Posted on 01/05/2014 9:52:02 AM PST by DanMiller
Groups of people often emulate flocks of sheep. Sheep are not politically correct, but political correctness appears to be a subset of herd behavior.
In October of 2012 I wrote that Political Correctness is a Communicable Disease.
Political correctness (also known as rhetorical cowardice) involves being less than candid, not only about various protected classes but also about unprotected classes. Protected classes include some but not all members of racial (Black, Latin American and American Indian but generally not Oriental) and religious (e.g., Muslim) minorities, gender specific (Feminist and “gay”) and ideological (Librul) groups. Unpleasant truths must not be tolerated. Pleasant truths sometimes are not tolerated — although unpleasant untruths are encouraged — as to members of unprotected (conservative) religious groups (e.g., Jewish, Mormon,holy rollersand Evangelical) as well as otherwise protected racial (Black and Hispanic) and female (anti-abortion) groups.Unprotected classes generally include Whites, particularly rural Whites (“red necks,” “crackers” and those who “cling to their guns and bibles”) and conservatives generally.This definition of tolerance fits right in:
Tolerance (n,v): The acceptance of all left-leaning ideas regardless of any hint of radicalism or moral corruption. Right-leaning ideas, however, are not to be tolerated. Rather, conservatism is labeled as “bigoted.” (Synonym: Intolerance) Please note the parenthetical observation that “tolerance” and “intolerance” are synonyms.
Is the disease curable?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VENKn9Y648&w=640&h=360]
I very much hope that Mr. Whittle is correct and that we will, indeed, drive the forces of political conformity into the river. Soon. My questions is, "will enough of us care enough to bother?"
Do "higher," as well as lower education under herd common core, promote the common herd instinct of political correctness and apathy toward the state of our Republic? How about charter schools? Home schooling? Can they be different in good ways?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJERLUWQQHE&w=640&h=360]
Receiving "benign" attention from Government has become all important. It seems to be politically incorrect to tolerate such "trivia" as individual freedom and other "flaws" embraced by the hateful old Constitution. Herd instinct leads people toward apathy about our Republic; how many even know what a "Republic" is? Might it be sorta like the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea? Our Republic, mandated for the United States by the Constitution, was not designed to be like that.
Jonathan Turley today posted an article titled A Republic if you can keep it. The entire piece is well worth reading, but here are some excerpts to suggest the article's flavor:
Franklin’s words were more than a boast. They were a warning. The curious thing about a democratic system is that it contains the seeds of its own demise. Freedom is not something guaranteed by any parchment or promise. It is earned by each generation which must jealously protect it from threats, not only from outside, but from within a nation. [Emphasis added.]Some 226 years after those fateful words were uttered, the true import of Franklin’s warning has become all too real for Americans. The last 10 years has seen the rise of a security state of unprecedented size and the diminishment of privacy and core protections for citizens. Recently, a federal judge ruled that the massive NSA surveillance programme was unconstitutional. US District Court Judge Richard Leon not only said that the collection of “metadata” constitutes an unreasonable search or seizure, but that the Framers like Franklin would be “aghast” at the very thought of it. [Emphasis added.]
The great irony is that the greatest loss of constitutional protections has occurred under a man who came to office promising to reform security laws and often refers to himself as a former constitutional law professor. An iconic figure for many liberals, President Barack Obama has divided the civil liberties community and expanded both the security state and his own unchecked powers. He has taken actions that would have made Richard Nixon blush – from warrantless surveillance to quashing dozens of privacy lawsuits, to claiming the right to kill any citizen, on his sole authority. He has also rolled back key international principles in expanding drone attacks and promising not to prosecute officials for torture. [Emphasis added.]
Republican Senator Lindsay Graham scoffed at the notion that privacy is even relevant since only a terrorist would object to such powers. [Emphasis added.]
. . . .
In a prior conference, Obama repeated the siren call of authoritarians throughout history: While these powers are great, our motives are benign. So there you have it. The government is promising to better protect you if you just surrender this last measure of privacy. Perhaps we deserve little better. After all, it was Benjamin Franklin who warned: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin was prescient; we are giving up our essential liberties-- not only for temporary safety but also for "good stuff" from a "benign" Government for "free."
Perhaps Bruce Riggs in his article titled Leftism: a Radical Faith at American Thinker, is on to something:
In the broadest terms, this narcissistic entity [totalitarian religiosity] is America's left-wing political establishment and the purveyor of an authoritarian collectivist faith. It is a faith largely populated by those in the high-visibility, look-at-me intellectual professions of politics, the arts, teaching, journalism, and various political foundations. All are professions inordinately able to shape the public mind both short- and long-term. As such, it is a propaganda-intensive collective that includes the left-biased "news" media and the TV and film industries. [Emphasis and bracketed insert added.]It is further asserted that the operating ethic of this narcissistic confederacy runs from feel-good, busybody, liberal condescension (we know what's best for everyone) to the arrogance of the more radical ("progressive") wing, for whom the ends justify the means. Implicitly, such an ethic reflects an overriding need for power and control, which, along with lying, is a trait characteristic of pathological narcissism. [Emphasis added.]
