Posted on 07/21/2021 3:01:23 AM PDT by Kaslin
A couple of weeks ago, in a lengthy piece at the Weekly Dish, Andrew Sullivan lamented about the “radicalization of the American elite against liberalism.” While this appears so to Sullivan’s eyes, this radicalization doesn’t much involve conversions. It’s not as if card-carrying liberals suddenly became card-carrying leftists of varying stripes. Fellow travelers and quislings there are, but that’s always the case with movements.
Sullivan does point out that conservatives haven’t radicalized; they’ve pretty much been anchored to the same center-right beliefs and values for a generation or more.
An astonished Sullivan penned this:
Take a big step back. Observe what has happened in our discourse since around 2015. Forget CRT for a moment and ask yourself: is nothing going on here but Republican propaganda and guile? Can you not see that the Republicans may be acting, but they are also reacting -- reacting against something that is right in front of our noses?What is it? It is, I’d argue, the sudden, rapid, stunning shift in the belief system of the American elites. It has sent the whole society into a profound cultural dislocation. It is, in essence, an ongoing moral panic against the specter of “white supremacy,” which is now bizarrely regarded as an accurate description of the largest, freest, most successful multiracial democracy in human history.
Why does Sullivan’s angst matter, regardless how he misconstrues the cause?
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I wondered when I was young how so many Jews stayed in Germany when they had a chance to escape. I think the writing of this author gives a glimpse of a person confusing wishful thinking with reality.
Normalcy Bias. Jews weren't exactly treated very well in the other parts of Europe. Many figured Hitler was only talking about "the bad Jews" and not them. Many were WWI Veterans, and couldn't even fathom the Nazis would come after them.
…and a lack of iodine.
As usual, nobody read the article.
Normalcy bias is a kind of wishful thinking, “It hasn’t happened to me therefore it won’t happen to me.”
Varda,
I think you have got that right.
It’s funny listening to introspective Democrats thinking their “ideals have been corrupted” - but not realizing they have been duped by Marxists all along.
The Democrat party has been lying to it’s not-so-bright constituencies for a century.
The lie is Marxism 101:
Democrats are the good guys.
Democrats want to protect the worker from being exploited by the wealthy.
Democrats want to free the oppressed minorities from abuse.
Democrats want fairness, equality.
The State needs to be empowered to restore fairness and equality.
Collectivism and redistribution are good.
Private property and capitalism are selfish.
The constitution and bill of rights are racist.
The purpose of the Marxist lie is to con the dumbest among us into trading away our individual freedoms for the “greater good”.
The Democrat party voting constituency is made up of those dumbest among us. The ones who have bought the Marxist lie, and think of themselves as some kind of idealists - liberals.
They congratulate themselves for being uncorrupted, unselfish or “woke”. They congratulate themselves for being the “party of science” - when really they are the ones most easily tricked by fake science.
They have been brainwashed into believing the Democrat politicians (Marxists) will use expanded government powers to restore social and economic justice.
The Democrat politicians (Marxists) never deliver on any of this - it is all a lie and it always has been.
It’s funny to hear brainwashed Democrats lament about their party’s ideals supposedly being corrupted.
It’s like watching a hypnotized man wake up and realize the shit he’s eating tastes like shit. Well duh! That’s because it IS shit - like we’ve been trying to tell you! Dumb ass!
About the only people with microphones in their hands are Commie Rats. We need to change that or I will be taking up residence in a re-education camp before long.
The headline doesn’t really fit the article. The “collapse” is the author’s view that today’s progressivism is wrong and bad for the country. He’s not saying that their movement is failing or doomed. It sounds like he thinks it’s riding high now. He also doesn’t have much to say about progressivism or liberalism before it “collapsed” or “cratered,” so maybe the framework of “collapse” should have been avoided.
Progressive=demoSocialism=Socialism=communism. So, the Progressive’s goal = western civilization’s collapse. That has always been their goal. Every single one of their members want that. They might not have thought thru what they’ve been screaming for to the logical end, but, since when has a progressive ever tried out thought? Imagine giving matches and a glass of gasoline to a 4- year old. Does it take any thought at all to see what is going to happen? Not could. GONNA! These are 4-yr olds and progressives.
The Democrat party voting constituency is made up of those dumbest among us.
Amen history has a long list of all the stupid things they vote for California is a prime example of it then it spread across the country.
Democrats are importing illegals for a reason.
“The headline doesn’t really fit the article.”
That’s what makes it easy to tell who only read the headline. ;^D
“He’s not saying that their movement is failing or doomed. It sounds like he thinks it’s riding high now.”
What he means by “progressive” is old-guard liberals.
Collapse? Hell, we are on the edge of full blown communism!!!
With a title that stupid I skipped reading it....
But the lie never travels without looking over its shoulder constantly.
And still dies when it’s caught.
I do as well, but except for a few differences in terminology I find myself dragged toward that. For example:
What is it? It is, I’d argue, the sudden, rapid, stunning shift in the belief system of the American elites. It has sent the whole society into a profound cultural dislocation. It is, in essence, an ongoing moral panic against the specter of “white supremacy,” which is now bizarrely regarded as an accurate description of the largest, freest, most successful multiracial democracy in human history.
The progressives Sullivan fondly recalls weren't culture-destroying Marxists, they simply felt that a little nudge in that direction wouldn't be a bad thing for the equilibrium of the country. The radicals decided that if a little was good, a lot would be better. Sullivan's point is that the progressives he fondly recalls really don't exist anymore. I would replace "progressive" with "liberal" but that's really quibbling at this point.
The real shift has been, IMHO, more that of elites and corporations toward fascism, and the increased willingness of the government to take advantage of that merry illusion. It is, in toto a swing from freedom toward authoritarianism no matter which flavor. Those freedoms that once were considered unshakeable bedrocks of American government are now less debated than simply disregarded, and the result is out of control, anyone's. The Marxists haven't realized that yet but they never do.
Democrats cheat.
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