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ok. That link may not work. Try this link...
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Every time you get bombarded with propaganda about Race and whatever other senseless topic, you get distracted from the primary issue in our country being Class.
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Polarizing figures like Trump and BLM for sure contributed to radicalization in different directions. If we were a much poorer country, I'm sure more violence would've broken out as people tend to take more risks in poorer countries.
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Actually the article is thought provoking for those of us in the left. Substract is publishing articles by Glen Greenwald, Talibi , Aaron Mate and Cris Hedges among others. They are attacking liberalism which is now tied to the security state, Big Tech, The Democratic Party, the press. wokeness., cancel culture etc. Worth reading in my opinion.
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The case can be made that there are liberals, and there are leftists. Although they are very different, they all call themselves Democrats.
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I hate that liberal Bill Maher...
But he would agree 100% with this article, and then some!
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After reading thru the mumbo jumbo, I would agree that Liberals need to
take a stand against the radical left.
I find it interesting how he points out that the elistists are pushing
this idea of a racist america, when I believe most of the elistists
are white. Or are we talking about Black elistists? LMAO 
Watcj out, one day the left will be looking to silence HX.
It maybe one of the last places where you can freely
express your opinion without being cancelled.
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This is very well written. I recognize some of the research that he cites, and I can relate deeply to his points on Obama (whom I voted for) and the disappearing middle in politics and our national conversation.
I also wonder how much of this is related to the anarchistic “hippie generation” now being at its peak of power — its members at senior roles in government. Just a thought.
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Describes MA to a T:
“ We all know it’s happened. The elites, increasingly sequestered within one political party and one media monoculture, educated by colleges and private schools that have become hermetically sealed against any non-left dissent, have had a “social justice reckoning” these past few years. And they have been ideologically transformed, with countless cascading consequences.”
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It's a good post and I read about half way in.
Heres what resonated with me...
No body on the Right or Moderate Left could argue against these statements of value...
"It means taking full responsibility for own lives — by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our offspring, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny."
But this is where the combined Left "is" and this is a problem IMHO...
"To say this today would evoke instant accusations of being a white supremacist and racist. That’s how far the left has moved: Obama as an enabler of white supremacy. You keep asking: what happened to me? I remain an Obamacon, same as I always have been. What, in contrast, has happened to you?"
The radical Left has displaced the Democrat agenda and "values" so far from traditional center that it's somewhat appalling to a Conservative. No lie.
And people wonder why nothing is getting accomplished with Bidens agenda in the Senate. Problem is.. it's not really "Biden's" agenda but someone else's and we dont know exactly who but all the Dem's are on board for a ride to "God only knows" and Republicans are the bad guys in the way.
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“ Every time you get bombarded with propaganda about Race and whatever other senseless topic, you get distracted from the primary issue in our country being Class.”
I feel like class may be an issue but emotional distress is what’s really killing everyone. Emotional distress is the root cause of pretty much everything IMO
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I largely agree with most of the post. But not all of it.
The graph towards the end doesn't seem to tell the full tale of "rightward movement by Republicans".
and vice versa. How do they define the X axis? See, I think that the same article could be written about those on the far right. Are they truly more conservative?
"Problem is.. it's not really "Biden's" agenda but someone else's and we dont know exactly who but all the Dem's are on board for a ride to "God only knows" and Republicans are the bad guys in the way." Again, in opposite land, the same applies to the right.
The bottom line is that *both sides* have become more polarized and both sides need to knock that shit off.
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Well the graphical explanation is vague and does not cite the metrics behind the histogram movement. But it does state larger movement to the left by Dems on issues what ever that means...
"On immigration, Republicans have moved around five points to the right; the Democrats 35 points to the left. "
"On abortion, Republicans who advocate a total ban have increased their numbers a couple of points since 1994; Democrats who favor legality in every instance has risen 20 points. "
"On guns, the GOP has moved ten points right; Dems 20 points left."
But this obvious polarization through time IMHO is based on one parties opinion based reaction to the other parties enacted legislation at any time. The cited issues are ones where the parties are diabolically opposed.
If I had to sum things in the most simple terms... the Democrat party has been hijacked by the radical left.
I think Bill Maher would agree with little rebuttal.
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Good article.
I'm glad we can agree that the GOP is a nihilistic cult, run by a demagogue, that uses cynical marketing ploys, disinformation and dog whistles to dupe people into backing them.
As for the Dems, they don't know how to lead, just react. Post Trump they have been looking for a hard lefty and got stuck with Biden. They have pushed too hard and fast and will lose power. I think BLM had great promise, but they now back any black person, regardless of circumstances and have lost their legitimacy.
As for the charts, I see just the opposite. Society is not static. While the rest of the modern world now sees gay marriage as normal, the GOPers are still stuck in the past. It's why liberalism is hard fought - so many people living in the past. Oh that, and Bible thumpers.
