Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Fantastic article
American Values by Guy Reel. I found this at Common Dreams.
Mr. Reel first lists the most important American Values. He also lists values from history and for the future.
...Over the last twenty years or so, the most radical members of the right wing have claimed they've owned the core American values that I've just enumerated; moreover, they've claimed that liberals have tried to defeat them. Therefore, they argue, liberals are trying to ruin the American way of life. They claim that liberals are a threat to our very future. For those who question this assumption, they need only to listen to talk radio, Fox news and the Republican leadership who pass for responsible voices in our democracy...
...snip...
...What we have seen is the creation of a culture of hate in America, and that is not too strong of a characterization. The radicals vilify those who disagree with them -they must do this to survive. For without the enemies that they themselves imagine, they are nothing. After the imagined enemies are gone, they have nothing to rant against, except the notion of American values. Therefore, if they lose their enemies, they lose America...
He is absolutely correct in his assessment. The far right does vilify everyone not agreeing with them. The loudness of their exhortations cause many people who might believe differently, to think instead, "If they say this so boldly, I'm afraid to question their rhetoric, so, perhaps, I'm wrong". If this is said or thought often enough, it becomes fact - ingrained into their minds. When we talk of the "Koolaid drinkers", we might be talking about people such as that. The big problem, to me, is that the liberal view does not get enough press at loud decibals. That needs to be corrected. People need to be aware that there are times to disagree...times to disagree loudly and vehemently. Of course, with the Koolaid drinkers, it may be too late.
Mr. Reel first lists the most important American Values. He also lists values from history and for the future.
...Over the last twenty years or so, the most radical members of the right wing have claimed they've owned the core American values that I've just enumerated; moreover, they've claimed that liberals have tried to defeat them. Therefore, they argue, liberals are trying to ruin the American way of life. They claim that liberals are a threat to our very future. For those who question this assumption, they need only to listen to talk radio, Fox news and the Republican leadership who pass for responsible voices in our democracy...
...snip...
...What we have seen is the creation of a culture of hate in America, and that is not too strong of a characterization. The radicals vilify those who disagree with them -they must do this to survive. For without the enemies that they themselves imagine, they are nothing. After the imagined enemies are gone, they have nothing to rant against, except the notion of American values. Therefore, if they lose their enemies, they lose America...
He is absolutely correct in his assessment. The far right does vilify everyone not agreeing with them. The loudness of their exhortations cause many people who might believe differently, to think instead, "If they say this so boldly, I'm afraid to question their rhetoric, so, perhaps, I'm wrong". If this is said or thought often enough, it becomes fact - ingrained into their minds. When we talk of the "Koolaid drinkers", we might be talking about people such as that. The big problem, to me, is that the liberal view does not get enough press at loud decibals. That needs to be corrected. People need to be aware that there are times to disagree...times to disagree loudly and vehemently. Of course, with the Koolaid drinkers, it may be too late.
