the comic strip makes an excellent point..... the Republican Party and its supporters are really quite insane..... oh no.... i am quite mistaken...... they are fascists.
communists, fascists and the modern Republican Party in America have all hated Liberalism..... Liberal is not an opposite of Conservative. in America, Liberalism is necessarily by definition the Conservative position, insofar as the Constitution and other supporting documents were in fact inspired by the European Liberalism that emerged from the Enlightenment.
Supreme Court Judges are not activists if they make Liberal interpretations on the Constitution. The Constitution itself is built on principles of Liberalism. A Liberal Constutional interpretation is the Conservative position.
it is time the Republican Party be no longer permitted to refer to itself as a "Conservative" political party.
plank by plank, policy by policy, the Republican Party is a rightist phenomenon in American politics. it is a Party that would openly embrace Fascism had the term not become taboo.
America will never become Communist or even solidly Socialist. However, America has always struggled with a fascination with and sympathy for fascist rhetoric.
you may ask yourself..... hey, how is it then that the Republican Party is so "anti-government"..... so much rhetoric about smaller government and individual rights? were not fascists advocates of governmental primacy?
the Republicans are not "anti-government". their policies simply default government to corporate plutocracy undermining the Liberal architecture of government outlined in the Constitutiion with its checks-and-balances. the Republican political and economic philosophy essentially substitutes corporate governance by the business elite for Liberal government for-and-by-the-people. Ironically their chronic calls for laissez faire markets was also an idea within Liberalism originally. however once it was seen that the erratic modulations of boom-and-bust was at best humanly painful, and at worst unsustainable and catastrophic, "Classic Liberal Economics" were essentially abandoned and Liberals advocated mixed government and private sector economies with the government answering to the people in its regulatory and oversight responsiblities. however, Republicans are not trully laissez faire either.... Hayek and Austrian School is simply esoteric rhetoric that sounds good to the very rich and people who don't think they should have to pay taxes.
in the true thrust of Republican economic philosophy government simply becomes a conduit for public monies to flow into corporate profit margins. governmental policies similarly are directed toward serviceing those corporate profit margins..... profit is king..... that is why other human considerations like environmental protections, human rights, quality of life for the "masses" trampled-on..... not allowed as legitimate considerations in the public discourse.
and, oh by the way, it's not that under Republican hegemony the average citizen doesn't pay taxes to keep this conduit flowing, it is more like corporations and the very rich pay less, little or none because as we know all goodness comes from that free-market a
another "oh by the way"..... when Republican wonks talk about Liberalism as being Fascist they are first taking great liberties..... but in reality they are simply feeling the "oppression" of govermentally supported policies of tolerance, equality and democracy.
only Republicans ever want to amend the Constitution to restrict and exclude rather than expand and include.
I never understood why/how the Dems allowed the Repubs to denigrate the word liberal. This put liberals in a defensive posture which is always the losing position.
Liberal is a proud word deeply rooted in western culture. In fact it describes our culture, yet we're still afraid to use the L word. What gives? Unfortunately politicians are allowed to define that edge.
It's interesting that Obama is pursuing the very same economic policies as the GWB administration. It seems that the parties have engaged in a Vulcan Mind Meld to become one. What exactly is the difference between the parties these days?
the Republicans have dominated the political and economic philosophy in America since Reagan was elected....
the economic philosophy they espouse comes from Milton Friedman and his ilk.... is rooted in "Classic Liberal Economics"..... "Austrian School", "Hayek".... is a train wreck in slow motion.
the theory is actually quite extreme... as extreme as Communist ideology that implements Command Economy totally centralized and run by the State.
the theory is that unfettered markets (totally unfettered markets of course being a utopian ideal) will self-correct and bring all good to the people eventually obviating the need for government itself. (anyway, if there is any role for government in this formula it is hard to see).
there are a few inherent flaws in this approach. 1. the object of capitalism is not competition, but monopoly. there is a spiral of winning and losing until all the eggs are in just a few corporate baskets. 2. corporatism IS the governance an organization of the market.... without a Constitutional government advocating the People's interest, overseeing and regulating, governance defaults to Corporatism.
how are the Party's different in this area?
due to the success of the Republican Party in establishing their radical economics in the minds of everyday Americans.... "Business good, Government Bad", the Democrats splintered and formed a sub-organization called the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council), the "Clinton" wing....
the "free marketeers" of the Democratic Party are certainly part of the "big tent", however it is not the only subset. i would, however, say they have dominated and apparently Dems had to at least spout that rhetoric in order to get elected.
i think Obama has been influenced by that philosophy, however with the economy in the condition it is, specifically due to the economic policies since Reagan, it is going to be difficult to see how "radical" Obama is on the matter, because we are forced now into radical governmental intervention, a la Great Depression and FDR.
the answer is hybrid mixed economy with governmental oversight and regulation of the market.... there is a whole spectrum of specifics government-to-private-sector relationships that can be implemented under that philosophy... including governmental programs for health which does not lend itself to the profit/greed formula in a way that delivers service at economical costs....
what you are seeing economically is a failure of an economic philosophy that has been in vogue since Ronald Reagan.
posted by Lisa at 11:10 PM
5 Comments:
Yep, the cartoon says it all...which, really, just makes me want to weep all the more.
the comic strip makes an excellent point..... the Republican Party and its supporters are really quite insane..... oh no.... i am quite mistaken...... they are fascists.
communists, fascists and the modern Republican Party in America have all hated Liberalism..... Liberal is not an opposite of Conservative. in America, Liberalism is necessarily by definition the Conservative position, insofar as the Constitution and other supporting documents were in fact inspired by the European Liberalism that emerged from the Enlightenment.
