Agree. I truly think the "right wing" side of the coin is safer for a variety of reasons right now. I say "right wing" because today's right wing is actually pretty damn moderate. By right wing, I do not mean the crazy very very small racist minority that support Trump. A better word would be moderate Republican. It is far more in the corner of status quo, which while not perfect, pumps the breaks on a lot of the radicalism and absolute ridiculousness that a weak and spoiled culture is finding itself concerned with. I think the smart folks are the one's that take pause and say, hold on a minute, perhaps hard work should still be rewarded, men shouldn't be smashing women's swimming records, and morality still has a place. Perhaps there is a dangerous end to "progress". History has proven that most progress is good. Thank God for MLK, JFK, LBJ, the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act. Thank God we don't live in a nation like that. Thank God for a lot of progress. However, when does progress eventually tip into the "too much of a good thing" category? What more is in the bag? Will dogs have citizenship in 20 years? Will MD's get paid the same as fast food workers? Will white people need to experience slavery? IDK. The liberal end is the far more radical and its far left goals seem far less democratic or capitalist these days than it used to. History has produced many evils on both sides of the spectrum (Hitler vs Stalin vs Mao), but I think the liberal slant in the country, even amongst conservatives (most Republicans would have been Democrats based on their beliefs 10 years ago), makes the Republican party fairly moderate (with the exception of Trump, who likes to ignite division). While I am not scared of Trump, I can see why some would be. I'm not a fan of really anyone politically, but far left agenda is truly scary and far more extreme in America than it ever has been. I think anything that threatens freedom of speech, religion, press, privacy, choice and a variety of other basic inalienable rights, while at the same time opposes morality, threatens tyranny, denies science and biology, silences critics, and aims squarely for complete equity of outcome is downright un-American and scares the literal hell out of me. From that angle, the true far left agenda, (the one most arm-chair democrats don't see or accept as slowly creeping into their lives like a serpent, while they possibly unknowingly fully support these idiotic ideas and leaders that want to squeeze every ounce of control by any means possible), scares the piss out of me.
Well stated, and you raise many good points, many of which I GET.
I’m a CENTRIST. I don’t see the political axis so much as a horizontal LEFT vs. Right phenomenon as a vertical Haves vs. Have-Nots one. Problem is, since the Left supports UNDERDOGS and the Right lines up with POWER, the more basic issue of HOW, WHY AND TO WHOM THE SYSTEM METES OUT REWARDS remains unaddressed.
But then, that's how HIERARCHIAL ELITES like it, and all human societies, regardless of what THEY CALL THEMSELVES, are HIERARCHIES.
The 60’s fractured this country, even as our POST-WWII ECONOMIC BOOM peaked in 1968. That year also marked the end of our CONVENTIONAL-FORCE GEOPOLTICAL DOMINANCE. After TET, it was clear we would never deploy the necessary resources to WAGE LAND WAR SUCCESSFULLY IN ASIA.
I emerged from the 60’s as socially liberal but fiscally conservative. As my fiscal conservatism STRENGTHENED in the 80’s and 90’s, my social liberalism EBBED.
For me, traditional liberalism disappeared in the mid-90’s as both POLITICAL CORRECTNESS and MULTICULTURALISM gained traction. I thought they were both BAD IDEAS as well as an attack on the EXISTING POWER STRUCTURE, with which by that time, I identified –
TEAM REALPOLITIK.
The difference I see between the RIGHT and the LEFT today is that the RIGHT will argue tirelessly while the LEFT will at the first opportunity seek to UNDERMINE or DISQUALIFY the RIGHT’s position on MORAL GROUNDS. For some reason, the LEFT believes that it has cornered THE MORAL HIGH GROUND. It hasn’t.
Since I don’t favor either ideology, I’M AN ISSUES SPECIFIC VOTER. Sometimes, I lean Left of Center; sometimes, Right of Center. I don’t favor either sides’ extremists either. ANTIFA is as antithetical to me as are the OATH KEEPERS. Extremism is extremism whereas POLICY MAKING TAKES PLACE AT THE CENTER.
As the illegitimate spawn of MONTESQUIEU and the BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY –
and I’m only half-joking – the US started out as a TRADING COMPANY. A sovereign entity – A REPUBLIC – invented to MAKE MONEY.
As the country’s prosperity grew, so did the rights of its CITIZENS. Remove that prosperity by only a fraction, and things begin to change materially. And by now, we’ve seen MORE THAN JUST FRACTIONAL CHANGE.
If we’re going to GET BACK OUR MOJO, we’d better start RELEARNING HOW TO COMPROMISE.
