A problem with something like the Conservative Movement, which emphasizes hierarchy and loyalty, is that true leadership and wisdom is harder to exercise and have recognized. Consider this:
With little fanfare, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday allowing residents to carry a concealed loaded weapon without a permit.
DeSantis signed the bill in a nonpublic event in his office with only bill sponsors, legislative leaders and gun rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association, in attendance. [NBC News]
In the wake of the recent Nashville shooting, in which 3 children and 3 adults died, along with the shooter Audrey Hale, it’s no surprise that Governor DeSantis (R-FL) decided to avoid the spotlight:
It was a notable departure for a governor who regularly holds splashy news conferences and bill-signing ceremonies.
But this could have been a moment for DeSantis to show some leadership. He could have vetoed the bill and used that moment to deliver a speech that explains why more guns does not equal more safety, that mankind is an animal that can be rational, but is not a rational animal, and a dozen more reasons to explain why it’s bad policy to assume the Second Amendment is an unlimited right.
Good leaders do not simply echo everyone else. Those are just sheep, not leaders. No, good leaders jump up and use their podiums to explain why the crowd is wrong, and to propose a better way.
But the hierarchy and loyalty, not just to other personalities but to ideologies and tenets as well, implicit in the Conservative Movement, its absurd belief that unlimited gun rights makes more sense than a safe society in this case, make the truly ambitious politician’s plans difficult to impossible to execute. If they don’t hew to the ideological line, their ideas aren’t examined and weighed carefully.
No, instead they are chased away by the enraged partisans who place loyalty over thoughtfulness.
And that’s part of the reason the Conservative Movement is a crippled movement, an example of how not to structure an institution to those who acknowledge man’s need to be humble.
