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Once upon a time, when I was a lad, I was a Democrat and a liberal. I was raised by Democrats. My family was pro-union, because a lot of them worked in factories. There was a lot of working class pride there. Democrats supported workers and the poor. We were poor and working class. It made sense.
I didn't go to college right out of high school because I hated school due to my social issues. I was also contemptuous of many of my teachers and thought I was smarter than most of them. I had a poisonous ego, but I probably wasn't completely wrong. I don't think I was educated by the creme de la creme of the academic world.
I looked into what constituted a liberal arts education and tried to emulate it on my own. I read magazines written for and by liberals. They were the smart ones! I thought of myself as being one of the smart ones too! I read novels and poetry. I studied the fine arts. All of my favorite writers and artists were liberals.
I was an atheist. A lot of bad things had happened to me in my life and I felt like a God who loved me wouldn't have let that happen. If that God existed, I didn't want anything to do with Him. I thought Christians were bad because a lot of Christians had done bad things in the past. I thought the Republicans, who were supposedly Christians, were hypocrites who were full of crap about being followers of Jesus because their policies were awful to the poor and powerless.
I've changed my mind about a lot of things, including God and Christianity as a spiritual path. I haven't changed my mind on that last part. I'm still not a Republican.
Eventually I came to realize that, aside from a few differences on some hot-button issues, the two parties were basically the same. This observation was not unique to me. I noticed that the two parties basically moved in unison on most things, especially after laws like the Patriot Act were passed and the War on Terror were launched. The Democrats bitched a little but they fell in line until it became politically expedient to distance themselves around election years.
Boy did us liberals hate George W Bush. He was an idiot. He was a lying war criminal. He was a puppet of Dick Cheney, who was looting the treasury by funneling taxpayer money to Halliburton. He was seen walking hand in hand with Saudi Arabians. It was Saudi Arabians who attacked us, not Iraqis, so why the Hell did we go into Iraq? we asked indignantly. He was all that was evil. We protested the war. Not too hard, mind you, but we definitely grumbled about it. We would have protested more if they had tried to draft us, I'd imagine.
On the night Obama was elected, my eyes welled up with tears of pride and happiness that America had elected a black president. I was full of hope.
When he took office, Obama basically continued Bush's policies. I was disillusioned. I had bought into the marketing campaign. I had already seen the uniparty in action. I thought things were going to change. I was a fool.
Now all of George W Bush's loathsome qualities have been forgotten by Democrats because he is an ally in their fight against the populist right. Most of the establishment don't even pretend to be enemies anymore. They never were. They were always elites, maneuvering against other elites, but ultimately united in maintaining their power and privilege.
Trump is an elite, but he connected with the working class the Democrats and liberals sold out a long time ago. Some people of the poorer classes, even in flyover country, still want to be connected with the smart and cool liberal set. I guess that they still have some capacity to inspire mimesis, as Toynbee would phrase it (I haven't read Toynbee, I'm basing that on my understanding of the concept based on studying JMG).
Between the two of them, Trump and Sanders destroyed the uniparty's grasp on power. The uniparty is trying desperately to get it back. This is a party of the so-called RINO's and Never Trumpers. They are backing Biden, because he's still essentially one of them. The fake opposition, as opposed to the real opposition, Donald Trump.
I didn't go to college right out of high school because I hated school due to my social issues. I was also contemptuous of many of my teachers and thought I was smarter than most of them. I had a poisonous ego, but I probably wasn't completely wrong. I don't think I was educated by the creme de la creme of the academic world.
I looked into what constituted a liberal arts education and tried to emulate it on my own. I read magazines written for and by liberals. They were the smart ones! I thought of myself as being one of the smart ones too! I read novels and poetry. I studied the fine arts. All of my favorite writers and artists were liberals.
I was an atheist. A lot of bad things had happened to me in my life and I felt like a God who loved me wouldn't have let that happen. If that God existed, I didn't want anything to do with Him. I thought Christians were bad because a lot of Christians had done bad things in the past. I thought the Republicans, who were supposedly Christians, were hypocrites who were full of crap about being followers of Jesus because their policies were awful to the poor and powerless.
I've changed my mind about a lot of things, including God and Christianity as a spiritual path. I haven't changed my mind on that last part. I'm still not a Republican.
Eventually I came to realize that, aside from a few differences on some hot-button issues, the two parties were basically the same. This observation was not unique to me. I noticed that the two parties basically moved in unison on most things, especially after laws like the Patriot Act were passed and the War on Terror were launched. The Democrats bitched a little but they fell in line until it became politically expedient to distance themselves around election years.
Boy did us liberals hate George W Bush. He was an idiot. He was a lying war criminal. He was a puppet of Dick Cheney, who was looting the treasury by funneling taxpayer money to Halliburton. He was seen walking hand in hand with Saudi Arabians. It was Saudi Arabians who attacked us, not Iraqis, so why the Hell did we go into Iraq? we asked indignantly. He was all that was evil. We protested the war. Not too hard, mind you, but we definitely grumbled about it. We would have protested more if they had tried to draft us, I'd imagine.
On the night Obama was elected, my eyes welled up with tears of pride and happiness that America had elected a black president. I was full of hope.
When he took office, Obama basically continued Bush's policies. I was disillusioned. I had bought into the marketing campaign. I had already seen the uniparty in action. I thought things were going to change. I was a fool.
Now all of George W Bush's loathsome qualities have been forgotten by Democrats because he is an ally in their fight against the populist right. Most of the establishment don't even pretend to be enemies anymore. They never were. They were always elites, maneuvering against other elites, but ultimately united in maintaining their power and privilege.
Trump is an elite, but he connected with the working class the Democrats and liberals sold out a long time ago. Some people of the poorer classes, even in flyover country, still want to be connected with the smart and cool liberal set. I guess that they still have some capacity to inspire mimesis, as Toynbee would phrase it (I haven't read Toynbee, I'm basing that on my understanding of the concept based on studying JMG).
Between the two of them, Trump and Sanders destroyed the uniparty's grasp on power. The uniparty is trying desperately to get it back. This is a party of the so-called RINO's and Never Trumpers. They are backing Biden, because he's still essentially one of them. The fake opposition, as opposed to the real opposition, Donald Trump.