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NOTE: The comments that follow, below, are from people I've asked to serve as my "co-creators" on this project, i.e. to help me make this series as good and effective as possible.
They are people who have known me and my work. And my request of them is that --when the spirit moves them to contribute -- they add what they believe will help this series fulfill its purpose and give the readers something of value. I've invited them to tell the readers what they think will serve the readers well, and to pose questions or challenges they believe might elicit from me what I should be saying to the readers next.
I am grateful for their attempting to help me find the right path.
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Forest Jones:
I like this piece for many reasons. I have read and agreed with many of these ideas of yours in the past.
In my discussions with liberal friends since the election of Trump, I continue to hear disbelief and confusion about how this could have happened. They refuse to look disparagingly on their Republican voting neighbors. They cannot envision any evil in the mix. They can express disgust at how stupid it all seems, but stop there.
They have no understanding of the influence of Fox news, Rush Limbaugh, and the like. They have no idea that there has been a constant propaganda campaign being waged for decades. They can repeat the latest sound bite and wonder when people will come to their senses and act responsibly to create the society that they think they live in.
I particularly liked going back to your 2013 article, "An adverse shift in the balance". One paragraph bears repeating over and over:
As genuine conservatives, my neighbors understand that traditions are there for a reason, and should be honored and respected. But today's Republican leaders, who claim to be conservatives, trample America's political traditions while directing their followers' attention to a few issues of concern that don't get in the way of their deeper agenda -- transferring wealth and power from average Americans to those who already have the most.
Do you still consider the "deeper agenda" to be transferring wealth and power..."? I see this as a point that should gather a crowd of supporters.
Andy Schmookler:
Thank you, Forest.
About your "deeper agenda" question, this is what comes up for me to say.
When it comes to understanding something like "a destructive/evil force," there are two levels that are operating. One of them -- being at the concrete human level -- we can readily understand. So at that level, we can talk about the Republicans and about the powerful people they serve (the wealthiest Americans, and especially those who run the corporate system).
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