You are a racist or an ideologue or worthy of some other label, if only you fail to subjugate yourself to the greater "common good." This is the same hogwash that Ayn Rand warned you of: that the collective is somehow superior to the Individual.
You'll find the Liberals' same semantical shell-game in The Little Blue Book. It's just as it claims, a primer on how to close your mind to rational thought, and succumb to group-think collectivism.
Mike Vanderbeogh reminds us that the best way to defeat them is to first know them. And TLBB is their user's manual.
As Mike points out, among other things, their book identifies "Four Effects of Extreme Conservatism" as justification for subscribing to Progressivism:
The Effect on Democracy-
Extreme conservatism inflicts its damage in multiple venues: it chips away at democracy and the Public; it poisons the human spirit; and in the world community, it contributes to human agony and damages both America's standing in the world and America's friendships with other nations. Extreme conservatism is not merely about abortion, the size of government, or gun control. Extreme conservatism is an all-encompassing worldview, and its adherents want to bring into its compass the lives of every citizen.
The consequence is intransigence, a refusal to compromise, a high level of aggression toward other moral views, and the ambition of total control by the ideology itself. (MBV note: Shucks, and here I just thought we wanted to be left alone by these nanny-state tyrants.) This intransigence showed up in the 2010 House of Representatives, controlled by extreme conservatives, who have refused to compromise with President Obama. Not only does their moral system not allow compromise, but extreme conservatives believe that if this intransigence leads to a nonfunctioning government, so much the better, since that would prove that government doesn't work. And if that leads to a failure to fund ongoing social programs, so much the better, since those programs need to go.
Extreme conservatism's all-encompassing nature and ambition are usually hidden from view. Much of its work is done in think tanks, which are tasked to come up with strategic initiatives to take control of major areas of public life. . . At the same time, conservative communication experts find language for those initiatives that seems simple and intuitive but hides the major effect of the issue on American democracy and the public . . . Democracy is not just about government; it is about all areas of life: family, religion, education, and business. When extreme strict father values are imposed, extreme conservatism comes to run institutions of all sorts, including the following:
Family: As we have seen, extreme strict father parenting is often destructive and abusive. Children in such situations, if they do not rebel, often grow up reproducing authoritarian family life and imposing it in other areas of their lives. Women who are natural nurturers may have a hard time speaking up when disagreeing in important matters.
Religion: Extreme forms of conservative religion, whether Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, have authoritarian organizational structures . . .
Education: Extreme conservatism can occur in the classroom. . . Teaching is spoon-feeding: students are not taught how to think critically or how to think for themselves, but are taught to recite the right answers without questioning the teacher.Continue beyond the fold to learn more of their presumed justification for opposing your individuality...
Business: Extreme conservatism is common in many areas of business. There is a boss, and you do what he or she tells you to do. Employees hold no voting rights in company decisions, including decisions that affect them and where they are more knowledgeable than their bosses. Unions are discouraged or forbidden.
Government: When a government comes under extreme conservative control, democracy goes out the window. For example, under George W. Bush, publicly questioning presidential decisions became an unpatriotic act. Informational websites were changed to fit conservative orthodoxy. Government regulation of private industry was not funded and there were fewer regulators. The nation started a war on false premises because it fit conservative ideology. Civil liberties were suspended under the Patriot Act. Energy policy was decided in secret. And so on.
Democracy in the American tradition operates with the honestly informed consent of the governed. Discussion of alternative viewpoints is not merely tolerated but sought. Unilateral decisions made behind closed doors are appropriately perceived as undemocratic. Democracy is not alive if it does not exist throughout society. (ST&L notes that the concept of "Democracy" was considered anathemic --and rightly therefore despised--to the concept of Liberty by the Founding Fathers of this country, which TLBB's authors seek to fundamentally transform) The encroachment of extreme conservatism is various domains is therefore a threat to democracy.
The Effect on the Public
Extreme conservatives view democracy as providing the liberty to pursue one's self-interest without commitment to the interests of others. When they speak of "small government" and "spending," they are really talking about their deep antagonism toward the Public, toward the use of government to protect and empower all citizens equally by providing public resources. This includes all aspects of the Public: infrastructure, education, health, the economy, and the environment. All the public resources that allow for maximizing a decent life and prosperity for all our citizens are threatened by extreme conservatism.
The Effect on the Human Spirit.
By the human spirit we mean those positive aspects of humanity that people show toward one another: empathy, respect, generosity, connection, emotional bonding, and identifying with the other. These elements require a sense of equality and a demand for human rights and justice in all domains of life, especially social and economic justice. Extreme conservative righteousness leads to conflict, not cooperation; to fear, not hope; to aggression, not mutual respect; and to suspicion, not trust.
The Effect on the World Community
. . . Extreme conservatives want to withdraw from the United Nations because they see the United States as superior to other nations and believe that it should not be judged by them. They will not allow the United States to be subject to the World Court or allow U.S. troops to be under the control of international commanders. In many cases, extreme conservatives refuse to support humanitarian causes. Indeed they have largely been against supporting humanistic agencies like UNESCO. They have also been against the United States abiding by international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol. And they have largely been against nuclear disarmament. This follows from the strict father model applied to the family of nations. The United States is seen as the strict father who cannot allow anyone to a higher authority. Strict father values must guide the family as whole, and so conservative values must guide the family of nations. -- TLBB, pp. 53-58.
The authors' notion of economics is that producers should create that which is deemed necessary according to the perceived needs of others, and sold at a price that some bureaucrat finds fair. Sounds like the "Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog law" in Atlas Shrugged, don't it?
The Left contorts the meanings of words and belittles individuality and personal Liberty, to get around the inferiority of their arguments. They'll call you names and insist that your only valid response to that is no response at all, short of your humble supplication.
In part, they're right about me when they cite my "refusal to compromise." I'm still here..."aspiring to be more than a tree, or a turnip", in spite the collectivist drivel all around.
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