I think it not amiss to say that I am a socialist in economics, a liberal in politics, and a conservative in culture. Many persons might find this statement puzzling, assuming that if a person is a radical in one realm, he is a radical in all others; and, conversely, if he is a conservative in one realm, then he must be conservative in the others as well.
Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism.
It's an odd usage that considers socialism "radical". In fact the whole statement is odd. If he uses "liberal" in the American sense, and if he's an academic, he could as well say that he's entirely conventional in his politics. As for being conservative in culture - well, who is more unchanging than the avant-garde?
Posted by: dearieme | Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 09:19 AM