Perhaps not all or always, but certainly today's most Liberal critics of the president and government and capitalism never, ever, reference chapters from our nation's past or even other nations and civilizations to shed light on their argument. They seem to want to start from scratch as a global society while we are thousands of years into the process and billions of people, all based on what they think 'might be a good idea'.
In their own way they are as blind to the past of the true Liberal movement as the Right is.
Because the truth is that the Liberal movement in this country and globally has made fantastic strides in the last 300 years or so and we've made great strides in the last sixty five years and far greater strides in the last three years than in the past thirty! That is a stone cold fact. And 'but...but...but...', no I'm getting to that.
Yes, by my own best moral standards our government, still today, has morally crippling shortcomings which must be over come. And it always has had these shortcomings and far, far worse. I'm not saying it always will! I'm an optimist. But seen through the fair lens of history it is reasonable to conclude that this president, in this time, is our best chance for great gains since FDR. The comparisons are brutally obvious and the criticisms on all counts against the FDR administration in his time were equal to, or worse than are today's from the Left towards President Obama. But it sure is a good thing we stuck with that FDR horse. And we'd better stick with Barack.
It's one thing to push, it's another thing to tear down. I think it's a silly and tricky time to be trifling with utter cynicism.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think many of the "professional left" are oblivious to the past. However, I think that the need for instant gratification is even greater.
ReplyDeleteI have fallen victim to this myself. And unfortunately, when we look back on past events - we may not be so aware of how much time and effort it took to bring change.
Exactly.
ReplyDeleteAnd when certain Liberals find themselves in direct conflict with the people who risked their lives in the Civil Rights movement, they should really take pause and look in the mirror.
I've noted a bad tendency to mythologize the past, along with an inability to look at the time frames. That is, various achievements didn't just happen overnight, they weren't perfect when it happened, and sometimes there were steps backward. The idea that we can get perfect right away "if only" someone else says so is just ... stupid
ReplyDeleteReally Norbrook? If you've "noted a bad tendency to mythologize the past" then you must be talking about Madmen or some retro sit-coms because it sure as heck doesn't come in the form of media analysis of our current financial crisis!
ReplyDeleteWhile analysts on the Left and Right use the Great Depression as the best comparison to the crisis we've been suffering through I have seen NOT ONE SINGLE network, broadcast or cable, do a story which starts like this...'Since this economic crisis is so often compared to the Great Depression let us have a look at the measures taken by our government to dig ourselves out of that crisis and see if we can learn anything about today'. That's not a nostalgic question, it's Science, Social Science.
And is it too much to ask that we might take up my premise...(from my sidebar)...?
Between 1940-80 the wealthiest Americans paid between 70% to 90% federal income tax and that's what allowed us to build the American Dream. How else could we afford it? Between 1940-80 we fought and paid for WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, we built our US Interstate Expressway system, Roads, Electrical Grid, Telephone, our main Bridges and Tunnels; we Made every Car we Drove and we wore just the Clothes we Sewed and WE WENT TO THE MOON SIX TIMES-AND WE PAID FOR IT ALL! Here's the link. Go to section 21.5 and Get out ye encyclopedias... TRUTH:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States#1930_-_1980