WHY WOULD the ultra-patriotic, ostensibly conservative Sarah Palin call those who believe women should raise the next generation “Neanderthals?” Where does this withering disdain for Neanderthals come from? Neanderthals, in this context, are all those generations of women who devoted themselves to the care of their husbands and the formation of their children. They refined character and culture. They guarded privacy and sentiment. They kept the home from being crushed by the State. Why despise them?

This superiority complex, so common and so rooted in the hearts of feminists, can be traced to the modern cult of the future. As G.K. Chesterton said, it is much easier to project oneself onto the blank pages of the future then fit oneself into the humbling records of the past. We may never live up to its standards. The feminist fears even the homemade cakes and pies of yesterday, which is why she heaps such condescension upon them. “The future is a blank wall on which every man can write his own name as large as he likes,” Chesterton said. “… And the upshot of this modern attitude is really this: that men invent new ideals because they dare not attempt old ideals. They look forward with enthusiasm, because they are afraid to look back.”

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