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Well I never read any articles by Kara Swisher, nor by Ta-Nehisi Coates, nor Wesley Yang, nor Ibram X Kendi, whom the author criticized their "successor ideology", as opposed to "Liberalism" that he still believes in, and if his description of SI is correct, I would have to agree with what he said.
However we have to acknowledge the following passage as his conclusion;
"Does that mean we should support an increasingly nihilist cult on the right among the GOP? Of course not. Does it mean we should ignore its increasingly menacing contempt for electoral integrity and a stable democracy? Absolutely not. But one reason to fight for liberalism against the successor ideology is that its extremes are quite obviously fomenting and facilitating and inspiring ever-rising fanaticism in response. I fear the successor ideology's Kulturkampf is already making the 2022 midterms a landslide for a cultish, unmoored GOP. In fighting S.I., we are also fighting Trump"
I must say "successor ideology" whatever you call it, was born as an opposite movement to Trump's reactionary conservatism.
As the author acknowledges, neither Obama nor Biden is bears this ideology, and we have to remind ourselves that rampant disinformation (which this author should have put more weight on this subject) that flooded our political arena started during Obama years.
I would like to add what Ken Burns said to compensate the above article;
"I think this is the greatest threat to our republic ever. Not the Depression, not World War II, not the Civil War. This is it," Burns told me. "This moment of all these intersecting viruses, of novel coronaviruses and of racial injustice - [a] 402-year-old-virus. And it's an age-old human virus of lying and misinformation and paranoia and conspiracy. This is the pill that will kill us unless we do something."
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Both successor ideology and Trump's reactionary conservatism are based on fatalism. Nothing will come out of it.
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Ha I say Class because the biggest problem is the billionaires influence over the government...
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@ flash911
Describes MA to a T:
“ We all know it’s happened. The elites, increasingly sequestered within one political party and one media monoculture, educated by colleges and private schools that have become hermetically sealed against any non-left dissent, have had a “social justice reckoning” these past few years. And they have been ideologically transformed, with countless cascading consequences.”
I assume you're referring to me. You are partially correct. Where you are wrong is that I actually welcome differences of opinion, but only if your opinions and arguments are based on actual facts, not made-up bullshit.
That is the problem I have with most of the conservatives on this site. They regurgitate facts that are patently false and plainly illogical, formulate arguments around them, then criticize people who don't fall for their bullshit. Either they are not smart enough to recognize the sources of their information are corrupt (e.g., Infowars), or worse, they are aware of it and will argue false facts as long as it suits their needs.
Anyone, and I mean anyone, who continues to think of Trump as a great president, who believes Biden won fraudulently, and who would vote for him again, is a fucking idiot in my eyes.
I am also against the radical left. For example, I think most of what AOC wants accomplished is impossible. To me, her role (and the role of other progressives) is to nudge centrists into passing more progressive bills, but a lot of what she says isn't realistic and will never fly in this current political environment. And I wouldn't want much of what she wants passed anyway.
And I am not foreclosing the possibility of voting for a Republican again in the future, but that isn't going to happen until Republicans get their shit together and stop following a false leader who is destroying democracy.
As for this article, Andrew Sullivan is only partially right. There are many liberal "elites" who want to shut up conservatism, but that is more a reaction to the false facts being propagated by conservatives lately than their desire to foreclose counterarguments and opinions. Similarly, the second I hear a Republican spew facts that I know are wrong to support their arguments, I immediately shut it down. Like I've said before, I'm not going to play a game when the other side is blatantly cheating, but if you win arguments legitimately, I actually appreciate that someone was able to change my mind where I can learn from the interaction.
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This stuff reads like bizzaro religious doctrine from someone smoking too much oregano. Like scientology type stuff. Like this is what the next Riech needs to be and we need to strip away all past history and revise our institutions.
Yeah you get my point right?...
But this sums up the authors feelings on the state of affairs...
"It is also no accident that, as Drum notes and as David Shor has shown: “white academic theories of racism — and probably the whole woke movement in general —have turned off many moderate Black and Hispanic voters.” This is why even a huge economic boom may not be enough to keep the Democrats in power next year.
We are going through the greatest radicalization of the elites since the 1960s. This isn’t coming from the ground up. It’s being imposed ruthlessly from above, marshaled with a fusillade of constant MSM propaganda, and its victims are often the poor and the black and the brown. It nearly lost the Democrats the last election. "
Did you get that?...
"MARSHALED WITH A FUSILLADE OF CONSTANT MSM PROPAGANDA"
Means there going to beat it into you with media and rabid social activism. Then send people around to make sure your taking vaccines, round them up if they dont, and monitor private texts for "misinformation.
