re: #156 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

The kind of Calvinism that still lives on in American thinking is that Wealth is an Outward Sign of Inner Grace: that rich people are more blessed by God because they are more moral.

In an ideal world where your financial success was based entirely on the amount of effort you exerted, that might begin to make some sense.

It is also a throwback to the notion that kings and queens were put there by god to rule over us common sinners and were somehow closer to him.

In any case, it is good camel lubricant to help stuff that mother through the eye of a needle…

Conservatism is also inherently hierarchial. Whether they call it the divine right of kings, or “the natural order of things” the bedrock of conservatism is that a rigid social hierarchy is not only desirable, but absolutely necessary in order to maintain a functioning society.

This is why conservatives freak out as society becomes increasingly egalitarian. They view egalitarianism as the worst possible thing that could befall a society, because from their POV, “the natural order of things” is being thrown out the window in favor a new social structure….one that means there’s an exceedingly good chance they won’t end up at the apex of the pyramid.

And that realization scares them to death.