I think a major difference between the Right & the Left is how they view the people who vote. Progressives cling to the idea, ‘If they were better informed, if they knew more, knew better they would chose the noble path.’ Conservatives disagree, that people do in fact know better but vote their emotions & feelings regardless. That is why the new ‘Right’ exacerbates fears (real or imagined), where every appeal sounds like a fire & brimstone alter call. It would seem the conservative inner-circle really likes smart phones and twitter but otherwise want to reinvent the Middle Ages. By my measure the pendulum has been swinging that way for 30 years with Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America. It sounded too good to be true then and it was. At the time, Ronald Reagan’s self-serving rhetoric still made news. He preached, “Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice.” But somewhere between the fist pounding and the hallelujahs, License & Privilege were misappropriated in guise of Liberty. Progressives shudder; how can voters believe that crap? The public should know better and they do but it’s never been about knowledge. Using fear and prejudice to divide and conquer is more effective than educating the public. I think of a Yuval Harari quote: “Their story (belief system) doesn’t need to be true, it just has to work.”
I am still reacting to 2nd Amendment clamor in the wake of the latest mass murder at an elementary school. No other developed nation tolerates mass murder of children. They know how to stop it. We know how to stop it too but déjà vu. The Republican Party has restructured its base to weed out moderates and recruit malcontent whites who could be older, who identify with white privilege, white supremacy, evangelical fervor, and (us against them) patriotism.
I think it’s true, the older you get (60 +) the message starts changing, you are becoming irrelevant. Seniors resist change anyway and it is so easy to become entrenched in whatever bias we grew up with. That voting block has not be overlooked by the conservative brain trust. I was privy to public conversations (1940’s & 50’s) that seemed both normal and proper; "Blacks are subhuman. But there are good blacks who know to stay in their place. Women on the other hand should be kept barefoot and pregnant." I don’t know how I escaped that fate but I changed with the times. Apparently, most of my generation did not.
I have no great affinity with Democrats. I agree in principle on most issues and vote with them but while they are herding cats their rivals are selling a powerful package of malice, privilege and self righteous greed. It seems my (generation) cohorts buy into it without a second thought. Another consideration, ’Self righteous’ has lost its sting. It used to be an insult. Not now; self righteous is as good as any other kind of righteous and that makes holy whatever we say it is. By (80+) has-beens like myself are either trapped in their own myth or we reject most every party-line and question everything. I want to do the right thing but my best shot will not stir a ripple. If Shakespeare was right, the world is a stage and we are the actors; my part is a walk-by outside the window and all the audience gets from me is my hat in passing.
This piece is a lesser rant but a rant none the less. I don’t rant very well so practice may be what I need. My umbrage succumbs without a whimper but I get to abuse the page and use big words, exaggerate my own imagined fears and prejudice. I actually do care about the greater good and fair play but not enough to lose sleep. While Nero fiddled and Rome burned there must have been old people outside the window, nothing but their hats passing by. Their lines would have been buffered to background noise but they spoke them anyway, “In 2,000 years, even if someone remembers, who will care?” Then they go home and take a nap. We’ve got Putin and Trump but history will judge them. I would remember Nelson Mandela and Maya Angelou for what they gave to the world, not what they took from it.
I am still reacting to 2nd Amendment clamor in the wake of the latest mass murder at an elementary school. No other developed nation tolerates mass murder of children. They know how to stop it. We know how to stop it too but déjà vu. The Republican Party has restructured its base to weed out moderates and recruit malcontent whites who could be older, who identify with white privilege, white supremacy, evangelical fervor, and (us against them) patriotism.
I think it’s true, the older you get (60 +) the message starts changing, you are becoming irrelevant. Seniors resist change anyway and it is so easy to become entrenched in whatever bias we grew up with. That voting block has not be overlooked by the conservative brain trust. I was privy to public conversations (1940’s & 50’s) that seemed both normal and proper; "Blacks are subhuman. But there are good blacks who know to stay in their place. Women on the other hand should be kept barefoot and pregnant." I don’t know how I escaped that fate but I changed with the times. Apparently, most of my generation did not.
I have no great affinity with Democrats. I agree in principle on most issues and vote with them but while they are herding cats their rivals are selling a powerful package of malice, privilege and self righteous greed. It seems my (generation) cohorts buy into it without a second thought. Another consideration, ’Self righteous’ has lost its sting. It used to be an insult. Not now; self righteous is as good as any other kind of righteous and that makes holy whatever we say it is. By (80+) has-beens like myself are either trapped in their own myth or we reject most every party-line and question everything. I want to do the right thing but my best shot will not stir a ripple. If Shakespeare was right, the world is a stage and we are the actors; my part is a walk-by outside the window and all the audience gets from me is my hat in passing.
This piece is a lesser rant but a rant none the less. I don’t rant very well so practice may be what I need. My umbrage succumbs without a whimper but I get to abuse the page and use big words, exaggerate my own imagined fears and prejudice. I actually do care about the greater good and fair play but not enough to lose sleep. While Nero fiddled and Rome burned there must have been old people outside the window, nothing but their hats passing by. Their lines would have been buffered to background noise but they spoke them anyway, “In 2,000 years, even if someone remembers, who will care?” Then they go home and take a nap. We’ve got Putin and Trump but history will judge them. I would remember Nelson Mandela and Maya Angelou for what they gave to the world, not what they took from it.
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