Posted on 06/24/2005 6:48:42 AM PDT by genefromjersey
Progressives ARE Different !
Soon after I retired, I began selling guitar strings at a large metropolitan area "flea market".
I met a stunning variety of people , from all parts of the world :Indians from the mountains of Peru,turban wearing Sikhs,Russian sailors on shore leave,and Orientals of almost every imaginable origin; but most of the people who came to the market were pretty much like me : typical middle class Americans,sharing a common culture.
There were also Progressives.
Progressives ARE different, and were often immediately identifiable.
The "Che Guevarra" tee shirts were one tipoff,as were the "Free Mumia" amd "No Blood for Oil" buttons.A "Black Power" tee shirt,with its red and black clenched fist motif was something of a giveaway-especially when worn by a middle-aged White male,sporting a greasy ponytail. ( For some reason ,many wore combat boots and "Desert Storm" - pattern camoflaugued dungarees : odd garb for anti-war activists !)
The Progressives I met tended to identify themselves as Folk Musicians,or Folk Artists. They would describe their custom-made $ 8500 guitars,examine my string stock in minute,critical,and throughly condescending detail...and try to steal something !
It seemed almost a point of honor with them - if you can call theft from a small merchant honorable.
They didn't seem to care what they stole,as long as they managed to steal something-and I learned to put out "bait" : crap I was planning to throw away.I would leave it temptingly in reach,and watch in amusement as these self-important "noble citizens" went for it.
Yes,I know. One should never encourage this sort of thing;but in the course of a long life,I became well acquainted with Retail Security,and learned-early on-it is much more trouble than it is worth to accost this type of thief. There is loud shouting,outraged complaints of persecution,and the filing of highly-publicized lawsuits. In the end, an item worth pennies can wind up costing the victim thousands of dollars !
What you can do is stop them in their tracks,and refuse them access to your stock, when they come back for "seconds"...as they will almost certainly will.
Progressives,you see ARE different.
They are often well-to-do,but but like to brag of their "solidarity" with "the little people".
Many feel,because of all the" noble " things they do for us little people,they are entitled to steal from us.
They invariably react with shouting and claims of persecution when challenged.
They will always come back for seconds after robbing you.
I heard about a great deal on a cheap guitar ----- no strings attached. You think I should get one?
Good read. Although don't fall into their trap by calling them Progressives, their still Liberals or Lefties.
Good story Gene. I hate the word Progressive, I think of them as more of Regressives, back to pre-money days. Mallard Filmore comic strips captures them in teir stereotypical behavior too. Anne Coulter writes about the same people in other formats.
Progressives are Marxists!
I agree. Progressive implies positive change. To me, liberals advocate anything but positive change, and lean more towards development of chaotic societies.
One of the reasons they don't make it in life is that they believe the wrong things. Success coaches have to reprogram them and get self-defeating ideas like class determinism and "I am a little guy" out of their belief structures before they can succeed They are totally programmed to conspire in making others (usually lawyers) successful while remaining unworthy and resentful drones, themselves.
While everyone else complains about the "progressive" moniker, I was thinking that you should make your bait a little more distasteful. If you handle it with gloves, you can rub Habanero juice on it. That may be your best bet, as it leaves no visible evidence and will cause much pain and discomfort when the perp touches his eyes, nose, or mouth. Since most of these dirtbag "Folk Artists" smoke the ghanja weed, they will certainly do a bit of eye-rubbing.
Anybody ho thinks the income tax is just nifty and social security will stabilize after just one more tax increase is no progressive. Regressive fits better, but retarded is more accurate.
ps: Yesterday's Supreme Court decision favoring Eminent Domain over homeowners' property rights was a chilling example of Progressive thought.
Did anyone notice the four dissenting Justices were-if not actually Conservative, at least Centrist ?
Scalia and Thomas would chew your head off if you even so much as hinted they were centrists. I suspect you were refering to O'Conner. That is one of the all time bad decisions of the court. I'd can't wait till the lefties try to spin it as a win for the little guy.
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