America Without “Liberal” or “Conservative” Representation
America Without “Liberal” or “Conservative” Representation
By Roger F. Gay | Aug 17, 2009
Nothing more immediately spoils the honesty of political debate in America today than the common use of the terms “liberal” and “conservative.” They are too often used anachronistically, in a way maintained in the public mind through narrow relative thinking – and probably more often without thinking at all.
It is common for these terms to be used as synonyms for “left” and “right” and for those terms to be automatically associated with the Democratic and Republican parties. No matter how far the two parties shift along the political spectrum together, or where they go, this common semantic error leaves the impression that our current politics are still rooted in the Constitutional definition of our republic. Politicians and their “mainstream” media constantly conjure the illusion that “moderate” politics results from compromise between the two parties.
If you can control the language, you can control the people. And the people, too often, accept the use of language offered to them without considering whether it lies. If you think it doesn’t matter, consider the young voters; who go to the polls without the benefit of a decent civics education, historical perspective, or instructive life experience. Have you called Hillary and Barack “liberals” and voiced your disdain for “liberalism”? According to The Random House Dictionary, you have said that you oppose individual freedom and that Hillary and Barack support it. No wonder so many of our naïve youth call “conservatives” Nazis and fervently support the far left!
What terms do fit our modern Political Class has been the subject of some discussion, while the public is at least beginning to make its own informal search. Are they “illiberal statists” as Mike S. Adams (Townhall.com) suggests? Marxists? Communists? Socialists? Nazis? One-world Government Dictators? Or will history give them a new name, and we should be content for the moment to refer to them more generically, as the “Political Class” and simply continue discussion of their deeds and intentions?
Where is the modern American Political Class on the political spectrum? One question being raised in political discussion is whether or not we are too late to save the nation. The fact that the question is being raised corresponds to the sudden awakening to huge and rapid changes that many never before thought could happen in the USA. The current state of affairs is not the result of a single election or of one or more crises forcing, or perhaps seeming to force, extreme measures. To believe so, we would have to ignore Al Gore and the outpouring of international support and prestige given in honor of his global warming hoax. We would have to ignore the fact that the United States has had the mechanisms for universal health insurance for more than a half century.
Our current predicament involves a history of changes largely ignored. Next: How America was Destroyed– The Rise of Big Lie Politics
Good article
thanks for posting. We sure are in a pickle.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
Justa Numerican: What is Communitarianism?
The author correctly points out the inherent dangers [of our "unthinking" regurgitation] of simple, everyday language. But he fails to mention that it is communitarianism... and its resultant communitarian laws... which are at the real crux... of this great divide - the current matter... is now at hand.
Liberalism and conservatism are just old news, old hat, and so... ancient history. The author is correct here as well: Most people couldn't possibly agree on what these terms should actually mean anymore. To go another step further... look up libertarian... or libertarianism... sometime. Next try to have a spirited discussion... with one who claims this label... and then really is one.
Human beings are born with a natural affliction... which can be thought of as... either a help or a hindrance... and that condition is most commonly known as cognitive dissonance. Combine this... with the fact that many people don't often share... the same understanding... for ordinary words. Words such as freedom, truth, justice, rights... the Constitution, and the American Way of Life... and it's easy to see how divisive... even ordinary language tools can be - especially when two or more [several] parties are earnestly attempting... to put honest communication... to practical effect [such as within a multiplicity of contexts, veiled or direct references, and in the consensual search... for distinctions... or clarity of meanings, etc.].
This can be seen also when engaging in discussions with one's self - just as easily, and just as unthinkingly. Therefore... conflicts arising from our thoughts... before thought is properly transmuted from language tools like words, are seldom completely resolved well enough to transfer intent fully to someone else. When we step back and consider the origins of words - not to mention their, oftentimes, multiple or alternate definitions - we start to realize that words more often add to the confusion than they contribute to actual communication or conflict resolution.
Cognitive dissonance, of course, is that exasperating experience... of two or more solutions... arising from the need to settle each internal conflict.
Anyway... I could babble on and on... but I understand that you may just not be all that interested. What should interest you, however, is precisely how Americans have lost many of the freedoms... each one of us... once took for granted.
Could it be it's "political correctness" that gets in the way of our attempts to be truthful? Are our politicians not the enlightened beings we expected them to be? Or are they "compromised" somehow... and to the extent... they might even be... actually lying... to us?
Are our mainstream media channels... "controlled"... or is it simply that truly "weighty" conversations... about policy matters, for instance... are not really considered "digestible" or "appropriate"... within the space and time constraints... commercial media has allotted? Could this be why... most media today... is more entertainment-driven... than it is informative?
Outside of the classroom, if you are not similarly inspired... to dig and to learn something new... through your own initiative and perseverance... as commercial media is... to make money... it's fair to say you might forever remain in the dark... about some critical aspect of your existence - like in the relationships you have... with the world outside your own skin... or in your own orbit, so to speak. The terms I once used... as an excuse for why I decided... to drop out of college [back in 1974]... was that I refused to suffer the insulting nature... of brainwashing... and more indoctrination.
