The recent C11 piece about a Red State’s-eye-view of life was, among other things, a juicy piece of blog bait. I’ll bite:
Traditional peoples have met opposition from the beginning of history. Our way of life drives some people nuts. We do not subject our values to critical thinking and introspection. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, we say. But it’s that attitude which makes us inferior beings in the eyes of some. Socrates said: "An unexamined life is not worth living".Now, I have no idea whether the unexamined life is worth living or not. I’ve never tried it. However, if I should ever want to ask anyone about the unexamined life, it’s a Blue Stater I’ll consult.
Okay, Red people, all together now: "YES IT IS!”
Let’s take it as a given that Martin and Maltz are correct that Red Staters like to follow traditions and bicoastal elites like to question them; it certainly sounds true enough, at least as far as wild generalizations can be. Even given that assumption, most South Carolinians are more morally and philosophically sophisticated than most cosmopolitan Obamaniacs. Let’s put aside the question of whether or not New Yorkers really question their moral assumptions (although if someone else wanted to take up this line of argument, I wouldn’t stop them) and simply look at the end result of this Blue State skepticism. Most of the time, it’s some variation on the harm principle under which the most important ethical question becomes "Does it increase everyone’s happiness?" What could be less sophisticated?
Contrast this with the moral decision-making of a Red Stater who has unquestioningly accepted a truckload of inherited traditions (the clod!). He has to weigh love of country against love for his brother serving in Iraq, not to mention Christian morality, which has a thing or two to say about war. Or he might have to consider family loyalty versus the desire to do something about his sister’s alcoholism. Or loyalty to his wife versus passionate love for another woman. Cheating songs are a sign of moral sophistication (insofar as they take seriously both the sacred vow and true love), and I dare you to name one Blue State genre of music that can boast as many cheating songs as country.
Moral philosophy is hard. If every ethical question could be boiled down to some hedonistic or utilitarian calculus (I’m looking at you, cultural libertarianism), it would be easy . Maybe Red Staters don’t respect Socrates as much as they should, but that doesn’t change the fact that, in a world where urbanity is synonymous with cultural liberalism, they’re the only side of the culture war that needs him.
