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Leftism is the politics of Pessimism, and Failure with big, controlling Government always the solution. However, today it has taken over the Media, Education, Tech, Social Media, most of Corporate America and Government. It sells its lies by repeating them from every angle imaginable and is very successful at it. Only, the inevitable societal failure and meltdown will reverse it.
I don't agree with you on the pessimism comment.
Here's another point of view about why the left has spread through society. Maybe it is because more and more people agree with what the left is trying to do. An ideology cannot take over anything unless enough people agree with it.
Here's another point of view about why the left has spread through society. Maybe it is because more and more people agree with what the left is trying to do. An ideology cannot take over anything unless enough people agree with it.
And yet....here we are with more "right" being embraced as we speak.
Here's my take, both the left and the right can only go so far before the majority rebels against them. We've seen it happen in both directions over the last couple of decades in the USA. Balance is the only healthy thing, but each side has actors who want to take things further so they can control this or that. People in general don't do things because they are all so smart and agree on it, they are just swayed by those who are good at saying the right things and then flocking takes place, with most individuals just following those closest to them, regardless of which why they are going
If we observe history from a left or right political leaning.... we have not moved to the right, it's a slow steady move towards the left. Every now and then, we get a bump back to the right, but ultimately... our nation is moving slowly left.
If we observe history from a left or right political leaning.... we have not moved to the right, it's a slow steady move towards the left. Every now and then, we get a bump back to the right, but ultimately... our nation is moving slowly left.
If by "right" we mean tribal identity and veneration of tribal tradition, then yes, most of the world is moving in the opposite direction, and America is no exception. it is not difficult or outlandish to imagine, centuries in the future, a human society that no longer regards tribal identity as a reasonable or productive way to self-identify. To those who lament this, as a loss or a diminution of something precious, this leftwards tilt is something to rue, to oppose.
Nevertheless, there is a "rightward" tilt too, assuming a sufficiently generous attribute of the "right": that of viewing markets and organic processes, rather than centrally controlled ones, as being desirable. Few serious thinkers in the West would today advocate for outright replacement of markets with central planning, be such planners a traditional authority (church, crown,...) or a "modern" one (Politburo). Even those who are termed as being radical leftists, generally advocate for intervention to fix to market, to make it what pleases them to call it fairer. They are not suggesting abolition of commerce or private enterprise. This is very much a victory for the "right".
The Left may be gaining in popularity but not in power. The key to political power rests with corporations and the moneyed elites. They are not going to relinquish their hold on this country and will keep the Right in power to protect their own self interests by any means whatsoever using resources available world wide.
What we see is a slow and steady growing alliance on a global scale of authoritarian hard right governments allied with international corporations to position themselves as the dominant force throughout the world. The common folk really have a chance to advocate for themselves? Give me a break.
(Please note, I don’t mean “the left” in just a political sense......also cultural, religious, intellectual, etc. Also please note, I was once part of the left but I no longer am. So this is not a “we are the best” thread).
What explains the steady, uninterrupted triumph of the left over the last century? We view it as a given...just how things are bound to unfold. But it was no given, in 1850, or even 1900.
I think it’s a simple explanation. I think that the “branding” that was done (intentionally and unintentionally) in the late 1800s and early 1900s was remarkably effective and powerful. And it has “stuck”, in a way that few things ever have. Nothing else has been needed, in order to succeed, over the last 100 years. This one perceived quality has been all that was needed. It is the overarching quality that encompasses all other considerations and dynamics.
I will pause and see what others think that I am talking about. It’s a simple, uncomplicated quality that the left is perceived as having and representing.
Interesting, although I'm not sure if it's true.
The left/liberal point of view, by its very nature, implies a forward-thinking, open, generous attitude. So it makes sense to me that it would triumph, if you're correct. Most people would prefer to be dealt with in an open, generous, forward-thinking way, I imagine.
Good guess, but that’s a recent phenomenon (last 40 years). 100 to 120 years ago, the left won the “NICE” brand. And if the left gets to be “NICE”.....well then the right has to be the opposite side, by default.
Once the left got that brand, it was all over. If you’re picking sides, do you REALLY want to be seen as being not nice??? No way.
Last edited by maineguy8888; 03-01-2020 at 08:48 PM..
To believe that there is any difference at all between left and right is pure nonsense. It's all phony advertising for the masses. In the end they all believe in the same thing. Power, money and the accumulation of personal wealth while the rest of us get poorer and poorer.
But the BRANDING is different. And that’s all that matters.
The left/liberal point of view, by its very nature, implies a forward-thinking, open, generous attitude. So it makes sense to me that it would triumph, if you're correct. Most people would prefer to be dealt with in an open, generous, forward-thinking way, I imagine.
Those qualities you list are nice qualities. But in a way, it doesn’t even matter if the left actually has those qualities or not. Once they won the BRAND (niceness), then they became quite free to act however they want. Any actions of theirs which are forward-thinking, open, and generous will serve to cement the brand (confirmation bias). And any actions of theirs which are backwards-thinking, closed or selfish will be overlooked (because people can not stand cognitive dissonance). It has long “been a given” in the West that leftists are the good, nice people. Nobody even has to even think about this. Branding saves people from needing to think....people don’t WANT to have to think.
Conservatives have tried a million tactics to stop the looooong drubbing that they have endured. But as long as the branding endures, their efforts are all in vain. Because the branding is everything.
I just wish that I could trust either side to actually stand for things that they say they do.
I can get behind ideas like smaller centralized government, lower government spending, lower deficit and debt, lower taxes, empowerment of private charity and private enterprise (but with perhaps some limiting controls on monopolies and non-competitive business practices that hurt a natural market's ability to function.) OK!
But... The spending, the debt, and the deficit have gone up under Republicans. And taxes, too. And the federal government still overreaches and does not seem any smaller. Like you would almost think that you can't trust politicians, imagine that!
And the left, they talk a big talk about caring about everyone having the basic means to live a decent life! A home, clean water, health care, education, a living wage. They say that they will raise taxes, but the wonderful programs to come of it will surely help everybody! OK, I don't mind paying my taxes if there will be real effects that improve all of society like that! But... Then they come along...and the truth is, taxes don't actually tend to go up for a regular person like myself, any more or less really than they do under the Republicans, but all of those glorious social programs that are supposed to make our nation a sparkling utopia, well, they never make it either. Not in any way that is meaningful, or that works.
Frankly though, it comes down to what I believe in. And I don't like the hypocritical fake righteous internet troll/schoolyard bully "branding" that the right of today has embraced. Endorsed by whatever remains of the KKK, the white supremacists and the incels, and full of "MAGA" idealism like the 1950s was good for anybody but a white man.
I love the LGBTQ+ crowd. Bunch of very kind, creative, colorful, fun, caring and authentic people. At least Obama seemed to be helping the cause of gay people. In a wasteland of broken promises by almost all political figures I've ever known of, that was something.
Brand...what's in a brand... I can tell you that in my life, surrounding me, in front of my face, most of the people I can interact with and respect, are liberal these days. It has not always been that way, for me.
Trump has changed the right's "brand." For better or for worse, depending I guess on who you ask. Which side has "the winning brand?" I don't know. Can we reconvene in November? But when we can't trust either side to uphold what they claim to stand for, is anybody truly winning? Are those who think they are, just being duped? I sometimes wonder how history will treat with all of this.
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