To the Editor:

Among the many things to contest in William Kristol’s column is one that I hope will not slip by unnoticed: the claim that political conservatism is “not easy” in “a modern liberal democracy.”

On the contrary, it is far too easy to create and win favor for a domestic policy that does little more than eviscerate government programs while cutting taxes for wealthy donors and others who are encouraged to pursue nothing more than their own self-interest. Even Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush could get their minds around that.

It is liberals who do the difficult work of formulating effective programs to address serious problems that the market economy and private gain do not resolve. Conservatives appoint themselves to the easy job of tearing these efforts down.

And it is liberals who do the often thankless work of asking our fellow citizens to rise occasionally above their own self-interest.

Stuart Blumin
Ithaca, N.Y., Feb. 5, 2008

Note from KBJ: The function of government is to provide a framework of rules within which individuals pursue their various interests. It is to keep us from each other’s throats, not to force us to provide for one another.