Tag: left vs. right

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Different Goals

There is a substantial reason why America’s political factions cannot find sufficient areas of compromise to work together for the common good. Quite bluntly, their goals are quite different.

Those in the center and right tend to emphasize the nuts and bolts of government to resolve specific problems.  On the local and state levels, their top priorities are protection from crime and the provision of efficient municipal and state services. Nationally, they emphasize the deterrence of foreign aggression, and the maintenance of a paradigm that allows the economy to thrive and prosperity to grow.

Those on the left see government as a tool to attain ideological goals.  While not oblivious to the need to provide basic services, that consideration is a distant second to their primary purpose of, as Barack Obama stated, “Fundamentally transform America.” 

As David Horowitz reported in the Washington Times in 2012, “A practical politician attempts to address problems and fix them, not to fundamentally transform an entire nation…In a national crisis such as America faced in 2009 when 800,000 of us were losing our jobs every month, traditional leaders would have regarded their first task as one of rallying the country on a common agenda and bringing Americans together. Instead, Mr. Obama and Mrs. Pelosi put their radical agenda first — passing a massive health care bill, the most transformative legislation in American history, and passing it over the opposition not only of Republicans but even of Democratic voters in Massachusetts, who elected Republican Scott Brown to cast a vote against it…Far from pursuing national unity to solve the crisis, Mr. Obama put his goal of transformation in front of everything. In order to achieve the change he wanted, he shut out the congressional Republicans in drafting his revolutionary legislation, and then disregarded the majority of Americans when they rejected his plan, defeating Democrats in special elections in New Jersey and Virginia — states that he had won.”

John Fonte, writing in the Claremont Review of Books noted: “Professor John Marini recently detailed progressives’ transformation of the American regime. First, they transformed key institutions, shifting power from the sovereignty of the people, exercised through our constitutional framework of separation of powers and federalism, to a centralized administrative state, run by a transnational managerial elite exercising executive, legislative, and judicial powers without the consent of the people or its elected representatives. Second, for contemporary progressives, moral authority or civic morality resides not in the individual American citizen and his voluntary associations, but in racial-ethnic-gender group identity. “Public figures have come to be judged not as morally culpable individuals,” he writes, “but by the moral standing established by their group identity.”

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The different approaches can be seen even in areas where the two sides have a common interest.

No rational politician is in favor of allowing the planet to become unlivable.  That, however, is where the common interest diverges.

Much of the debate has centered on Progressive support for responses such as Paris Climate Agreement and the Green New deal, both largely operating within the concepts of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, even if every signatory to the Paris Accord totally lived up to their obligations under the deal, and every U.S. state complied with the Green New Deal it would make little difference in global temperatures, assuming manmade global warming is indeed a significant issue.  It would, however, reshape the world economy in a manner that the Left has advocated for a very long time. Contrast that ideological-driven response with the more pragmatic approach of the conservative White House administration.

Speaking last July 8, President Trump stated “I have given [the EPA] clear direction to focus on addressing environmental challenges … In addition to clean air and clean water, that means being good stewards of our public lands; prioritizing cleanup of polluted lands that threaten our most vulnerable citizens, and threaten them very dearly… One of the main [factors] of air pollution — particulate matter — is six times lower here than the global average… That’s a tremendous number…Since 2000, our nation’s energy-related carbon emissions have declined more than any other country on Earth.  Think of that.  Emissions are projected to drop in 2019 and 2020…While we’re focused on practical solutions, more than 100 Democrats in Congress now support the so-called Green New Deal.  Their plan is estimated to cost our economy nearly $100 trillion — a number unthinkable; a number not affordable even in the best of times…It’ll kill millions of jobs, it’ll crush the dreams of the poorest Americans, and disproportionately harm minority communities.”

The clash between the two concepts illustrates the contrast between those who, on one side, see government action as a tool to solve specific challenges, and those, on the other, who see government as a vehicle not to solve particular problems but to “fundamentally transform” the nation.

Illustration: Pixabay

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There are Two Americas

The left is fond of saying that “There are two Americas.” The slogan is meant to inspire class and race rivalry, but there is little justification for the concept.

But there are, indeed, two Americas. The U.S. has become split between the majority of the citizenry who seek to live a life concentrated on raising families, earning a living, and pursuing myriad personal interests on one side, and, on the other, a group that is wholly focused on politics, and the “fundamental transformation” (as Barack Obama termed it) of the nation

To most Americans, politics means choosing candidates and campaigning for them in an election.  But to the hyper activists on the left, it involves every element of society and culture. It involves altering the curriculum taught in schools from first grade through graduate level, to reflect leftists beliefs to the exclusion of everything else. It means the transformation of news reporting from the classic mandate of objectively describing “who, what, when, where,why” to what is essentially editorializing all the time.

Entertainment, in this all-encompassing effort, is merely a vehicle to broadcast propaganda. No comedy show is complete without digs at moderates and conservatives. Dramas are vehicles to cast the other side as villains. 

There is a major behavioral difference between moderate and conservative elected officials and their opposite numbers. The former generally seek office to resolve specific issues, the latter, to pursue ideological goals.  (Unfortunately, there are also careerists on both sides.)

Consider illegal immigration. No convincing case has been made that ignoring a massive influx of unskilled, impoverished people who require public support, and present dangers of increased crime and disease in any way helps the citizenry.  Yet, because they are expected to eventually vote, legally or illegally, for Progressive candidates, the left insists on ignoring the crisis.

