Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
late-night thoughts about democracy S 77<br />
Box 2.2. Postscript: A Note on <strong>the</strong> Shelf Life <strong>of</strong><br />
Economic Ideas<br />
Those <strong>of</strong> us who have looked <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> self-interest <strong>of</strong> lending institutions<br />
<strong>to</strong> protect shareholder’s equity, myself included, are in a state <strong>of</strong> shocked<br />
disbelief . . . Yes, I have found a fl aw. I don’t know how signifi cant or<br />
permanent it is. But I’ve been very distressed by that fact.<br />
—Alan Greenspan<br />
The self-confi dence <strong>of</strong> learned people is <strong>the</strong> comic tragedy <strong>of</strong> civilization.<br />
—Alfred North Whitehead<br />
Conservative philosopher Richard Weaver once noted that “ideas<br />
have consequences” (1984). And some really bad ideas <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
last half century are leaving a legacy <strong>of</strong> very bad consequences.<br />
Weaver’s 1948 book was an extended argument for conservatism,<br />
beginning with <strong>the</strong> recognition <strong>of</strong> knowledge higher than our<br />
own and <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> such things as virtue, character, craftsmanship,<br />
enduring quality, civility, and, above all, piety. Applied<br />
<strong>to</strong> nature, Weaver argued for a “degree <strong>of</strong> humility” such that we<br />
might avoid meddling “with small parts <strong>of</strong> a machine <strong>of</strong> whose<br />
<strong>to</strong>tal design and purpose we are ignorant” (p. 173). “Our planet,”<br />
he wrote, is falling victim <strong>to</strong> a rigorism, so that what is done in<br />
any remote corner affects—nay, menaces—<strong>the</strong> whole. Resiliency<br />
and <strong>to</strong>lerance are lost” (p. 173). Weaver regarded <strong>the</strong> modern project<br />
<strong>to</strong> reconstruct nature as an “adolescent infatuation.” One can<br />
reasonably imagine <strong>the</strong> approbation he would have felt for <strong>the</strong><br />
creative exhibition <strong>of</strong> thievery and stupidity that has led <strong>to</strong> our<br />
present circumstances.<br />
Weaver’s idea that ideas have real consequences, alas, had less<br />
consequence than one might wish. It is honored mostly among a<br />
small band <strong>of</strong> true conservatives, <strong>the</strong> uncommon sort who actually<br />
value <strong>the</strong> conservation <strong>of</strong> tradition, law, cus<strong>to</strong>m, nature, culture,<br />
and religion, and who take ideas and <strong>the</strong>ir real-world implications<br />
seriously. O<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> title <strong>of</strong> his book, however, Weaver<br />
is presently unknown <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> wider public, and probably not at<br />
all <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> faux conservatives who daily bloviate on FOX News.<br />
Unfortunately, ideas, whatever <strong>the</strong>ir consequences, seldom “yield<br />
(continued)