shellycheval said:
Laura
I swear, I've had to review and re-think everything my liberal heart ever held dear after observing where the liberals have actually gone. Doesn't mean I subscribe to everything the conservatives represent either. I find myself agreeing with some things on one side and some things on the other. But MOSTLY, I see that the whole progressive/liberal movement has been totally co-opted and ponerized and I'm trying to see where the seeds of this lay. Was the corruptibility there at the beginning?
I have come to the same conclusion. I was present for the 60s and 70s anti-war, civil rights, and women's rights movements, and the energy, feel, language/discussion/arguments were very different then than they are today. I'll be examining what I can to see where the corrupting influences originated. The neo-liberal protests going on now may APPEAR to be about the same issues, but the STO feeling of sincerity and the conviction that all humans and nature matter, and that their rights must be upheld by modeling non-violent, peaceful, intelligent disagreement is GONE. The rabid anger and limited, boxed-in ideology of today's version of liberal-values is as repugnant as any ultra-right, religious fundamentalist rhetoric. Yikes! Indeed the world has turned again, and now "liberal values" are not what they profess to be anymore. It's a new world and we must integrate the best of all human beliefs and values as best we can and take action accordingly.
Same here - I came of age in that same era and considered myself to be a liberal progressive but after seeing the devolution of liberal ‘values’ I feel sickened and have been re-considering a lot of my assumptions. The protest movements of the 60’s and 70’s had a point – of course the corrupting influence of the drug scene eventually took its toll there, but the original idea to bring about change peacefully is a far cry from what we are seeing now.
Another thing I have noticed is that there many of the left leaning websites that used to have well-written articles are now completely dominated by anti-Trump vitriol. There doesn’t seem to be any grey area or balanced discussion of issues – it’s all about bringing Trump down and fueling fear.
And the fear agenda seems to be working well - the Hillary supporters I have been around seem geared up for a fight. I usually tread very carefully when discussing politics anyway, but I’ve seen people actually recoil in fear as if the devil himself was just invoked the minute any mention is made of positive things that
might come about as a result of Trump’s presidency - never seen anything like it!