Why America's Problem Is Cultural, Not Political

[marmar]

Published on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
Why America's Problem Is Cultural, Not Political

by Stephen Gabow


Here are some questions that ask the same thing in different ways. How can McCain/Palin even stand a chance in this election, given the state of the country? Why hasn't "conservative" become a dirty word, given the results of the last 8 (or is it 30) years of conservative rule? How come the Republicans get away with lies, dirty tricks, thievery and gross hypocrisy, over and over again? Why are congressional Democrats so spineless, so deferential around Republicans?

I think the answer is that conservatives and Republicans are more attuned to the American people and to the roots of American culture. I cringe to say this, but somehow deep in our values, hopes and dreams we are primed to be conservative. And the Democrats, being politicians, can sense it; they know it in their heart of hearts.

To begin with, America has been soaked in poisonous homegrown racism for three hundred years. It affects every American child. Yet even aside from that elephant-in-the-room, we have to fight our native culture to maintain a leftist perspective.

Citizens of other countries can draw on their own revered cultural icons to promote rebellion or revolution, or the notion of a social community. In 2004 Canadians voted for "The Greatest Canadian." Tommy Douglas, a socialist and reformer known as Canada's 'father of Medicare,' won the honor. The English have Robert Owen, the French have Emile Zola, the Germans Karl Marx, among many others.

What about the USA, home of revolutionary democracy? Who do we have? Franklin Roosevelt? Joe Hill and Eugene Debs? Martin Luther King? The freedom riders? Elizabeth Staunton and Susan B. Anthony? Mario Savio? Malcolm X? John Brown? Tom Paine? Emma Goldman? With the exception of King and FDR we remember these people only vaguely, if at all. Our founding father heroes have been stripped of their revolutionary content, to emerge in our times as staunch Christian conservatives. Whether Thomas Jefferson was actually an agnostic social revolutionary is not the point; he is perceived as something else. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/07

[truedelphi]

1. Well the thing is - 40% of the American public are indies

But that fact was never mentioned on M$M during primary season.

In fact poll after poll showed that if you listed the policies of every one of the twenty or so people running for President, but did not list the names supporting those poicies, Kucinich beat everyone hands, just beat 'em all - every other DEMS AND REPUG candidate, down.

No the word has been out at CNN, MSNBC etc for a long time - do not mention this fact.

Did you ever hear it mentioned during the Repug convention that Americans who consider themselves Repugs are only 28% of our population?

or during the Democratic convention week, was it ever mentioned that only 32% are Dems?

Once when a caller to C-Span spoke in slightly outraged tones about these facts, the C Span host was so happy to get him off the airwaves.

Why is it that the countries that have Universal Health Care, a decent Banking System with oversight, respect for all persons irregardless of their sexual persuasion, and money still flowing to the Middle incomed person - all those countries are firmly convinced that having several parties in existence, not just two, is the way to go.

[Beregond2]

2. A person can be an independent,

and still be conservative.

The political labels in this country are fairly meaningless, thanks to our over-valued two-party system. Most countries have five major parties, ranging from communist on one end to libertarian on the other. That gives a much clearer picture of the political beliefs of the populace.

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. Ask 100 "independents" why they don't belong to a party.

At least 30 of them will say; "I voted for Reagan, Bush, Dole, and Bush. But GW and the current crop of republicans have pissed me off because they are idiots. They are NOT conservatives".

In other words, they're independent because the current Republicans are not "conservative" enough for them. It's cognitive dissonance. If their beliefs are proven to be misplaced, then the reason must be a failure in implementation.

Whether or not the problem is cultural, the answer is still the same: we must destroy conservatism in the same way and using the same tools with which conservatives almost completely destroyed liberalism. If conservatism is to become a dirty word, it's because we did the unpleasant work of making it happen.

In 40 years, I want to live to hear conservatives whine "we just have to acknowledge that americans have a liberal culture", and for independents to be frustrated with democrats for being insufficiently liberal.

[hay rick]

7. Sign me up...

for doing some of that unpleasant work. We need to discredit "conservatism" and also the "liberal" media that relentlessly parrots conservative talking points.

[FiveGoodMen]

3. "to emerge in our times as staunch Christian conservatives"

Because the world's worst talking snakes have said so.

The goddamned preachers have done this to us.

[Demeter]

4. It's Been Proven to Be Mental Illness, not Culture

unless you want to claim that our culture is sick, which some parts of it are, but not the whole thing.

After all,only a crazy person could sit there with the economy in flames and vote for a Republican, esp. this Republican!

[AdHocSolver]

5. America's problem is being delusional.

The history taught and believed in by Americans is a sanitized, watered down, fairy tale view of reality. The cheating and massacres of the Native Americans, the extreme mistreatment of African Americans, the corruption in government throughout our history, the thievery of the robber barons past and present, the war profiteering by the "pillars" of our society (Prescott Bush, etc.), the attempted overthrow of FDR, the overthrow of governments in Latin America and around the world by proxy, and the "secret" implementation of fascism under the current regime are all "cleansed" and "sanitized" by the fairy tale of America being the "greatest freedom loving Democracy on the planet".

A lot of the rest of the world believed this fairy tale as well, until George W. Bush became president. The last eight years have brought this fantasy into question. The bald-faced lies and the looming economic meltdown are causing many Americans to face reality for the first time.

Let us hope it is not too late to salvage what is left of our country before the damage already done becomes irreversible.