You only need to listen to politicians like Ted Cruz or Rick Santorum for a minute to realize that Conservatives aren’t fighting political battles, they’re fighting cultural battles. Conservatives see politics as just one fight in the broader cultural battle. The almost comical fight in many southern states over transgender rights and bathrooms is clear evidence of this.
This is nothing new. Conservatives are always trying to preserve what they view as traditional society. Conservatives believe that there is great value and collected wisdom in cultural traditions and social norms. That’s why conservative politicians fight so hard to preserve those traditions and norms. For them the political battles aren’t about advancing conservative political goals – limited government, deference to the constitution, strong national defense – they’re about achieving conservative social and cultural goals.
Yet despite their best efforts, and political success since the 1980’s, the culture has changed, and changed dramatically. And this only increases these conservative’s frustration. But here’s the problem. The culture hasn’t changed because of liberal politicians. Despite what conservatives believe, there really is no collusion between liberal institutions (like TV, movies, and music) and liberal politicians. They may share a similar world-view, and liberal politicians may support the cultural openness that allows a wide variety of entertainment to flourish, but that’s not the same thing as saying that liberal politicians are causing cultural change. Put another way, just because the liberal idea of openness creates the cultural environment that allows pornography to exist, doesn’t mean that liberal politicians created, caused, or even endorse pornography.
Society has changed for many reasons. Some are political. But politics isn’t the main driver of social change. I personally believe that the major contributor to social change is science (and its offish step-brother technology). One good example is the birth control pill. The pill allowed women to control their reproductive functions, which gave them control over their own bodies. This has had a dramatic impact on society, and opened a floodgate which still haven’t closed. It spurred the sexual revolution (which eventually, though perhaps tenuously, led to the rise of pornography) and it allowed women to participate in the economy in a meaningful way. It changed gender roles, it changed dating, it changed families, and it changed living arrangements. It threw over traditional male dominated society, and it fundamentally altered our economy. And while liberal politicians were generally supportive of these goals, they didn’t create them. The effect was deeply political, but the cause wasn’t.
And therein lies the problem. Despite conservatives’ political gains, cultural change continues unabated. Liberals might say that the culture has gotten more open and tolerant (and a majority of the public seems to agree) but conservatives say it has gotten more licentious and depraved. This happened because of new technology like radio, television, video tape, and now the internet. It didn’t happen because of the policies of Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama.
Conservatives have won a great deal politically in the last thirty years, but they’ve clearly lost the culture wars. And since they view culture as intimately tied to politics, this makes their political gains futile. Political success has simply not resulted in the cultural revival they seek.
This has produced a feeling of entrenchment, a sense of siege, a belief that all of the forces in society are aligned against them. We see this every day. We see this in the way conservatives over react to trivial issues and the way they vilify their political opponents. This also produces a deep confusion, which we’re seeing in the way they’re now turning on each other.