I have long been struck by how the policies of liberal elites in this country tend to have amazingly destructive impacts on the poor they hilariously claim to champion. Joel Kotkin at NewGeography has noticed this also:
Go here to read the rest. The key to understanding contemporary liberalism is that instead of being a radical force, as it is erroneously viewed, it is a deeply reactionary force. Most current liberals look to a sliver of our history: 1965-1975, and wish to enshrine forever the social mores and ecological and economic beliefs then current among the young leftists that their leaders then were. It is their determination to stand across the tracks of history and yell halt, that is at bottom responsible for much of the dysfunction that has become a part of our society. They do not seek to create utopia, but rather to preserve in amber their perceived golden age. The young are to be indoctrinated in it in the educational institutions they control, entertainment is to propagandize for it and their politicians are to safeguard it for perpetuity. Any movement like the Tea Party that is a threat to this effort to stop the clock forever, is to be anathematized and destroyed. Reality is to be ignored if reality differs from this religion, and that is what liberalism has become, a substitute religion that looks resolutely to the past, ignores the present and has only fear for the future.
Donald,
You last sentence is a doozy. It is as succinct a description of liberalism that I have yet heard.
That’s not ironic. That’s UNEXPECTED! (in the ironic sense that James Taranto uses).
Curiously enough, in Europe, and particularly in France, it is the Hard Left that is most suspicious the Green Agenda.
There is no “environmental catastrophe.” The catastrophe is the environment itself. The environment is what is left to man after he has lost everything. Those who live in a neighbourhood, a street, a valley, a war zone, a workshop – they don’t have an “environment;” they move through a world peopled by presences, dangers, friends, enemies, moments of life and death, all kinds of beings. Such a world has its own consistency, which varies according to the intensity and quality of the ties attaching us to all of these beings, to all of these places. It is only us, the children of the final dispossession, exiles of the final hour – the ones who come into the world in concrete cubes, pick our fruits at the supermarket, and watch for an echo of the world on television – only we get to have an environment… What has congealed as an environment is a relationship to the world based on management… Tracking, transparency, certification, eco-taxes, environmental excellence, and the policing of water, all give us an idea of the coming state of ecological emergency. Everything is permitted to a power structure that bases its authority in Nature, in health and in well-being.”
Also at New Geography is a blog post and link describing a similar process taking place in Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago, which has millions to spend on bike trails and sports arenas but (allegedly) can’t afford to hire more cops to stop rampant violence in certain neighborhoods (where, needless to say, the “important” people don’t live):
http://www.newgeography.com/content/004000-well-heeled-windy-city
Anytime you do not let people feel pride and accomplishment in acquiring those things that make their life worthwhile, you are creating an atmosphere and mind set of “I am owed this, as I have been put down”. I have seen this over and over in the last 50 years. This whole agenda has been perpetrated by liberal thought. I have worked closely with farmers and Native Americans. I have in depth knowledge of how these “welfare” subsidy and distribution systems work. I have seen independent working farm families turned into “let’s get everything we can from the government” because the market is not allowed to work under true supply and demand principles. I have watched Native Americans sit on their reservations and darn near starve, waiting for the next government check. The incentives are not there to make things better and rise up against “Big Brother”. This has all been perfectly planned by the ruling parties of the last 100 years. When people are marginalized into thinking that they are owed anything from the abuse or neglect of the powerful they tend to retreat into this demeaning state. The Right To Life, The Native American situation, the farm programs and the population control issue are intricately tied to each other. We have entered this phase. The ignorance of the common person in this country to those issues which literally control life and death, and death not only of the people but the Republic has come full circle into their perfectly planned fruition. The diabolical forces of evil are evident in every phase of society. The CED(committee for economic development) back in the 40’s and 50’s was implemented for this very purpose, This committee was stacked with population control fanatics, purveyors of getting as many people off the land as possible, eliminating small rural communities and mom and pop businesses. congregating all of the people, and the wealth into verticaly economic hubs that are controlled by centralized banking systems. This is not conspiracy, it has all been printed and exposed by the very people who have perpetrated it. They are not humble in their pride of this accomplishment. They knew exactly that birth control and abortion would eliminate future populations. They and their minions have plenty of time to wait it out. Unfortunately our own Christian Churches fell for this and have become a huge part of the problem Let’s see, save the resources, save the animals, get rid of the people, (except for those we have to keep for slave labor) Yes I believe this is a perfect green blueprint.
There’s a Catholic chamber of commerce? Who knew?