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Notes -
If I had to guess...
The culture war exists because of an inherent tension between two principles of the post-enlightenment order. The first is the drive to equality and liberty, which has broad appeal for various reasons but especially those tied to a Christian and post-Christian guilt complex, and to those who identify with groups or individuals they consider to have been unduly oppressed by powerful institutions. The second is the drive to civilization, which necessarily involves the construction of hierarchies, the concentration of power and the structured application of [extreme] violence; it is unequal and illiberal.
All Hegelian narratives contend with this core tension between a hierarchical, orderly impulse and a liberal, equal one. Both are 'human', and both have their ultimate foundation in our primal nature.
Can’t you do pretty even split in the US over just liberty vs. equality/equity? Aka limited government vs. social democracy, with a corresponding “rural vs. urban” fight over culture and lifestyle options.
As soon as the shift from “equal under the law” to “equality of outcomes ensured by government intervention” became dominant on the left, that fight was going to happen, and most other fights align around it.
I don’t think the civilizational/hierarchical one works, given how much the Blue Tribe wants to use state power to ensure equity. The Classic Conservatives/Theocrats aren’t the main force on the right in the US.
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