By Harry DeRienzo
My friend, Dr. Brian Sahd, says I am becoming more conservative over time. He goes so far to say that “Glen Beck would be proud.” It may be true that I am becoming more conservative, if conservatism is defined through peopled-centered, accessible, and equitable economic systems that, far from degrading our humanity, enhance it; systems that are politically organized to be ever suspect of “big government,” concentrated wealth, or economic power aggregated within corporate entities. In short, I confess that I am a “small d” democratic conservative to the extent that I believe in people and their ability to collectively determine their own fates. Professor Sahd, on the other hand, seems to believe that we have no control over our own destinies, even in a so-called democracy, and any attempt to stop or redirect that globalized, de-humanizing, and market driven train that has “already left the station” is mere folly. This appears to represent a form of historical determinism. Karl Marx would be proud.