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These critics are right. The Democrats could improve their political fortunes by unequivocally embracing the three central principles of the political Left: anti-Americanism, economic piracy, and moral degeneracy.
At first glance, this may not seem like a winning political program. But consider: Anti-Americanism is quite a popular notion these days. Lots of people hate America, and some of those people live in America. The anti-Americans blame American foreign policy for causing terrorism and other evils in the world. They detest American capitalism and American culture. A newly assertive Democratic party could embrace this anti-American vision. It could go beyond opposing President Bush's Iraq policy to opposing all efforts to fight terrorism. Indeed it could declare America itself to be a terrorist country and seek to define all U.S. military action as "state-sponsored terrorism." How would such a policy be sustained politically? Of course it would not be enough to win the votes of America-haters in this country. It seems that there are many millions of America-haters in other countries, such as France, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen. The Democrats should encourage America-haters all over the world to become American citizens. Failing this, they should work to loosen eligibility requirements so that anti-American aliens could at least vote for Democratic candidates in presidential elections. Second, the Democrats should openly advocate the economic looting of one class of citizens in order to benefit another class of citizens. Ordinarily this is called theft, but in politics it is called "redistribution" or better still "compassion." Again, in ordinary language people who are robbed are called "victims," but in politics they are called "greedy" for wanting to hold on to what is theirs. Now it may seem that the Democratic party has already perfected the art of using the government for the purpose of legal plunder. True, since the New Deal the Democrats have been the party of economic redistribution. By and large, Democrats have shown no interest in how to create a pie; their sole focus has been on how to carve up the pie. But Democrats in the past few decades have been hampered by the need to seem economically responsible, and thus the party has not embraced the Left-wing program of blatantly seizing citizens' asserts and earnings. Why stop with a measly prescription-drug benefit for the elderly? The Democrats could abandon their past timidity and go for it all: free health care for seniors, unlimited scholarships for anyone who wants to go to college, no time limits on unemployment benefits, no work requirements for welfare, federal subsidies for aspiring artists to produce anti-Bush sculptures and songs, and so on. This Democratic approach would be based on the political wisdom embodied in George Bernard Shaw's maxim, "Any government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on Paul's support." The secret, of course, is to make sure that the beneficiaries of this state-sponsored robbery (potential Democratic voters) outnumber those who are robbed (potential Republican voters). Finally, the Democrats could become the party of moral degeneracy. In recent years the Democrats have not embraced moral degeneracy outright. They have contented themselves with hiding behind the slogan of "liberty." If accused of encouraging pornography, the Democrats have said, "No, we are for liberty of expression." Charged with supporting abortion-on-demand, the Democrats insist, "No, we are the party that gives women freedom over their own bodies." Caught distributing sex kits and homosexual instruction manuals to young people, the Democrats protest, "We are merely attempting to give people autonomy and freedom of choice." But what is the need for this coyness? The Democrats should stop hiding behind "freedom of choice" and become blatant advocates for divorce, illegitimacy, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, and pornography. Indeed the Democrats could become the Party of the Seven Deadly Sins. The political advantage of this approach is that the Seven Deadly Sins are immensely popular. Imagine the political opportunities if all vices were associated with the Democratic party! Yes, right now President Bush and the Republicans are riding high. But just wait until 2004, when the party of fighting terrorism, promoting economic growth, and fostering traditional moral values, meets its match in a party that stands for anti-Americanism, economic plunder, and moral degeneracy. — Dinesh D’Souza’s new book Letters to a Young Conservative has just been published by Basic Books. He is the Rishwain Research Scholar at the Hoover Institution. |
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on the political Left are blaming the leadership of the Democratic party
for moving to the center, accommodating President Bush's agenda, and thus
producing the catastrophic losses of Tuesday's election. "Let us
stop playing Republican wannabe," these leftists say, "and start
standing up for something." 
