Real America
A colleague forwarded me this website today. I have to warn you the language is fairly atrocious, even by my standards, but I agree wholeheartedly with the point. The sources this view cites are legitimate. The article on Massachusetts having the lowest divorce rates does deserve special mention. Every time a conservative friend has been throwing the values issue in my face I have been happy to quote this editorial.
posted by mochi at 1:20 PM
2 Comments:
This is an interesting point of view from Jane Smiley. The article is called "Why Americans Hate Democrats—A Dialogue. The unteachable ignorance of the red states."
The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven presidential elections is simple: A generation ago, the big capitalists, who have no morals, as we know, decided to make use of the religious right in their class war against the middle class and against the regulations that were protecting those whom they considered to be their rightful prey—workers and consumers. The architects of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were exploiting, among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of virulent racism, but they did it anyway, and we see the outcome now—Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush is the religious arm. They know no boundaries or rules. They are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant. Lots of Americans like and admire them because lots of Americans, even those who don't share those same qualities, don't know which end is up. Can the Democrats appeal to such voters? Do they want to? The Republicans have sold their souls for power. Must everyone?
I think the answer, unfortunately, is yes. Democrats, or anyone wishing for sensible political policy, have to sell their souls. We must recruit strong foot soldiers as the Republicans have done with the religious right. But who? Young people are a logical choice, but the problem is THEY NEVER VOTE. I was shocked and amazed with their dismal turnout at the polls this month. The last major period of youth involvement was the 1960s. We need to generate that kind of anger again. If we can successfully and consistently break through the apathy of the young and other "open minded" people, victory is certain, because the views on this site are really not radical, they are common sense.
Unfortunately it's not easy to make young people mad. Social issues have no identifiable affect on their lives. Most are healthy, not thinking about retirement, done with secondary education and liberal in philosophy. Unfortunately liberalism and political fanatism are ideologically opposed. Anger and hate are the foundations of the Republican party, Democrats preach the liberal philosophy of tolerance.
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