Liberals: the new Puritans

Of all places, I found this critique of modern liberals in the New Republic (linked there by Mike at Cold Fury). Mark Oppenheimer writes that it seems to him both the right and the left are fear-ridden.

But there are key differences in how liberals and conservatives come by their fears. On the right, these mental illnesses stem from fear of government. On the left, their origins are a bit harder to pin down, but as I see it, they stem from an old mix of righteousness and the fear of contamination—from what we might recognize as Puritanism.

At a recent birthday party for a three-year-old, Oppenheimer was surrounded by liberals.

I was surrounded by the new Puritans: self-righteous, aspiring toward a utopian perfectionism, therefore condemned to perpetual anxiety—and in their anxiety, a threat to me and my children.

It makes no sense to re-enslave ourselves with fear, worry, and stress. That is not liberal but reactionary. Just because Big Brother is inside us doesn’t mean he’s not still Big Brother.