The Decadent Society by Ross Douthat FTP: Time To Rough Up Douthat

Ross Douthat is a Conservative.

I’m a Conservative.

A spectrum exists.

I enjoy Douthat’s cultural critiques. But Douthat frequently reminds me that he’s the house conservative of the New York Times. He’s not as insufferable as David Brooks, nor as dishonest.

As I read through Decadent Society I kept noticing Douthat pacifying his NYT audience, pacifying them— largely urban liberals, college educated and fairly well-to-do — that they are right and justified in their moral beliefs and opinions. And while they believe Republicans, Conservatives, and Libertarians are backward, dumb, and evil — they can tolerate a Ross Douthat. And when Douthat presses against particular societal ills, when he rubs against Conservative beliefs or criticisms from the Right, criticisms and beliefs familiar to many liberals, Douthat “punches Right.” He soothes the worldview of NYT readers, he lets them know that the Right are immoral racists who must be treated as such.

Not that all societal ills are a Left proble…