Similarly, the numerous “virtue signaling” environmental regulations advocated by Progressive officials do nothing to alter the climate but they do set a precedent for allowing greater governmental control of private affairs, a major left-wing goal. The government  of New York State has roadblocked vital energy development and infrastructure  so severely that portions of the state will soon be incapable of fueling new buildings with natural gas. 

In Los Angeles, the emphasis on the alleged rights of those living on the streets to engage in acts such as defecating on public thoroughfares has resulted in typhoid cases. One publication called this leftwing policy the “death” of that city.

Justice itself has been a casualty of the Left’s determination to place their ideology over everything. To protect their standard bearers, clear criminal acts have been intentionally ignored. Consider the foul acts of Hillary Clinton in the uranium to Russia deal, and her email coverup. Partisan bureaucrats such as Lois Lerner have been allowed to kidnap whole agencies, in her case the IRS, to use as partisan attack vehicles.  No punishment resulted from either acts which blatantly violated the law.

An entire portion of the judiciary, the Ninth Circuit, has continued to issue rulings based on Progressive politics in defiance of the Constitution and statutory law.

The moderate/conservative portion of this split has, essentially, engaged in unilateral disarmament. No substantive effort has been made to challenge progressive dominance in entertainment, education, or network news. Despite howls of protest, little has been done to address the growing censorship by non leftists on social media.

The Left’s pursuit of ideology over common sense, the good of the nation, and the safety of the citizenry, announced so clearly by President Obama when he rendered his “fundamental transformation” comment divided the nation in a manner not seen since the Civil War. It’s time to recognize the danger.

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Photo: Pixabay

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The Great Divide in American Politics

The divide between conservatives and centrists on side, and leftists and progressives on the other, can only be understood if the basic world-view of both are considered.

Those on the right typically emphasize the lessons of history and experience. Humanity’s heavy slough from tyranny to freedom renders them suspicious of overbearing government. From monarchs to commissars, fuhrers and dictators, the most dramatic crimes against mankind have been committed by strong ruling powers using a variety of excuses for their actions. Conservatives proudly point to the revolutionary role of the U.S. Constitution as a turning point in our species’ evolution. They note that it established for the first time the concept and the practical application of a government established not to rule over, but to represent the people. They point to the process within that document that allows orderly updates through the amendment process. They stress as well the role of Western Civilization and the Judeo-Christian ethic in promoting the dignity and sovereign rights of individuals.

Similarly, they favor capitalism, despite its flaws, because of its proven accomplishment in providing more prosperity for a greater number than any other economic system.

Since the U.S. is the birthplace of the Constitution and the most significant practitioner of capitalism, they tend to emphasize patriotism.  They recognize the yawning gulf between it and so much of the rest of the world, and seek to preserve and protect its unique nature, which they call its “exceptionalism.”

The progressive left has a different focus. They point out the existing inequities within both the U.S. and the West. They view America’s success as less than salutary if it is not shared with the rest of the world. Essentially, they take less comfort in the general prosperity of the U.S. as long as any poverty exists within or beyond its shores.  They concentrate on past misdeeds of western society, and, even though those actions have in most cases been corrected, believe those prior acts should inhibit criticism of other societies. In line with that perspective, they are hesitant to acknowledge the threats posed by opposing nations to U.S. interests.

Conservatives and centrists believe that by providing an example of how governments should be run, and how economics should be structured, they are helping the rest of the world by providing a roadmap to freedom and prosperity. The Left believes that a more tangible sharing of the fruits of freedom and prosperity with those outside its realm is a moral imperative. The right worries that this will allow non-capitalist, non-free governments to persevere, and continue their mistaken and oppressive policies.

The two ideological camps even differ in their strategies of how to win power and popular support.

Centrists and conservatives rely on straightforward appeals to voters through normal political channels. The left, in contrast, has adopted a strategy using dominance of cultural, educational, and entertainment institutions to spread their message.
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The key question is, despite the vast gulf between the camps, is there common ground? Both seek a world that is prosperous and peaceful, free of racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination. The similarities, however, break down substantially after that.

The concept of individual rights and responsibilities, so cherished by the right, is not reflected in the left’s emphasis of collectivism and group identity. The centrist-conservative concern for a strong national defense worries the left, which believes that much of the funds spent on the military should be allocated to domestic programs.

The U.S. political divide in the 21st Century has become more combative than in the immediately preceding decades.  The liberals and centrists who formerly dominated the Democrat Party differed from the conservatives and centrists in the Republican Party mostly in their means to achieve ends both sides shared.

Those liberals have been replaced by the leftists-progressives who now dominate the Democrat leadership. Their views and goals differ far more sharply from their predecessors and those in the center and the right.  Because of that, there is less room for compromise or common approaches. The days when a Democrat Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neil, and a Republican President Ronald Reagan could joust in public but reach a compromise in private conversation, or when Republican Speaker Gingrich and Democrat President Clinton could agree on some legislation are, lamentably, at least for the moment, gone.

There are fringe movements that some pundits have tied to one side or another. White Power groups have little or no influence with centrists-conservatives. The Black Lives Matter group, which has some elements of extremists within its ranks, has a more noticeable place within leftist-progressive circles. A worrisome trend of antisemitism has become noticeable on the left.

Some may argue that the Tea Party represents an outlier movement, but that is inaccurate. That movement’s emphasis on a strict construction of the Constitution and a more traditional view of the federal budget places them rather solidly in the mainstream.

The ability of both sides to avoid listening to opposing views has become a worrisome trend, as social media has become a driving force in news reporting.