Despite the old fusionism between conservatives and libertarians, one major point on contention between the two groups is partly how to deal with public morals. Jonah Goldberg raises the issue today on NRO -- namely, how should one deal with Madonna or Pamela Anderson? Goldberg, who is not usually considered a traditional or social conservative, is worried, rightly, about how society looks to people whose actions are not exactly up to norms.
I am a self described Catholic Libertarian. While that seems contradictory, I agree with 90% of what social conservatives worry about.
The difference is how to answer. I am all for ME complaining about Madonna's behavior. I am against the GOVERNMENT doing something about it. My belief is that the decline of civil society and standards is not because of government inaction but rather a result of government action (economic and moral) that takes away individual responsibility. If you ignore celebrities, they eventually will act decent or otherwise go away.
So let's address the decline of public morals and civil society by addressing ourselves first.
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Anthony, what has the government--at any level--done to promote Pamela Anderson's career?
Kirk -- it is not that the government has done something AFFIRMATIVE ti help, it is that social conservatives want the government to do something affirmative to punish people like her.
Take for instance the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction." Jackson's career was helped by the hype -- had people simply ignored her, that would have been the best solution.
Gotcha. I don't think I read your post very carefully before responding--sorry.
No problem -- I am just glad someone reads this thing.
"If you ignore celebrities, they eventually will act decent or otherwise go away."
Anthony--
The problem with this statement is that it takes "celebrities" as some kind of monolithic phenomenon. They aren't. Figures like Madonna, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, et al., make their living by exploiting the public's passion for sleaze and pornography. If they acted decent(ly), their careers would be over, and they would be out millions.
Now, if a celebrity whose image is one of consummate decency--Alan Alda, for instance--screws up and does something indecent, that would be best noted, criticized, and henceforth ignored. His raison d'etre as a celeb is not to shock or titillate.
There has always, in every culture, been some form of prostitution, and some form of pornography. It is not the invention of American secularists and political liberals.
A guy like Larry Craig might have avoided ruination if he had spent more time releasing his kinks with porn.
>Madonna, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, et al., make their living by exploiting the public's passion for sleaze and pornography. If they acted decent(ly), their careers would be over, and they would be out millions.
Paris Hilton would still be a rich little girl. Madonna would still be a very talented singer. Pamela Anderson swould be, well, point taken.
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