Does the herd instinct promote the rise of librul totalitarian religiosity and the associated politically correct apathy toward our Republic? I think so. Are there cures for politically correct apathy? Of course there are: education and the media. Unfortunately, they generally lead toward, rather than away from, political correctness and all that it involves. A&E's recognition that it had caused its own clusterduck, followed by its course reversal in response to massive popular protests, is the only notable recent exception of which I am aware. A&E's recognition of its clusterduck was the result, not of a change in its ideology but by concern about substantial reductions to its all-important bottom line. There's power in our ability to generate such concerns. We need more, much more. But how are we to get it?
Most people, I think, are reluctant to make controversial statements lest they become embroiled in controversy. It can be unpleasant, and unpleasantness must be avoided at all costs. Who wants to state -- even the obvious -- that the emperor is parading down the street in his underwear, when all "intelligent" people aver that he is wearing beautiful garments? Doing so would display one's lack of intelligence -- probably just a red-neck hick who doesn't know any better.
I wish I could find and suggest a simple way to bring about "change that we can believe in." Sorry, I haven't thought of one. Perhaps readers will have suggestions on what we can and should do and how we can do it.
I’m an American who believes in American Exceptionalism and Rugged Individualism.
the herd can go graze elsewhere....
Unfortunately, not only is the herd staying but more come every day. If wishes were horses . . . . .
America needs our own jobs back.
Bring back American manufacturing.
Stop shipping all our jobs elsewhere.
We had the greatest nation on the face of the earth just 20 years ago.
Now we have destroyed that largely, and America is failing.
Bring back what made America great.
Now.
I agree with your premise. The problem is, in our Republic once the gib-me-dats start living off of the government dole, they become incapable of awakening to the peril this dependency drags along with it. Eventually, the gib-me-dats slaughter the golden goose if the eggs cease to roll to their door. hTe Cloward & Piven strategy is based upon the dependency becoming unmanageable, thus collapsing the system so the commie-socialist devils can refashion the society. The refashioned society is always totalitarian in the end, but the gib-me-dats are not capable of reasoning it through to the conclusions or even recognizing the Historic examples of thedestruction. The system steamrolls the dependents into oblivion once they have served the evil purpose.
The weak minded, those who choose to follow, the ones who would rather have others think for them, the ones who lack willpower, the sheep in other words, will ALWAYS end up being led to the slaughterhouse by the wolves who have learned how to think for themselves, and know how to feed themselves.
You may not have noticed, but we've got our own herd of grazers right here on FR.
Folks who'll swear up and down that they believe in all the things that made this country great, yet who in the next breath will tell you:
that Hillary's going to be the next President,
that single payer is coming no matter what we do,
that Obama's going to keep shredding the Constitution no matter who objects,
that conservatives will never win another election in our lifetimes,
that the GayKK agenda is unstoppable,
that no force on earth can stop amnesty for illegals,
that patriots and normal folk are now a permanent minority in this country,
that, in short, there is no hope. The U.S. is finished.
One has to wonder why they even bother posting at a place like FR if they really believe all that.
You spam this board day and night with the same tired slogans, but you never offer a solution as to how we can achieve what you're demanding.
Quit whining about it, and come up with ways to get it done.
I’ve posted twice in the last 24 hours, with a proposed solution.
Let me look. I’ll post a link...
Ok here is a longer post I made on another thread. This is my proposal:
-
America needs import tariffs. We have exported far, far too much “American” industry to China.
This is a huge problem, because China has five times our population, and an average wage a fraction of our own.
America needs to bring back true American industry. How to do this?
I say, we need import tariffs.
After thinking long and hard on this subject however, the only way I can think of to introduce import tariffs such that they don’t become a tool of Democrats, is a universal import tariff on EVERYTHING imported to America.
Oil. Food. Manufactured goods. All of it.
One. Universal. Flat charge on everything imported.
We however need to get started. America is in danger.
Don’t allow China to become stronger than America. (which is happening right now)
America has never, ever faced a competitor in the globe of China’s potential power. A billion people, all of whom will work (quite hard)
That will be the end. Period.
I like China. Quite a bit in fact.
But China is a very real, increasingly immediate threat to America.
I like China.
But I support America first.
Just because one believes (still) in American exceptionalism and rugged individualism, doesn’t mean one is blind to the writing on the wall
17T/125T (unfunded) debt
NO ‘fight’ from the GOP...just slower big gov’t
47%+ takers (and I would argue 50%+)
....
I sure as hell there are enough rugged individuals for when the Republic expires (we sure haven’t been a Const. Republic since 1913’ish)
You and I have discussed import tariffs before. I'll say it again. History shows that import tariffs only lead to trade wars, where other countries respond in kind by enacting their own tariffs on imported American goods.
Business and industry responds negatively to punitive measures like tariffs. Ultimately, tariffs do nothing to improve the state of jobs or corporate profits on either side of a trade war. They're a drain on industry that does nothing but put money into their respective government coffers.