Supreme Court Judges are not activists if they make Liberal interpretations on the Constitution. The Constitution itself is built on principles of Liberalism. A Liberal Constutional interpretation is the Conservative position.
it is time the Republican Party be no longer permitted to refer to itself as a "Conservative" political party.
plank by plank, policy by policy, the Republican Party is a rightist phenomenon in American politics. it is a Party that would openly embrace Fascism had the term not become taboo.
America will never become Communist or even solidly Socialist. However, America has always struggled with a fascination with and sympathy for fascist rhetoric.
you may ask yourself..... hey, how is it then that the Republican Party is so "anti-government"..... so much rhetoric about smaller government and individual rights? were not fascists advocates of governmental primacy?
the Republicans are not "anti-government". their policies simply default government to corporate plutocracy undermining the Liberal architecture of government outlined in the Constitutiion with its checks-and-balances. the Republican political and economic philosophy essentially substitutes corporate governance by the business elite for Liberal government for-and-by-the-people. Ironically their chronic calls for laissez faire markets was also an idea within Liberalism originally. however once it was seen that the erratic modulations of boom-and-bust was at best humanly painful, and at worst unsustainable and catastrophic, "Classic Liberal Economics" were essentially abandoned and Liberals advocated mixed government and private sector economies with the government answering to the people in its regulatory and oversight responsiblities. however, Republicans are not trully laissez faire either.... Hayek and Austrian School is simply esoteric rhetoric that sounds good to the very rich and people who don't think they should have to pay taxes.
in the true thrust of Republican economic philosophy government simply becomes a conduit for public monies to flow into corporate profit margins. governmental policies similarly are directed toward serviceing those corporate profit margins..... profit is king..... that is why other human considerations like environmental protections, human rights, quality of life for the "masses" trampled-on..... not allowed as legitimate considerations in the public discourse.
and, oh by the way, it's not that under Republican hegemony the average citizen doesn't pay taxes to keep this conduit flowing, it is more like corporations and the very rich pay less, little or none because as we know all goodness comes from that free-market a
fascism
liberalism
another "oh by the way"..... when Republican wonks talk about Liberalism as being Fascist they are first taking great liberties..... but in reality they are simply feeling the "oppression" of govermentally supported policies of tolerance, equality and democracy.
only Republicans ever want to amend the Constitution to restrict and exclude rather than expand and include.
super furry animals
Ghost,
Well-said.
I never understood why/how the Dems allowed the Repubs to denigrate the word liberal. This put liberals in a defensive posture which is always the losing position.
Liberal is a proud word deeply rooted in western culture. In fact it describes our culture, yet we're still afraid to use the L word. What gives? Unfortunately politicians are allowed to define that edge.
It's interesting that Obama is pursuing the very same economic policies as the GWB administration. It seems that the parties have engaged in a Vulcan Mind Meld to become one.
What exactly is the difference between the parties these days?
jim
the Republicans have dominated the political and economic philosophy in America since Reagan was elected....
the economic philosophy they espouse comes from Milton Friedman and his ilk.... is rooted in "Classic Liberal Economics"..... "Austrian School", "Hayek".... is a train wreck in slow motion.
the theory is actually quite extreme... as extreme as Communist ideology that implements Command Economy totally centralized and run by the State.
the theory is that unfettered markets (totally unfettered markets of course being a utopian ideal) will self-correct and bring all good to the people eventually obviating the need for government itself. (anyway, if there is any role for government in this formula it is hard to see).
there are a few inherent flaws in this approach. 1. the object of capitalism is not competition, but monopoly. there is a spiral of winning and losing until all the eggs are in just a few corporate baskets. 2. corporatism IS the governance an organization of the market.... without a Constitutional government advocating the People's interest, overseeing and regulating, governance defaults to Corporatism.
how are the Party's different in this area?
due to the success of the Republican Party in establishing their radical economics in the minds of everyday Americans.... "Business good, Government Bad", the Democrats splintered and formed a sub-organization called the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council), the "Clinton" wing....
the "free marketeers" of the Democratic Party are certainly part of the "big tent", however it is not the only subset. i would, however, say they have dominated and apparently Dems had to at least spout that rhetoric in order to get elected.
i think Obama has been influenced by that philosophy, however with the economy in the condition it is, specifically due to the economic policies since Reagan, it is going to be difficult to see how "radical" Obama is on the matter, because we are forced now into radical governmental intervention, a la Great Depression and FDR.
the answer is hybrid mixed economy with governmental oversight and regulation of the market.... there is a whole spectrum of specifics government-to-private-sector relationships that can be implemented under that philosophy... including governmental programs for health which does not lend itself to the profit/greed formula in a way that delivers service at economical costs....
what you are seeing economically is a failure of an economic philosophy that has been in vogue since Ronald Reagan.
what we should realize is that it has failed.
Excellent deconstruction.
Somehow, the Republicans manage to leave this woeful failure out of the Reagan hagiography.
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