Dr. Forbush Thinks

In a comment I read today it was pointed out that the word liberal has been distorted and expanded. This ploy is a rather clever but dishonest reality in our current world. Conservatives have claimed that there is a black and white world of those who agree with them and everyone else. This line in the sand attempts to make confuse people more than honestly describe the reality of the world.

So, lets look at what the conservatives have done here, and why they are wrong.

First of all, conservatives will take a position on an issue. They tell us what their position is, for example, on abortion, they believe that killing a fetus is wrong. They stake out this position as the “right” position and everyone else is “wrong.” Then they don’t stop there, but they exaggerate, misinform and demonize everyone associated with opposition to this issue. The issue for them is “black and white.” And, perhaps for some people the issue is black and white. However, for the great number of people in the middle, the moderates, the issue is not so black and white. There is the question of whether the regulation of abortion is even an issue that the government should address. Many libertarians believe that health issues should remain between a patient and their doctor. The question of when life legally begins is also another issue that stays out of the debate under these conditions. Then, the mother and father’s ownership rights are completely ignored. One may say that a human being can not be owned, but when does a fertilized egg become a human being not subject to ownership under the legal definition. Then, there are the mother’s right to life and health that may be in jeopardy if she is forced to give birth. Then there are the practical problems that the mother faces that are rarely considered in these debates. To the conservative there is no debate, because the issue is “black and white.”

By making the issue “black and white” one might think that this limits those who would support your position. But, the reality of the situation is not that clear cut. People do not say, “The conservatives will only accept me if I am 100% against abortion in all cases,” which is the “black and white” stance. Instead people are likely to say that there might be some cases that abortion should not be done and they find themselves agreeing with the conservatives on those points. And, conservatives are able to use this leverage by there “black and white” argument. They say, “Liberals support this abhorrent exception to abortion. Isn’t that disgusting? You’re not disgusting, therefore you’re not a liberal.” After hearing this definition of liberal, people come to believe that the term is extremist. Unfortunately the extremists on the right are the ones that created this false definition.

When you let someone else define your classification, you loose your political power. In this case the right sets up the definition as the extremist furthest to the left as the definition of the “other side.” Moderates do not come into the discussion in a black and white world. You are either with us or against us is the cry of these extremists. And, unfortunately some of the moderates have been goaded into following the crowd and accepted some of the fear mongering of the extremists.

Of course, abortion is only one example of how the extremists have shaped the debate by creating a false choice and telling us that this is a “black and white” world. The truth is that we do not live in a “black and white” world. We live in a world of colors and hues, bright and dark, as well as shades of grey. If we don’t realize this then we will be condemned to “stay the course” without questioning the “supreme leader.” And, when a country has a leader that calls himself “the decider” and a culture that calls those who disagree, “against us,” we have a problem. We don’t call this paradigm a democracy; we call it a dictatorship.

When we look at a world that has the conservative viewpoint and the other viewpoint we find ourselves in this “black and white” world. But, how can we fight this phenomenon? In a true democracy where all the citizens have a reasonable understanding of the political world this problem would never arise. But, as I am often reminded, we have a representative democracy where many of the citizens are uninformed. This situation lends itself to the possibility of abuse. Voters are asked to support a candidate based on black and white politics. Are you with us or against us? Then, the elected representatives are continually looking for money to run these misinformation campaigns, and the money comes from organizations with some strings attached. These strings influence the representatives to vote on the issues in a black and white manner.

The evidence that we are in this “black and white” culture shows itself in the block voting of the congress over the last several years.

The antidote to this problematic “black and white” culture is education and thinking. The more educated a person is, the less likely they will accept “black and white” solutions, and the more they will question these proposed solutions. We should have real political debates where participants actually involve themselves in the process. The current situation in the US Senate where no one listens during the debates shows us just how far we have come from a working representative democracy. And, all Americans should be ashamed of this.



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Don't forget what Stephen Colbert said, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."


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