a largely hostile media environment for ideological impurity is a wise strategy.

Mr. Wilkinson points to Beck’s “jingoist tropes” as an example of his underlying collectivist leanings. Speaking of Becks 9 principles of his 9/12 project:

The first principle is “America is Good.” What is that if not a recklessly unconditional commitment to the national collective?

It’s a reasonable point that patriotism is allegiance to the collective of the United States and that the principle Beck asks us to accept is vague at best. I wonder if Mr. Wilkinson would be more comfortable if the stated principle was “The ideas upon which America was founded are good”. However, having heard this explained by Beck when he announced it on his radio show, I know he means that, on balance, America has been a force for good in the world. I suppose from the pure individualist perspective, that isn’t really an improvement, having moved from the national collective to the world. The real question is can you be an individualist and patriotic? Does belief in individual liberty preclude pride in any nation? Or is the problem that America today is so far removed from the concept of liberty that such pride is incompatible with individualism? The topic has been discussed by those smarter than me, I only raise it now to question whether patriotism and individualism are mutual exclusive. Does individualism negate the idea of national identity?

I do agree with Wilkinson’s statement about conservatives and individual liberty:

For too many conservatives, “individual rights” is code for their right to remain unburdened by whatever exercises of state power they happen to dislike.

If state power is used to prohibit legal arrangements between gay couples or to continue a failed prohibition policy then individual rights don’t seem so paramount.

Glenn Beck is not be a pure libertarian, but in a time when free markets and individual liberty are under relentless attack by a behemoth government, it is foolish to deride someone who exposes the ideas of libertarians to such a wide audience. What other major media program has devoted as much airtime to Ron Paul, the Ayn Rand Institute, and the like. He devoted a full hour, at least once, to interview Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, far more than any other network or cable program. My point isn’t that the criticism is unfair, or even inaccurate, just that if you’re looking for targets I would start elsewhere. Sean Hannity, anyone?