Baffling Incoherence

This week in Macleans, Mark Steyn writes:

"A 'social conscience' obliges the individual to act. Today we call for action all the time, but mostly from government, which is another way of excusing us and allowing us to get on with the distractions of the day. Our schoolhouses revile the Victorian do-gooders as condescending racists and oppressors -- though the single greatest force for ending slavery around the world was the Royal Navy."

One moment Steyn is chiding those who would call on the government to solve society's problems as essentially copping-out. The next moment, he praises a government agency - the Royal Navy - for ending slavery.

The troublesome thing for a lot of conservative hawks I suppose is that they want to lionize the military while saying that government is bad. The rest of the article is Steyn's usual complaints about why can't things be like they were back in the olden days as well as a cheap shot against Jean Chretien.
Picture: Anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce called on the government to end slavery.