Let the past abolish the past when—and if—it can substitute something better.
— William Faulkner
I've never encountered the conservative's rock-bottom belief better expressed than it was by William Faulkner in his 1962 speech before the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
"Let the past abolish the past when—and if—it can substitute something better," Faulkner said.
It's not our choice "to abolish the past simply because it was."
Conservatives always want to turn back the clock, without regard to whether the past was kind to everyone.
They can't help themselves.
Their brains are to blame.
Conservatives' have overactive right amygdalas, the side of the brain that processes fear.
In a word, they're chickenshits.
Holding reactionary opinions helps them manage fear.
The world is a dark, scary place, after all.
Scarcity is scary.
Disruption is scary.
Ambiguity is scary.
Hell, the future is scary.
At this moment, conservatives are even siding with Putin to quash their fear.
Liberals—those brave folks with the overactive left amygdalas—wonder why conservatives always choose the wrong side of history. But it's no mystery.
As FDR said in his first inaugural address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror."
But I say, the only thing we have to fear is conservatives—reckless, feckless, unreasoning cowards.
Find some cajones, amigos.
Please.
