For many proponents of red morality, tradition and authority are sacred, and there is no room for negotiation or even discussion. That is not universally true, however. Here are some of the ways in which reactionaries respond to progressives on the latter’s terms:
- As I’ve noted many times before, many reds are faux libertarians. Their appropriation of the slogan “My body, my choice” in the context of masks and vaccines is a parody of mainstream libertarian thought; no serious libertarian believes he has a right to injure others. Parody or not, this is a gesture in favor of blue morality.
- Some reds extend the concept of injuries to others to aesthetic concerns. This is the supposed “right not to be offended,” a “right” which does not appear in mainstream libertarian philosophy.
- Reds frequently break out the parade of horribles to justify their position on tradition and authority. For example, if evidence of concrete harm is necessary to justify moral sanctions, why isn’t sex with animals OK?
- Some reds make “social contagion” arguments. The idea here is that the failure to enforce traditional norms inevitably results in experimentation and abuses of power which ultimately result in nonconsensual behavior and the creation of innocent victims. The most extreme example of this is the assertion by members of the DeSantis Administration that anyone who opposes the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation is a “groomer,” because gay people are pedophiles.
- The most sophisticated arguments on this issue are essentially sociological and communitarian. Their proponents contend that blue morality basically turns society into nothing more than a trade alliance, with harmful psychological effects to all concerned. Society consists of all of the ties that bind citizens together. Disregarding traditional norms in favor of individual autonomy dissolves some of those ties and reduces society to a series of pure power relationships, to be exploited by amoral tyrants and charlatans like Trump.
For their part, supporters of blue morality rarely go as far as the parade of horribles described above would suggest even though the red argument on that point is quite logical. They also concede some of the points set out in #5.
It isn’t a lot of common ground, but it isn’t nothing.