Condescending Liberals

In reply to;


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/04/AR2010020403698.html



That's an incredible piece. He outlines on four key points in good detail exactly why liberals MIGHT tend towards condescension. Namely because we are right. Being right is a good thing... condescension... not so much. But it is not our condescension that is dangerous. It is the issues of which we are right about and try to draw attention to that are dangerous. In a nutshell ... a corporate take over of our democracy. And then there's always the environmental collapse thing but that has now moved way down the list of priorities. But for some reason this author sees our condescension as the issue. I find that curious.

There IS a vast right wing conspiracy but it's apparently our condescension that needs to be addressed. The car is in free fall off a cliff and the driver is upset with my condescending attitude about his making an obvious wrong turn??? Our country is on the cusp of becoming (arguably already has been) a plutocracy. (see The Powell Memo, Jude Wanniski (2 Santa Clauses), Koch Foundation/ CATO institute, Predator State (by James K Gailbraith.... it's all there.) If you know these things you might be condescending towards those who are uninformed and ignorant of them. If you have read and researched these things and are called a liberal elitist or an intellectual elitist by some one who is vastly ignorant of them and has Fox News and Rush Limbaugh as their only sources you might tend towards condescension.

We have to debate these uniformed/ mis-informed people that it's good idea to teach evolution, that a woman's body is her own business, that climate change is a real threat supported by science, that their cancer was cured not because they stayed home and prayed but because they prayed and went to the hospital, that supply side economics is hogwash... we have to debate and somehow pull them through all their tendency for left brain thinking, all their years of ignorance, and indoctrination to convince them they are nothing but tools of a well thought out conspiracy of conservative thinking and planning that has little interest in theirs or their children's welfare.

We have to convince them that NO NO NO corporations are NOT people... THEY ARE RUN BY PEOPLE who want to take over your democracy and accumulate massive powers and control over YOU. We have to teach them that corporations have NO RIGHTS. NONE! They only have the privileges we wish to give them. Like a baby with a loaded gun in one hand, a scissor in the other walking at the top of the stairs we have to condescend and scold them, spank their silly bottoms and place them in an intellectual corner for their and our own protections.

We condescend... absolutely because indeed the conservatives leadership capitalizes on race, homophobia, gun rights, terrorism, abortion, bigotry, religion, nationalism , patriotism and all other fears to motivate their minions... its so obvious but they don't see they are being sold a "bill of goods". So we condescend. We condescend the idea as if there is a legitimate choice between a Sarah Palin ands some one like Barack Obama.

We condescend with such good insight and intellect and even righteousness but it doesn't work. It's a two way street but sadly we ARE the more condescending. It's true. It's not a good thing but there IS a reason for it... the reason IS reason. We do that seriously. We are frustrated when others do not. We are the liberals. We take nuance, facts, data, science and judgement seriously. We take the real world seriously. We know history. We fear it's repetitions and we heed the lessons it tells us. We pay close attention. We think independently. We are not concrete thinkers or do not do things in lock step. We know human nature. We fear the future going bad for our children based on the evidence.

The condescension directed at good hard working but ignorant, media indoctrinated conservative people is bad. It needs to stop. It needs to be re-channeled as we need these people just as they need us to help turn our condescension to wrath and anger towards our common abusers. That would be the leaders of the modern conservative movement who need to be crushed thoroughly for the evil that they are for attempting to take over with money our democracy. Condescension for these leaders is completely appropriate but far from sufficient. They deserve our all out revolt and overthrow just like the last time when this country was founded.

If our country does well it will be because the Tea Party Consevatives and the Condescending Liberals united and destroyed the Neo-Conservative Overlords.