Chester McAteer Where did the Liberals go? In today's world, today's America we have three relatively distinct trains of thought; we have Conservatism, Liberalism and then we have Leftism. The first two, contrary to common thinking actually have a great deal in common whereas Leftism has nothing in common with either Conservatism or Liberalism. Both Conservatism and Liberalism held the traditional values of the free market of ideas and the freedom of expression of those ideas, in fact both held in high regard the free flow of new ideas into the conversation of the day, equal protection and due process. That it was sacrosanct, in fact, that any disagreement would allow for the free exploration of such disagreement and in the process to discover the foundations of said disagreement. The discussion was always to remain open for new ideas that could render such disagreement moot, finding, as it were, a solution upon which to agree and in the process an amiable compromise. This is a good place to define Liberalism: Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support free markets, free trade, limited government, individual rights, capitalism, democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the equality of individuals. I would declare that these values are equally shared by Conservatives and Libertarians. Today we have another idea and a movement afoot that is the 180° opposite of what both Conservatives and Liberals have stood for over the last 100 years, that being the idea that the individual is, according to his or her conscience, able to determine the direction of their lives without undue coercion from the State, or the use of the power of the State to impose a standard above and beyond the scope of individual conscience dictated by one overwhelming ideology without room for dissent. Some common names for this movement is the “Cancel Culture” but I would liken it more to a “Shaming Culture” that presses it's collective power to such an extent that people's lives and even their ability to maintain their chosen professions are put in jeopardy when they do not adhere to the strict orthodoxy of the collective ideal. It is therefore, very vital that we understand that this movement, that is gaining ascendancy among certain sectors of our population do not hold the traditional values of either Liberals or Conservatives and, in fact, pose a very distinct danger to anyone that does not fall into line with the doctrines of this long-time coming cultural revolutionary thought we can call Leftism. Conservatives and many Liberals make the mistake of labeling the Cancel Culture as Liberal, they are, in fact, not in the least bit Liberal in their ideology nor in the execution of that ideology, they are in fact, Illiberal. The difficulty comes when Labels mean one thing that is actually totally opposite of the real definition. For instance, when you hear the words Anti-Fascist one's natural inclination is to agree that you are indeed against Fascism and yet the group ANTIFA constantly employ extremely fascist tactics in an attempt to achieve their goals, their goals by the way, are completely indistinct and nebulos, which I believe is purposeful. Take the term Black Lives Matter, there should be no question that the statement is true however, when you come to understand the stated goals of the movement by the same name it becomes morally impossible to support the organization unless you are totally asleep. This tactic is not new, our own Congress uses it all the time when naming pieces of legislation, a name that sounds good and beneficial to the public is difficult to vote against even though the actual legislation itself is onerous. For instance, there was nothing Patriotic about the Patriot Act, but the name made it difficult for politicians to oppose. A recent example was the CARES Act, the name sounded good and pleasant and yet the legislation, when you read it, had little to do with caring about anything but more government overreach. But the purpose of these tactics is to achieve a goal, usually one that is not stated and is carefully disguised, so as to be generally accepted with little resistance. So, we should take care when we hear things because usually the name used is purposeful and puts up psychological barriers that make opposition difficult, if not impossible. They create these labels so that it almost becomes unassailable and thus accepted, in many cases, without question. They are a vehicle for ideas and even policies that are usually not very agreeable outcomes. This allows some truly abhorrent ideas to filter through an unsuspecting population without raising a warning, but like all lies the damage is done before the truth is realized. We Americans rarely read between the lines, we tend to look on the surface but rarely deeper to see what's actually going on in the country, particularly because of labeling that may be detrimental though it appears to be admirable. Remember, a spoonful of sugar makes bitter medicine go down much easier. There are tactics being used, tactics that were first introduced on college campuses, that are a direct assault on the values that have held this country together as a nation, among these values are the equal protection under the law, the free market of ideas, the freedom to think and speak without fear of retribution and where people are judged by the content of their character. These values are shared values of both Conservatives and Liberals, but not Leftists, they are what formed the building blocks upon which this country was formed and thanks to the very peculiar understanding of America's values they have spread, to a large degree, around the world and have been emulated in other countries. So, what happened to the Liberal ideas that both Conservatives and Liberals shared? They still exist, but are under attack and the attack is seemingly growing. What was once merely a cultural revolution has spilled over into the everyday lives of Americans and they should rightly be fearful.The tactics we are seeing are nothing new; they come directly from the playbook of past Marxist revolutionary actions from the failed Marxist Revolution of 1848, to the successful Marxist Revolution of 1917. To ignore this is to do so at the peril of our future and your children's future. The real horror is when some who call themselves Liberal, advocate just the opposite of what Liberalism has always stood for in this country, they are, in every respect Anti-Liberal. There is, within this movement, a very strong impulse to censor, to coerce, to use force to gain power, the question we must all ask ourselves is what would they really do with such power if they achieved such a position and what would life under their power look like? I dare say it would be as unpleasant and as harmful as one might imagine and yet, they have gained immense power over the last few years, so much in fact that they use the scope of their power to influence and even blackmail large corporations to toe the “party-line”. If you've not been paying attention, perhaps it's time to remove the blinders. This Leftist Cancel Culture movement is extremely dangerous, totally