|
Hugh Segal's "Vision"
of Conservatism
by Glenn Woiceshyn
A shorter version was published in the Financial Post
on Apr/13-15/1996.
Dear Editor,
Re: "We Must Ensure the Tories Remain an Option for Canadian Voters"--by
Hugh Segal--Mar. 30-Apr. 1, 1996--The Financial Post
True to his wishy-washy pragmatism, Hugh Segal managed to write a column trying
to sell his (and, presumably, Jean Charest's) vision of conservatism without giving
any explicit ideas constituting that vision. His only offer of a "particular
mix of decency, frugality and pragmatic competence" is hopeless as a philosophy
or a rallying cry.
Doesn't Mr. Segal realize that his Progressive Conservative party couldn't avoid
getting trounced in the 1993 election because nobody knew what it stood for, or what
side of the Liberals they were on? At least the Liberals had a book of explicit,
albeit bad, ideas and policies.
In the end, it's political principles put into practice that make or break a country,
and the fundamental issue of politics is whether such principles are true, good,
practical -- or false, evil, destructive. Modern liberalism has wreaked havoc on
Canada because, in essence, its socialistic policy of punishing individuals for ingenuity,
achievement, self-initiative and self-reliance, is inherently destructive.
Rather than embrace modern liberalism in some diluted form, conservatives should
uphold and defend rational principles -- explicitly, consistently and un-apologetically.
Unfortunately, Mr. Segal wants to continue with wishy-washy pragmatism, where the
legitimate rights of individuals get sacrificed to tribalism, political expediency
and whining "special-interest" groups.
Sincerely,
Glenn Woiceshyn
© 1997 Glenn Woiceshyn. All rights reserved.
This article can be found on-line at at http://www.capitalism.org/glennw. |
|