And I figured life itself was the best teacher. On the job training, finding a mentor, or doing time in a formalized apprenticeship... was the way to go for me - and besides all that, wasn't I an insufferable autodidact anyway?
Well, long story short - after waking up to the reality of America's political crisis - I finally made the decision to re-educate myself... about what was behind that watered-down news... and what was really going on. If you've stayed with me... this far... then perhaps you'll permit me... to share with you... what one of my new mentors... "The Tent Lady"... had on her mind of late:
http://nikiraapana.blogspot.com/2009/08/palin-sidetracks-scr...
Palin Sidetracks Scrutiny of Obama's Communitarian Plan
Niki is an avid researcher. She enlightens; she amuses; and she informs. The fact that she also happens to live in a modified Mongolian yurt [that she calls a "gertee"] in rural Alaska... just means she has re-ordered her priorities... in ways one can't help... but admire. Several observations are made in her latest post, but she also asks a few pointed questions. One of which is...
... "What happens when Americans are actually introduced to the term communitarianism, and why is it always placed inside special quotes?"
Is it our politicians... in bed with... our media talking heads... who are to blame... that we're not on more comfortable terms... with this word? Or is that Americans today are simply too damned lazy to learn... what's really at the root... of the problem... with America?
Human beings are blessed... with free will, powerful instincts, intuitions... and the capacities... for civilized discourse... with discernment. Yet if we allow others to control the debate... because they've conveniently left out the precise ideological "abstraction" which underpins their thinking... and all their arguments... against your own... don't you figure we may want to find out why they are deliberately [cognitively], in effect, just ignoring us?
For the elites of society... language is "coded" - which means that if you don't have the password... they won't... or can't... let you in. The same is true with you and me. If a committed socialist... engages a libertarian... consensus is possible... but will it always provide for... the best solution?
In most cases, I think not. In fact, I daresay it is this unholy compromise [and the consensus of mere opinion] which is ruining our great country. As is communitarianism... when it strips away the foundations... for what the "rule of law" once meant... to proud Americans.
I'd only suggest... that if we Americans don't start using this term [and its many variants] in polite conversation... we will have been left out... of this most important debate... to win us back our own freedoms... by restoring our natural-born birthrights... to remain... in charge... of our own destinies.
But with the great privilege it is... to be an American... comes great duty and responsibility -. as supporters of Dr. Paul, we know, it's all one and the same.
http://www.slate.com/id/2380
The ABC’s of Communitarianism: The Devil’s Dictionary (Slate Magazine, 1996)
http://www.quebecoislibre.org/010901-13.htm
Amitai Etzioni’s Responsive Community: A Flawed Paradigm (Le Quebecois Libre, 2001)
http://www.nord.twu.net/acl/manifesto
The Anti Communitarian Manifesto
Re: America Without “Liberal” or “Conservative” Representation
People are on the lookout for economic signs. Economic signs aren't normally paid attention to when things are boom, but are under the microscope when bust. DP, or Gross Domestic Product is a biggie. Home sales and house prices are also important, so are unemployment rates – and their declines have all slowed. Since most manufacturing (or production) has dipped, unemployment will continue to rise. (That's called Okun's Law, but its veracity is disputed.) Not many businesses have extra cash, or people for that matter. Most experts are predicting a recovery that will start soon, and complete by 2011. Despite the economic signs that the decline has slowed, many are out of work, and few cash advances can be had.
Stalin light or Hitler light?
The money elites have created a system of Fabian (creeping) socialism, and they use the two parties to distract us from the real agenda. We have a false left-right paradigm, and I'll illustrate it for you. We are told from our earliest days of political study that there is a right and left in the political spectrum. Now let's examine how they define this. The far left is called communism, and this is really just a word that means "international socialism". The far right is called fascism, and this is just a word that represents "national socialism". They tell us the middle is called "democracy" and that this is the model we all should follow. It doesn't take rocket scientist to figure out that the middle is really Fabian socialism. So if the left is socialist, and the right is socialist, and the middle is socialist, then the whole spectrum is socialist. This is completely absurd!!! Where does an anarchist fit into this spectrum? Where does a constitutional republican who believes in free enterprise fit in? The answer is that they don't. The real political spectrum, the one they don't want us to debate, has totalitarianism (whether you call it communism, fascism or pharoahism) on the far left, and anarchy on the far right. This country was founded as a constitutional republic. A constitutional republic is only one or two degrees to the left of anarchy in the spectrum I've outlined. Today we're taught that we can either have Stalin style socialism, Hitler style socialism or American style socialism. There are no other possibilities. This is the big lie they don't want the people to know about, and why we're losing our rights almost daily.
Wow,
this is so well said, thank you. You need to write a whole thread about how we can get OFF the Socialism Track and on to the Constitutional Republic Track because it will be now or never.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.