Posted on 05/17/2010 10:20:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Next American Civil War: The Populist Revolt Against the Liberal Elite
Lee Harris
Remember those rowdy Town-Hall meetings last summer sparked by President Obama’s proposed health-care reform? Harris wants to make the case that those eruptions of populist anger could prove to be the beginning of the next American civil war. Yes, that kind of civil war. Drawing from a wealth of history and political philosophy, he contends that the philosophical divide between the Tea Party populists and the liberal intellectuals is so deep that nothing short of a “civil breakdown” is likely to mend the rift. And he says that’s healthy American politics. The Tea Party may be a fledgling political outfit, but it’s already flexing its muscles in advance of the midterm elections, especially in Senate races in Utah, Arizona, and Florida. The big question, of course, is how disruptive will this third party be? To Harris, the answer is “very.” He argues that if the liberal intellectuals and populist conservatives don’t come to an understanding, it could spell violent revolution and lead to an overthrow of the government.
--snip--
1.Either take up arms, or drop the rhetoric. The 18th-century Sons of Liberty, who drove the populist uprising against the British crown, sparked violent riots, committed serious crimes, and fought against the government. The cause? Taxes, of course! Harris says that today’s Tea Party activists may echo much of the same language as the Sons of Liberty, but they haven’t backed up all that talk with action: “If those who claim to be fighting in the name of liberty are not prepared to go to extremes, if they are reluctant to break either laws or windows, then perhaps it would be best if they just dropped their pointlessly inflammatory rhetoric, and got back to reality”(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
“The more powerful and advanced a civilization becomes, he reasons, the less liberty it can afford to its people. Peace and stability require laws, not freewheeling libertarianism. A strong military, an efficient police force, safe roads, bridges? Yup, all that means taxes. “Superpower status is not cheap,” he writes, about a quarter of the way into the book, “and someone must pay for it” (page 54)”
I can’t believe Harris made such a superficial argument. He’s a smart guy. I don’t always agree with him. But he certainly knows that the items he lists make up only a small portion of the federal budget.
What is bankrupting the US is entitlements and redistribution of income we don’t have. That’s what the elite wants high taxes for. They could care less about roads for flyover country—except insofar as it can be earmarked and sold for votes. As long as the DC transit system gets them around in style, they are good with transit.
The previous civil war was not even really a civil war but rather a war waged to maintain secession & independence from the rest of the USA. The purported coming civil war [ just like the last one ] will only benefit the very forces who want to centralize even more power because the “rebels” are always scapegoated on the alter of creating even MORE oppressive & intrusive macro States. I wonder if the true purpose this coming civil war will not simply be used as the convenient pretext to implement & rationalize the proposed North American Union plan.
Divide and conquer.
“The big question, of course, is how disruptive will this third party be?”
No, that question begs the proposition that the TP is in fact a third party. It’s not.
As I’ve said before, it’s just a silent killer. Of bribed and pork-voting congresspeople.
As I said a while ago....I could have cheerfully climbed through the computer screen over this....talk about blood shooting from the eyes....does anyone else get as enraged as I? Oh, I know, that’s exactly what they want....they better be careful what they wish for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMUVFctJ2Xw
So true....see the folks in my post #24
Harris comes off as an agent provocateur...and he uses the same lame sophomoric arguments as my liberal friends do, to imply that conservatives are against police, transportation infrastructure, and similar basics. They don’t get it. If only the moonbats would stick to the basics, there’d be nothing to argue about.
It was my misunderstanding that the original poster was complaining that those offices were full of false news.
The American Revolution was about a lot more than taxes. Libtards can’t speak credibly on much of anything it seems. Like the very common occurrence of violence by the left in the last 40 years.
With the enemy all ready in our own government, if the dems win in November, you best have had an exit strategy pre-planned and readily accessible.
Excellent and bears repeating!
Brings to mind the moral cesspit that Germany was in the 20s and 30s - fertile soil for Hitler and Nazism.
Yes and unfortunately there are a lot of citizens who think like that. There is no way to reach them either.
Newsweek is WRONG as usual.
This is not about "Revolt", but about "Restoration" of a Constitutional Government.
Wrong Again
A society advances in the presence of Freedom not the other way around. Absence of Freedom is present in a declining civilization (and Dictatorships).
Much more perspective on the book and author, and not from the eyes of Newsweek:
http://american.com/archive/2010/march/weak-tea-or-strong-tea
Weak Tea or Strong Tea?
By Lee Harris Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Other than the fact that he's got his hands and sharp instruments in your mouth and causes a lot of pain, nothing.
Oh, yeah, and he does charge for it. That, too.
bttt for later read
“The more powerful and advanced a civilization becomes, he reasons, the less liberty it can afford to its people. Peace and stability require laws, not freewheeling libertarianism.”
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin
Need I say more?
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