tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post5192694990638733679..comments2024-03-28T10:07:24.955-04:00Comments on Northern Reflections: How The Right Defines FreedomOwen Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-23924423829621767712021-08-03T15:47:09.965-04:002021-08-03T15:47:09.965-04:00That's exactly right, Cap. What happened on Ja...That's exactly right, Cap. What happened on January 6th was a dry run. There's another one coming.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-65559998296774051922021-08-03T15:11:18.895-04:002021-08-03T15:11:18.895-04:00Krugman writes that what Republicans actually mean...Krugman writes that what Republicans actually mean by "freedom" is "closer to 'defense of privilege' — specifically the right of certain people (generally white male Christians) to do whatever they want." I realize that NYT editors disagree, but it's time to call this sort of privilege what it is - white supremacy.<br /><br />As Adam Serwer pointed out in his essay, "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/" rel="nofollow">The Cruelty Is The Point</a>," "Trump’s only true skill is the con; his only fundamental belief is that the United States is the birthright of straight, white, Christian men, and his only real, authentic pleasure is in cruelty. It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear: immigrants, black voters, feminists, and treasonous white men who empathize with any of those who would steal their birthright." DeSantis has read the room and realizes that he needs to deliver this cruelty to stand any chance of winning the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.<br /><br />So DeSantis bans businesses from demanding proof of vaccination and schools from demanding masks. The main impact of this will be felt in Black and Hispanic communities, who like Republicans have low vaccination rates. But Blacks and Hispanics tend to live in more crowded conditions, go to schools with larger classrooms and work in low income jobs that bring them into contact with people. They are DeSantis' real target. They, and the rest of the population, are learning that the liberal state will not protect them. They are being trained to accept fascism.<br /><br />CapAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-6750272728792691062021-08-03T13:10:03.225-04:002021-08-03T13:10:03.225-04:00Lincoln was an extraordinary leader, Mound. Democr...Lincoln was an extraordinary leader, Mound. Democracy in the United States prevailed because he felt "malice toward none." It's hard to find his like today.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-7300559952095667652021-08-03T12:20:04.052-04:002021-08-03T12:20:04.052-04:00When I read accounts such as Krugman's I insti... <br />When I read accounts such as Krugman's I instinctively wonder how this madness ends. Like the collision of tectonic plates, something has to give and the longer the delay the more tension builds ensuring a more destructive seismic result.<br /><br />America's never-perfected democracy is brought under enormous pressure that, with time, seems to sap its resilience. Democracy becomes tenuous, similar to a perch in a bird cage. It's fine but you have to work to avoid falling off. Americans seem to be losing the will to hold on.<br /><br />Despite its lofty pretensions, the U.S. was never all that fond of democracy. Nancy Isenberg's book, White Trash, explores the centuries prior to Independence Day to chronicle that. The Founding Fathers and their colonial predecessors had little time for the Joe Lunchbox plebs.<br /><br />The Citizens United case was the mine canary's terminal chirp. Along with dozens of other insults, it ushered in an age of transactional democracy similar to what occurred in the final two centuries of the Roman republic. It was laying to rest what we really just a pretence.<br /><br />It's not that DeSantis wants to kill his fellow Floridians. It's that, in a transactional democracy, even the health of the plebs has a cost and balances must be struck so long as they favour capital, enterprise. <br /><br />We like to imagine that our leaders hold our safety as their foremost responsibility. That's even written into Canada's Emergencies Act. Yet, after the summer we've endured, the petro-state remains alive and well, the shovels still digging Justin Trudeau's expanded pipeline to tidewater so that we can flood world markets with climate-killing diluted bitumen. That it will claim lives is beyond question - mainly in other countries, initially. What is that but a negation of the right to life?<br /><br />Long after asbestos was banned at home as a health hazard, Canada pursued Third World markets for the stuff. It took decades before we shut down the mine. Not one of our proudest moments.<br /><br />Pure democracy, the sort we were brought up to believe was our inalienable birthright, is waning. It's losing popularity at home, certainly in the United States, and is being transformed by authoritarians elsewhere into illiberal democracy. Can you see a glimmer of Viktor Orban in Rick DeSantis?<br /><br />Transactional democracy is said to have been a major factor in the fall of Rome. The citizenry was displaced by slaves who tilled the wealthy's farms. Riots ensued and, when outside threats emerged, the old will to defeat them failed.<br /><br />A house divided against itself indeed. The Disaffected Libhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13135599782685108764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-49291744066668504812021-08-03T11:59:01.087-04:002021-08-03T11:59:01.087-04:00When I was in Teachers College, Toby, we all read ...When I was in Teachers College, Toby, we all read Neill's book Summerhill. We all admired it and tried to implement some of his strategies. They didn't work very well -- because most kids thought that freedom meant license.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-46743643061581759032021-08-03T11:53:04.767-04:002021-08-03T11:53:04.767-04:00Owen, you probably remember a book by A.S. Neill c...Owen, you probably remember a book by A.S. Neill called <i>FREEDOM--NOT LICENSE</i>. It's now on-line at https://trisquel.info/files/a_s_neill--freedom--not-license_1.pdf<br /><br />Then there is that conundrum noted by Augustine, "Lord, give me chastity and continence, but not yet." <br /><br />This is an important discussion, Owen. Thanks for your post.Tobynoreply@blogger.com