If you want industry to respond positively (i.e., bring manufacturing and jobs back) you have to provide a carrot - NOT a stick. Lower corporate taxes and scale back restrictive regulations, and that will attract business to these shores.
yeah. all those things you speak of are correctable. I do not believe any of the evil of which you speak of is inevitable.
we may have to take physical action... may have to split the nation. it could even lead to secession. That might be the only fix for it.
I know which side I will be on if it comes to that.
I do believe that the current mess with zer0bummer care is planned to a point so zer0 and the regime can go directly to single payer. but he looks to have over played his hand and universal health care might be doomed.
the midterm elections will tell us a lot. we need to primary the RINOs. our real enemy is the quislings in the Republican party. they need to be outed for what they are.
the next few years will tell.
Some people have a stronger belief in our weakness than in our strength. At the slightest setback, they start moaning that the world is coming to an end, and that there's nothing that any of us can do to stop it.
Even when there's clear evidence that our side has the upper hand, such people instinctively surrender to our opponents. No - I would posit that these people don't truly believe in the spirit of America at all.
This has a lot more to do with such people's mental state, than it does with reality.
Well ok you disagree then.
But it’s an honest proposal.
I think this is a good, constructive idea. I would like to hear yours, in return.
China is building up.
China is potentially stronger, than Russia or America.
I agree there is room to discuss this issue, but not forever.
China owns everything in China, at the bottom line.
We cannot keep our industry operating there.
America needs to produce things. Here.
There's no doubt in my mind that we've passed the point of being able to bring real reform to this country through the ballot box. The civil system put in place by the Framers has been subverted so badly now, that it's a wonder we have anything resembling a functioning republic.
We've lost the political game. It's been rigged against The People in such a way, that the ratchet now only moves away from our nation's founding principles and system of government - not toward them. Frankly, our political system has become nothing more than an enormous charade -- a facade to fool the people into thinking they still have a seat at the table of self government.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Uniparty does what it wants -- the Constitution and the people be damned. We're living under a lawless oligarchy that only bears allegiance to itself.
No, we can't fix this through the ballot box, and anyone who really believes that, needs to get up to speed on the true state of affairs in America.
If we continue to play this rigged game, we're going to lose. We need to get up and walk away from the table while we still can. We need to step away and reset the terms of our relationship with the other side. If we want a restored constitutional republic, we're going to have to declare a separation from that part of the country which no longer abides by the supreme law of the land and our fundamental compact with each other.
As long as the red states remain tied to the blue states, we have no leverage in the game. As soon as we separate ourselves from them, that political dynamic changes. When they no longer have jurisdiction over us, we can call the shots on how we conduct business with them, and within the borders of our own states.
Soon enough, their unconstitutional manner of business will collapse their infrastructure, and they'll come begging for re-unification. At that point, WE'LL set the terms of how a reunited America will function.
More and more, that's the only way I see out of this mess.
I just told you what I think the solution is. We have to make doing business in America more attractive than doing business elsewhere. It's as simple as that.
The way you do that, is to lower the cost of doing business here by slashing corporate taxes. You follow that up by chucking out all of the strangling federal regulations that handcuff businesses and raise their costs.
You've got three basic things that drive American businesses out of the country:
1. High corporate taxes at the federal level
2. Punishing and costly federal regulations
3. Higher wages for American labor
If you can significantly reduce just two of those things, businesses will be able to crunch the numbers and see that it's more profitable to do business here, than in foreign countries.
This is what I mean by using a carrot instead of a stick to solve the problem. An even further upside to solving the problem this way, is that you'll also attract foreign businesses to relocate here. Now that's something I think you'd completely agree with.
“As long as the red states remain tied to the blue states, we have no leverage in the game. As soon as we separate ourselves from them, that political dynamic changes. When they no longer have jurisdiction over us, we can call the shots on how we conduct business with them, and within the borders of our own states.”
I would add one thing, the need for financial separation from the Federal Leviathan. That would be through the means of all federal income taxpayers sending their returns to the state where they reside. Each state should have first right to the production of people within their borders. Paying direct to the federal government bypasses the folks who literally gave the government the power to operate.
Once the individual states get there portion of their citizens production arbitrarily set by the fed, then the remaining can be sent to the Federal Government, thus reducing the money the fed uses to literally blackmail states to do their bidding. Giving the IRS the power of the purse minimizes the power, authority, and sovereignty of the individual states who are sovereign over the Fed in every aspect enumerated in the Constitution other than those specifically the responsibility of the Federal Government.
Absolutely. It goes without saying that financial separation would follow the secession of the red states.
It would be necessary for us to establish a new federal government of our own, but that government would be run strictly by the U.S. Constitution. The first session of the newly formed Congress would likely have as its first order of business, the restoration of our Constitution to parameters that fall within its original scope and purpose. Some later amendments, like the 16th (the income tax), would likely be repealed.
Some...true.
Unfortunately, there’s been a 100 year track-record of the winding down of the Republic (The Fed, SS, LBJ, FDR, etc., etc.).
There is, that *I* can see, no current ‘upper hand’. Not when We the People fail to see we no longer HAVE a Republic: D.C. does NOT follow the Constitution anymore.
IMHO, it is time for a new Declaration and Constitution. One with TEETH.
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