Liberalism and America
People who lean towards the far right are spewing out a number of insults against people who lean towards the left – everything from socialists, enemies of the state, to anti-American, etc.
Liberalism is not a bad word, for had it not been for the more liberal thinkers back in 1776, the United States never would have been born. Had the hard right prevailed, we’d still be British subjects. Our own revolution was based upon the idea of self government which was extremely liberal in its ideology.
Pundits who decry that liberalism is destroying this nation refuse to recognize the destructive perils of a far right government. Today, we now have laws that allow for wiretaps and closer scrutiny of our daily lives under the CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security. Our mail can be opened and read; our telephone conversations are listened into with impunity.
The far right really can not assert that they are trying to protect Americans from outside harm because of 9/11, for we have seen, Timothy McVeigh, an American right winger citizen, preformed a horrible act of terrorism. Perhaps, we are the ones being watched now rather than organizations composed of foreign nationals. I understand that the home grown terrorist bill is very close to being passed in congress and that means “we the people” are the chief suspect in the ambiguously written, and ill defined, crimes against the state.
The Far Right has given the United States signing statements that have usurped our Bill of Rights, and the Constitution which has been declared to be a “goddamn piece of paper” by our administration.
Many of the freedoms we had nine years ago are now fallen victims to a far right winged government.
However, to be fair and balanced, some Americans have become too radical advocating violent over throw of this government and death to minorities. The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that the membership in these far right organizations is growing. Not too long ago there as an attempt to organize an armed million man march on Washington, D.C. – a direct challenge to the US government. Perhaps internal surveillance and proactive measures by the government is appropriate as America becomes more polarized.
Nationalistic Pundits are equating liberalism to either socialism or communism. Both misguided assumptions being wholly, utterly, and completely false.
Communism is a repressive government that controls its citizens very well and freedom of speech, a rather liberal right, is non existent.
Communism and Hitlerism are/were far right, non-liberal, and controlling. Every aspect of a person’s life is/was under a very large microscope. Socialism was non-existent in both types of governments based upon the far right ideological minority rule.
To be fair and balanced both communism and Nazi Germany claimed to be socialist. Does these mean that North Korea, which calls itself the Democratic People’s Republic, are really good guys? They state they are democratic and isn’t that what our government wants to spread around the world? Ah, we play the semantics game again. .
To achieve balance, there must be equally voiced opposing party’s to prevent tyranny from creeping into a nation’s life blood. If we tip to either extreme, we are ruined forever.
Our nation has successfully invoked liberalism throughout our history – the freeing of our slaves is probably the most evident of these truths. WPA during the great depression gave people jobs, income, and helped make the United States a better place to be is another example. We have social security and public education. We have unemployment insurance.
The revolutions in Russia, Korea, Viet Nam, and Cuba were brought about by the will of the people to over throw one government on the promises of a better life and in reality brought much harsher and very radically conservative governments about in their approach to national issues. Anyone who criticized the government was labeled counter revolutionary and shot.
The rise of Adolph Hitler was through the democratic process and with it came a very conservatively intense nationalistic dream. Anyone who disagreed was labeled an enemy of the state and the application of the Nuremberg Laws proved that, as well as a one way trip to Dauchau.
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