Comments on Exposit: To Have and To Hold By Anna Schwartz In the ea...

I do not believe that you can separate any of the ...

2004-09-07T11:48:00.000-04:00

I do not believe that you can separate any of the moral issues from the social issues. Looking at school prayer, it might not have a direct correlation to the economy that say abortion or same sex marriage might, but in the neoconservative mind it absolutely does If students are able to exercise their moral values (based on religion according to the neocons), this will allow them to develop better as persons and will allow them to develop better families, business practices etc. They will essentially be able to avoid the pitfalls of poverty that the neocons associate with a lack of Judeo-Christian morality. Therefore, it will help the economy, albeit in an indirect manner. Tell me what you think.
-Eric

I don't know if it's a fact of every single social...

2004-09-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

I don't know if it's a fact of every single social issue; I think school prayer might be one where economics is pretty much out of the picture. Abortion, however, like most issues of health care, definitely reveals a cultural/economic intersection.

Question: What do you think about the argument that since the widespread entrenchment of neoliberalism, conservatives have largely abandoned the more reactionary alliances mounted during the culture wars?

Essentially the point I'm trying to make is that i...

2004-09-05T11:30:00.000-04:00

Essentially the point I'm trying to make is that in the conservative "culture wars" mentality, there are always economic questions at stake, even when they are articulated through the social.Do you think this occurs with every single social issue? What economic questions are at stake with abortion, according to this frame? School prayer? Etc.

Thanks for the feedback, Dub.

-- Anna

Excellent points. The only facet of your argument...

2004-09-04T17:49:00.000-04:00

Excellent points. The only facet of your argument that I take issue is with the following comment (sorry, this is going to sound disjointed, but i have to run soon):

feelings about same-sex marriage are not economically motivated. None of the anti-gay-marriage protestors who set up shop outside the Massachusetts state house earlier this year carried signs or chanted slogans having to do with taxes: the polemic "God hates fags," a perennial favorite of the protestors, relies not on Congressional Budget Office findings, but – purportedly -- on the bible.One can't lose sight of the fact that every stage of the debate over gay marriage has been informed by economic motives. I mean, really, it's not like corporations (especially those who are legally bound to confer their services to legally married couples) are excited at the prospect of ponying up their services to Adam and Steve's legally sanctioned relationship.

As Lisa Duggan points out in "Holy Matrimony!", marriage has been used by neoliberals (especially since Clinton's 1996 welfare reform bill) as a means of mass privatization. Embedded deep in the critique of marriage as a heteronormative institution is the seed of a greater argument that destabilizes the conservative (and politically salient) definition of the family unit.

Essentially the point I'm trying to make is that in the conservative "culture wars" mentality, there are always economic questions at stake, even when they are articulated through the social.

Right on, sister woman! Love, CorpBobo

2004-09-04T16:46:00.000-04:00

Right on, sister woman!
Love, CorpBobo