The chasm between two political extremes is built fundamentally on distrust. That distrust causes each side to believe the worst in what motivates the other side to hold and protect their beliefs.
The Left fears Christians, strangely even more than they fear radical Islamists. The fear seems to come from a vision of the country ruled by some version of the KKK, which persecutes non-Christians and especially atheists. Which tosses women who have had abortions in prison. Which imposes Christianity on schoolchildren. And somehow - I'm not sure where this one comes from, but it seems to be there - persecutes and openly discriminates against racial minorities.
The right fears a left-wing totalitarian communistic government. Like Communist societies seen in the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and now Venezuela, free speech is muzzled, religion is outlawed, children are indoctrinated in atheism and sexual deviance in schools. That homes will be taken away and given to the socialist elites, while everyone else is forced to live in government-assigned high-rise housing. Government confiscates all private property and nationalizes all businesses, instituting a national wage that's the same for everyone. Each person is assigned a job by the government, and must apply for government permission if they wish to travel.
Are there people on the right who dream of implementing the Left's nightmare? Maybe, but I've never met one. What about on the Left? I think there may be some.
The truth, I think, is that there's a sort of bell curve on political beliefs. The vast majority of the people are somewhere between slightly left or slightly right of center. As long as that holds, I don't think either side has too much to fear from the other.
That said, I judge the Democrat front-runner, Hillary Clinton, to be much further left of center than most people realize. That concerns me, but I suspect that will be revealed during the inevitable debates between the conventions and the election. On the other hand, the Republican field isn't really that far right of center; in fact, it appears that Giuliani's further left than many people realize.
Interesting that the Republican field sits right around the middle of the bell curve, while the Democrats all fall well to the left. It seems that protestations against the "right wing" are rather baseless, at least when measured against the field of presidential candidates.
On a side note, I'm noticing there seems to be a growing movement among conservatives behind Mike Huckabee. Wouldn't it be interesting if we actually elect a second president in the same era from the tiny town of Hope, Arkansas?
No comments:
Post a Comment