Got it... 👌
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Its gonna get rough
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"I feel like class may be an issue but emotional distress is what’s really killing everyone. Emotional distress is the root cause of pretty much everything IMO"
Agreed I think mental health and class isn't addressed as often.
Good read, thanks for the article. Very validating to hear these concerns.
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Funny how the writer labels everyone with a college education as an elite.
I though the millionaires and billionaires were the elite, since they and their corporations pay for the lobbyists who stalk the halls of Congress with their tempting carrots and their threatening sticks.
The average person with a college diploma has no K Street lobbyists fighting for them to pay less taxes, be less regulated, or have their views reflected in how the military-industrial complex influences US foreign policy. They may get to feel guilty for being male and white or get to feel entitled for being historically oppressed, but they are not fucking 'elites'.
Heck, with what college costs now, these so-called 'elites' will be paying on their student loans until they are 40.
More like 'suckers'.
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"There are many liberal "elites" who want to shut up conservatism, but that is more a reaction to the false facts being propagated by conservatives lately than their desire to foreclose counterarguments and opinions."
3 words: Critical Race Theory
Garbage being used as a political cudgel to bludgeon any pushback against the political agenda of the left, which now dominates the blue side. And, yeah....there's a bunch of morons who think Trump will re-emerge triumphant. If the red side favors his return, they deserve to be marginalized.
"I though the millionaires and billionaires were the elite, since they and their corporations pay for the lobbyists who stalk the halls of Congress with their tempting carrots and their threatening sticks."
Let's not forget ALL the unions that donate and dominate in funding politicians who pass laws (especially in CA) that attempt to tilt the scales to the 6.3% of the gen pop that belong to unions and the current proposed legislation by Biden to outlaw "right to work" laws in 27 states.
Not to mention the cunt from San Diego, ex-union official, that almost single handedly destroyed the gig economy and the self-employed with her AB5, purely as payoff to the unions that fund her political career.
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Gosh, I may have not included enough acceptable "facts" to pass muster by MA19, fact checker extraordinaire!
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@GBD
There are no “acceptable facts,” just actual facts. Or simply falsities used to support spurious arguments.
For example, how about the spurious argument that we need stricter voting laws because Biden stole the presidency from Trump? The entire argument is based on a lie (a false fact). There was no significant fraud during the 2020 Presidential election and every rational person knows it. Yes Republican state legislatures are using nonexistent “voter fraud” as a justification to make it harder to vote. And they are targeting mostly Democrats.
The whole liberal Elitist argument is bullshit. If someone is clearly being deceptive, the last thing anyone should to is listen to them. I stop taking anyone seriously when I realize that they have a distorted view of reality that is either unintentional (they are misinformed) or they are intentionally lying to justify their arguments and actions. Should that be consider elitist when people refuse to fall for intellectually corrupt arguments?
Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon went to Harvard (arguably the most elitist school) and he was one of the biggest spreaders of misinformation. See the linked article. People like him need to be prosecuted for lying to the American public and causing much of the strife associated with Trump’s lie that he actually won the election.
Lastly, this whole Elitist cancel culture argument (which is bullshit) started when Berkeley refused to allow Milo Yiannopoulos to speak on campus. Again, people with differing views should always be welcome at universities, but people who spin dangerous lies and incite violence should not be given a forum at universities.
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An earlier comment said this about Republicans:
"...the GOP is a nihilistic cult, run by a demagogue, that uses cynical marketing ploys, disinformation and dog whistles to dupe people into backing them."
CULT
DEMAGOGUE[S]
CYNICAL
DISINFORMATION
DOG WHISTLES
Well if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black....
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Nothing quite like "illusory superiority" and cognitive bias to give you a leg up, huh MA?
You make the rules and everybody gets to play by them, typical of most narcissists.
Always a sure way to think you're winning an argument.
I never supported Trump and don't support any Republican that does.
But, as far as I'm concerned, AOC is just a more glib version of that crazy chick from NY.
It's not just a difference in political philosophy.
They're both bat shit crazy and should be tarred and feathered, like most pols frankly.
Much of what you typically post is simply your interpretation of the facts you select to use.
Until you recognize your own biases, the rest of us are just low IQ rubes waiting to be enlightened by your superior mind.
You keep telling yourself that, Einstein.
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It's ok, GBD, I know that you'll take make a counterargument to anything I write. Fine.
Just two points:
- facts are objective and should be verifiable. I am not the one who determines what is or isn't fact, but arguments based on facts that are clearly false should be ignored by me and everyone else. The one example I gave was that Biden win was through fraud, which is clearly false.
- I wrote earlier that I don't like AOC because her positions are unrealistic and she makes the entire Democrat party seem radically liberal when most liberals don't agree with her or with the other crazy progressives.
Unfortunate for you, we agree on something...
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