12-15-2018, 03:09 PM
(12-14-2018, 04:12 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:(12-14-2018, 02:01 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote:(12-13-2018, 01:01 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: The blues prefer real solutions to problems than merely arousing fear and prejudice, which is what the reds offer.
Well, as one who is supposedly an evil, sexist, racist, fascist, Bible thumping white male, I'm going to have to disagree this for OBVIOUS reasons that you seem unable to see with your own eyes, hear with your own ears or recognize/accept with your own mind for some reason or another. Now, I don't know what your problem is and what your problem is caused by or what your problem is about to be honest because your a dead man or a liberal slave or a poor liberal peasant who has no say or choice, as far as I'm concerned. Who kills you or enslaves you or threatens you and which angry blue group ends up doing it or is picked to round you up or controls you with fear doesn't really matter to me either like most blue problems and issues relating to blue problem areas don't matter to me or reds in general.
In reading these pages, I don't read them as presenting fact, but as presenting worldviews, and quite often vile stereotypes. As such they are often very much incorrect.
In this case, not all reds are evil, sexist, racist, fascist, Bible thumping white males. If anyone had claimed they were, they would have one messed up worldview. As is, a red person claimed it as a common blue stereotype, when if fact is is a common red stereotype of blues. It reflects poorly primarily on how Classic sees things.
Neither is it only fear and prejudice the reds offer, or only fear and prejudice that most reds offer. That is clear to me, and discredits Eric totally. His world view is simply inaccurate.
And pardon me if I believe extremists yelling inaccurate worldviews and vile stereotypes at each other is not a very constructive process.
Certainly I don't say that those who vote red are locked in fear and prejudice all the time. As Trump might say, "and some, I assume, are good people"
But yes, the red politics today is almost entirely built upon fear and prejudice.
Their main tenets are:
1. Trickle-down economics; aka Free market fanaticism, self-reliance individualism, neo-liberalism, classical liberal economics, libertarian economics, supply-side economics, social darwinism, laissez faire, Reaganomics, etc.
In moderation, these principles have their place. Self-reliance is an essential virtue for a functioning society and economy, and entrepreneurs provide much benefit to them. But the Republican Party today does not take a moderate stance on these issues. The Freedom Caucus and the Tea Party predominate, and the rest are largely Reaganomics believers.
This extremist free-market philosophy is built upon fear of higher taxes and regulations. Were it sensible, this libertarian economics view would take into account the need for taxes and regulations and social programs, and realize that they are needed to some degree at least, and benefit everyone. The reds today want to eliminate them. It is proclaimed instead that if tax breaks, subsidies and "regulatory relief" are given to "job creaters" (W. Bush pronunication), then their good fortune will lift all boats and the benefits will trickle-down to the poor and everyone. In reality, of course, the "job creaters" destroy jobs in the manifold ways we all know about, and make everyone except the wealthy poor.
This extremist economics is also based on prejudice, because it is largely aimed at the poor. "Liberals" are assumed to be asking for "other people's money" to be forcibly used to give "free stuff" to freeloaders. You will hear this line every time from virtually every Republican. And these freeloaders are frequently assumed to be people of color and immigrants. The dog whistle of anti-welfare slogans is an essential part of the Republican program. Opposition to regulations and taxes also predisposes them to be against many essential laws, such as environmental protection, worker safety and fair wages, health care reform, etc. Free enterprise is trustworthy and should be left to its own devices, they say.
No doubt, certain Republican politicians are capable of moderating their stance on this at times, and we can hope they will, and we can think that they can; but those times have been woefully few in recent years. Thus, their policy is indeed based on fear and prejudice, and this is not a stereotype. We may hope and pray for increased bi-partisanship and compromise, and many voters do want this, or at least say they do. Our current election system empowers the extremes, however, and Republicans oppose reform on neo-liberal grounds.
2. Social conservatism of various stripes. On this issue the prejudice is more overt. Republicans promote theocracy, the principle that fundamentalist Christianity should dictate many policies. Also called the Religious Right, this tenet of the Republican party puts opposition to abortion rights at the top of their agenda. Again, this issue could be compromised, but neither side is willing, especially the right-wing. Also on the agenda is prayer and the 10 commandments in public places, creationism in school textbooks, anti-homosexual and transgender rights and laws against them, the contention that allowing shopkeepers to discriminate against gays is "religious freedom," anti-women's rights and feminism, also known as traditional family values, and so on. This tenet is supported by red voters who decide to "vote their values."
In many southern and other border and red states, the fear of blacks and people of color getting greater position and power still impels many if not most white voters there to vote by race, and the people of color follow suit. Whites vote Republican, people of color vote Democratic.
3. Militarism. This issue is related to social conservatism, and proclaims that our country's war policies should be supported whether they are right or wrong. Huge military expenditures are needed to keep our nation #1, and anti-terrorist measures should include keeping people of other religions and races out of our country as much as possible, especially if they are from those nations that have any supposed relationship to terrorism. This fanatical view is based on fear of other peoples and races taking over our country, and the fear that unless our country is top dog, we are vulnerable to attack. Red states support the armed forces and host the majority of military bases in the USA. Neo-conservatives go so far as to believe that the USA should establish and maintain an American empire. This was the basis for the war against Iraq begun in 2003.
Another aspect of militarism is that the people of the USA should be armed as part of the national militia. Despite believing that their country is to be supported whether right or wrong, they still don't trust the police or the army to protect them. Since crime (usually by "those other people") is rampant, and police are far away, citizens should have the right to own and buy military weapons, they say, and it is assumed that this includes all semi-automatic guns and large magazines. Again, compromise is possible on this issue, but most of the Republicans are against any compromise and totally do the NRA's bidding. The result is gun violence that kills thousands of people every year, far more than in all other developed countries, which don't have a second amendment or a gun obsession. Republicans turn a blind eye.
It is up to the Republicans to moderate these positions if they don't want to be the white man's party of fear and prejudice. Until they do, my description of them as such is totally accurate. It is up to the people to realize this, and vote them out.