contrary to Liberalism, it is an existential threat to everything this country holds dear, everything I hold dear. This is a battle, make no mistake. It is an infection that has affected every aspect of our lives and it can be seen in everything from the mainstream media to social media as they attempt to control the free-floating of ideas. While they may not directly infringe upon the rights of free speech and the freedom of ideas they do indirectly control both free speech and the freedom of ideas. The problem, of course, is when such entities decide what ideas are acceptable and which are not then the question becomes who controls the public square? Make no mistake, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, indeed even the media is the modern equivalent of the public square. The reason the Founders of this country sought to protect the freedom of speech was to ensure that all people would have the ability to express themselves in word and press without hindrances and that even abhorrent speech and ideas could be expressed. The only way to protect free speech was to protect all speech, even that which we find repulsive and offensive, for in allowing such the free flow of ideas through speech the opportunity is gained to discern that which is true from that which is false, that discernment is not the responsibility of the government nor is it the responsibility of the media, including Social Media. We have failed to understand that for any idea to have worth or value then those ideas must be freely expressed without hindrance, official or unofficial, to repress the free flow of ideas is a very dangerous thing and it should concern everyone of us because imagine our Country without those essential Rights. That is, unfortunately, exactly what we now face in this country and there are powers that have that intent and are apparently unapologetic about espousing to gain such power and will take advantage of any avenue they can to achieve their goals. We must once again understand that the Culture of Rights is as important as the Laws are to protect those Rights, without our Love of Liberty then that Liberty is in peril, despite the Law. The Founders could not see a way to protect all speech without also protecting objectionable or repugnant speech, it is not only the Right of those who agree with us but the Right of those that disagree. We should be willing to bear and accept the cost of Liberty though the cost is sometimes high. It's not a bad thing to endure even when the speech is repugnant for then we have the ability to determine the value of those ideas, to see what exactly people advocate whether it be on the side of individual Freedom and Liberty or if it be contrary to those vital ideas and against this country and the ideals it was founded upon. There are those, and you can tell by their speech that hate this country, hate the principles upon which it was found and would, by their proposals seek to alter the very foundations that make Liberty possible, they seek to prune way the mechanisms that keep our country a free republic and instead institute a system where the absolute majority can gain and maintain power without regard to the minority opinion. They would eliminate the very institutions that make a concurrent majority possible where the ideals of individual Freedom and Liberty in action and in conscience are possible. They would make the judiciary a political rubber-stamp for a sectionalism that would ultimately result in the break-up of the Union. They seek all manner of political novelties that would nullify the possibility of multi-party competition viable, they would impose themselves in every aspect of our lives and enforce a punitive coercion upon our society without our consent. It boils down to the future you see for yourself, your families and this country. We have important decisions to make as a people, no less important as did those brave men and women who saw individual Liberty so important that they took up arms, sacrificed their lives and fortunes to ensure that their posterity had the opportunities to strive for a better life where the values of Life and Liberty could prevail. Tim adds: I would add a couple of points: 1.The meaning of Liberal and Conservative flipped in the 19th century. Most Americans are Liberals in the classic sense (or were); Conservatives in the old sense were monarchists who sought strong central governments and though men had to be governed. The American Revolution was a classical Liberal uprising. But that changed withe the coming of Rousseau and then the German philosophers, who created the branch of liberal thought that is now known as Leftism. Rousseau believed in the collective will, and thought all things should be subject to the collective. He was the father of both socialism and Fascims (which are the same thing in most respects) and his followers were the cornerstone of "liberte' egalite' fraternite'" of the French Revolution - sound familiar? Egalitarianism and "brotherhood" are buzzwords for a horrendous miscarriage of equality in the service of a mystical notion of egalitarianism. You can trace the thinking of Leftism from Rousseau through to Marx and Schopenhaur and Martin Hedegger and the rest. And that is where the Democrat Party is now, and the whole "woke" mob. They are not liberal in any meaningful way. But I still use the term because there really isn't a better one and Ronald Reagan used to anger them with it because the Left had co-opted the term. But they are radicals who are not liberal at all. The modern Left is internationalist, egalitarian, democratic tyrants, God-hating zealots, and believe in individuality only insofar as it isolates the individual in a way unprecedented in the past. Their view is that people should be free to do or think whatever they wish, reality be damned, and it is society's job to facilitate any sort of madness and to provide guardrails lest hey seriously injure themselves. This is far different than the traditional liberal - or conservative - view which is that we are to have self-restraint and govern ourselves. The Leftist view is one that calls for government to control everything i.e. totalitarianism (read Mussolini's The Doctrine of Fascism to see what is meant by that.) Freedom to the Left is being free to be as insane as you choose and have government protect you by telling you what to do. Its not and never was about deciding your own fate. It plays on human lusts with the assumption we are purely animal in nature. And it assumes a collective and democratic society run by the will of rthe majority no matter what (even if that majority is no such thing but rather the wishes of a few well-connected and powerful people). Plato warned a democracy inevitably leads to collapse and a dictatorshipiop, but that doesn't matter to those who want life to be open to all public debate - including the most private and personal isssues. Leftism really is a form of insanity, couched as "fairness".

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 10:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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