Surprise, surprise! The only organized, mass violence comes from the left. Historically, as well as today.
Hum...I guess you didn't spend too much time studying history huh? The
Boston Tea Party by the Sons of Liberty was an act of terrorism/revolution which precipitated the
American Revolution. Which ironically gave birth to American Liberalism and the
United States Constitution. In the context of the times, the Constitution was a revolutionary and liberal document. As such George Washington, a general of the American Revolution was considered a leftist liberal. Thomas Jefferson was perhaps America's greatest intellectual liberal and subscribed to the political ideals expounded by
John Locke,
Francis Bacon, and
Isaac Newton, whom he considered the three greatest men that ever lived.
So, who you calling a LEFTIST?It's ironic that the original Jefferson political party was called the
Democratic-Republican Party or Jeffersonian Republicans. This is not to be confused with the resulting Democratic or Republican parties of today...Andrew Jackson took the then Democratic party towards the view that the central government was the enemy of individual liberty-like the GOP does now. Ironically, it was Lincoln that brought the Republicans (GOP) into power. The further irony was that back then, it was the Democrats that were conservative and the Republicans that were liberal-particularly when Theodore Roosevelt was in power in the 1907–1912 period. Now it's the Democrats that are liberal and the Republican that are conservative.
Personally, I'm fine with being given a "liberal" today...
Modern liberalism in the United States.
John F. Kennedy defined a liberal as follows:
"...someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal', then I'm proud to say I'm a 'Liberal'."
Yeah, I'm really ok with that description...I'm down with being a liberal.But I rather strongly disagree with
Conservatism in the United States particularly after the crap the GOP proposed with American Health Care Act of massive tax breaks for the wealthy and yanking support for Medicaid...it came off as mean spirited and typically Republican. Read the wikipedia article and see if it describes today's GOP:
American Conservatism is a broad system of political beliefs in the United States that is characterized by respect for American traditions, support for Judeo-Christian values, economic liberalism, anti-communism, advocacy of American exceptionalism, and a defense of Western culture from threats posed by "creeping socialism", moral relativism, multiculturalism, and liberal internationalism.
Wow..."
defense of Western culture from threats posed by "creeping socialism", moral relativism, multiculturalism, and liberal internationalism"
I had to look up "creeping socialism"...it seems that Dwight Eisenhower used the phrase which was first in F.A. Hayek's book
The Road to Serfdom. It seems Ike was afraid of communism–which conservatives like to lump with socialists because they don't understand the differences. Then of course, there's
Democratic socialism like Bernie Sanders and that, of course, makes conservative's heads explode...
Yeah, I have a real problem with the conservative wing of the GOP–particularly that forcing support for
Judeo-Christian values, the bullshit about
American exceptionalism and
defense of Western culture.
Really? We're "special"? Why?
This whole
Left–right politics is what is destroying America. You want to make America Great Again? Quit polarizing and demand the political parties work across the isle. After 7 years, the GOP couldn't pass their AHCA bill, why? aside from the fact it sucked, the GOP couldn't even address the radical splits in their own party. It never occurred to the GOP to even talk to the Democrats...
Oh, and I'll let you in on a little secret, that whole Judeo-Christian values stuff? Yeah, no so much for me...I'm a
secular humanistSecular humanism embraces human reason, ethics, social justice, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition as the bases of morality and decision making.
Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or a god. It does not, however, assume that humans are either inherently evil or innately good, nor does it present humans as being superior to nature. Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity and the ethical consequences of human decisions. Fundamental to the concept of secular humanism is the strongly held viewpoint that ideology—be it religious or political—must be thoroughly examined by each individual and not simply accepted or rejected on faith.
Along with this, an essential part of secular humanism is a continually adapting search for truth, primarily through science and philosophy. Many Humanists derive their moral codes from a philosophy of utilitarianism, ethical naturalism, or evolutionary ethics, and some, such as Sam Harris, advocate a science of morality.
I always find it the utter height of hubris and hypocrisy that the far right GOP who claim to be defenders of Christian values exhibit none of those values when trying to develop policy and govern. I think the Pope got it right when he suggested that
it's better to be an atheist than a bad ChristianI would rather be left than right...ya know?
Power to the people!
