Posted on 11/08/2014 8:17:44 AM PST by Yashcheritsiy
How far left was I? So far left my beloved uncle was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party in a Communist country. When I returned to his Slovak village to buy him a mass card, the priest refused to sell me one. So far left that a self-identified terrorist proposed marriage to me. So far left I was a two-time Peace Corps volunteer and I have a degree from UC Berkeley. So far left that my Teamster mother used to tell anyone who would listen that she voted for Gus Hall, Communist Party chairman, for president. I wore a button saying “Eat the Rich.” To me it wasn’t a metaphor.
I voted Republican in the last presidential election.
Below are the top ten reasons I am no longer a leftist. This is not a rigorous comparison of theories. This list is idiosyncratic, impressionistic, and intuitive. It’s an accounting of the milestones on my herky-jerky journey...
(Excerpt) Read more at frontpagemag.com ...
OMG - THAT really is 'left'... makes some in my family look like conservatives...
Thank you so much.
Danusha V. Goska - welcome to the ranks of gentle people who understand the value of stillness...
I remember some rather racists statements about Clarence Thomas made by the Left in the local newspaper. It was unbelievable what the Left were saying about him and in a public forum! After all the Left were all about minority rights and Thomas was a MINORITY!!
In my opinion, this is the Democrat party's Achilles heel and the quickest way to convert Democrats to Republicans (as happened to the person in this article, and to me, and to you).
bookmark
I was in the same boat. I was a Scoop Jackson Democrat in my younger days. That due in part because of the Cold War. I was also pro Second Amendment as well. The change started when George McGovern ran for President. I found the direction of the Democratic Party at the time somewhat disturbing. Something about the Hard Left heavy head trip. Then while in college in the inner city of Newark NJ, it was the destruction and dependency wrought by the welfare plantation. It wasn’t about a hand up, it was about the hand out, and destroying any incentive. It was the crab bucket in action, and it was the welfare bureaucrats as well keeping the crabs in the bucket. Ronaldus Magnus completed the transition.
Good read. This was eye opening -
“The left’s selective outrage convinced me that much canonical, left-wing feminism is not so much support for women, as it is a protest against Western, heterosexual men. It’s an “I hate” phenomenon, rather than an “I love” phenomenon.”
That explains a lot.
Great point! The way the Left treats conservative blacks is way beyond racist. It’s just unhinged, full-throttled hatred. You’re also right, that such out-of-control racial animus would probably have pushed me out of the liberal camp, if the noxious lies the Boston Globe churned out daily re: Bush the Elder hadn’t gotten to me first.
Still, it’s hard to make a convert. When you are a liberal, that is an intrinsic part of your identity. You see it as a very good, positive association. It is a huge step to go from there to what you’ve been conditioned to think of as knuckle-dragging hickdom. A lot of people just can’t make the shift.
[& no, of course conservatism is not Neanderthal or any other pejorative. I’m just mentioning how a liberal is taught/inculcated to think of conservatives. The brainwashing can be very intense.]
Remarkable essay. Another eye opener. Same logic holds with spiraling debt.
“You went to an anti-war rally because you hated Bush, not because you loved peace. Thus, when Obama bombed, you didn’t hold any anti-war rally, because you didn’t hate Obama.”
It is a very good read. No one can explain the left as well as someone who has lived it.
Consider editing down the article yourself. Attribute the author and place of posting (American Thinker and Frontpage Mag) and start one of those emails that never die.
It’s BECAUSE they are Adored by the public that turns them into TRYANTS who think they are PERFECT and everyone else is Beneath them!! Obama is a prime example.
What a fascinating story. I always wondered about you, because of your stellar screenname. It sounds like you made a much more rational, logical, step-by-step critique of liberalism and ended up rejecting it for purely, but entirely apt, analytical reasons. Very impressive.
I wasn’t old enough to vote for McGovern. I did end up as a student delegate to a massive youth convention—one that sought to replicate a national political convention in every detail. I went [blush blush] as a McGovern delegate. I dutifully voted for him on the first ballot, but for the second I was gung-ho for Shirley Chisholm. Couldn’t tell you to this day the details of her campaign platform, but what a dynamic speaker!
Yes, I was very far to the left. So far, if I were to relate some anecdotes, I’d probably get banned. Even though that was a long time ago and I’ve thoroughly reformed, I may have been a little TOO left at one time.
We’ll never know; my lips are sealed.
Btw, have you seen the Hayek/Keynes rap video? I turned it off in a fury the first time I tried to watch it, because I thought it favored Keynes. Later I tried it again, and if you can stick it out, Hayek comes out just fine, and Keynes nearly dies of a hangover. Heh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk
Agreed....TRUTH is my driving passion. By definition, that’s conservatism.
Me neither... I mostly liked making things... I never had any leftest guilt for it...
hence, my user name.
Nice!
Hate comes from envy, and envy springs from vanity. Vanity often develops as a defensive response to emotional trauma during childhood. Many a leftist didn't get invited to some childhood birthday party, which starts the leftist snowball rolling. That explains why birthday gifts are banned in the Obama household, and why Mantoinette tried to ban birthday cupcakes in government schools.
It is probably not unlike a cult. I use “cult” as an objective term.
And like a cult, the person has to realize that it is bad.
I believe that the problem is that an indoctrinated Liberal doesn’t look beyond the surface and the false promises.
They are “brainwashed.”
As was I. I’m glad that I finally saw the light.
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