The Poverty of Political "Ethics" in the US

A report last week from Mother Jones regarding the loathsome Paul Ryan illuminates the impoverished way moralism shackles American politics. As the story suggests, poor Mr. Ryan found himself being criticized by a bunch of Catholics for his conservative proposals for the federal budget. You know, the ones where massive redistribution from the poor and working class to rich continues unabated. And he was compelled to recant publicly whatever fealty to the incredibly dim Ayn Rand he ever had. But notice options we are left with! As one of Ryan's critics complains:

"I am afraid that Chairman Ryan's budget reflects the values of his favorite philosopher Ayn Rand rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ . . . Survival of the fittest may be okay for Social Darwinists but not for followers of the gospel of compassion and love."

So, of course, it is either Randian objectivism or Christ's compassion. And Ryan, knowing which side the butter is on proclaims himself a devotee of Thomas Aquinas. Is that supposed to be an improvement? I love the way religious mouthpieces browbeat everyone into political conformity.