That is how I view politics as one giant tug of war. You have the center trying to maintain the status quo and are generally happy with how things are going. To the right you have the more conservative all pulling in their direction, with the farther they are the harder they pull. To the left you have the more liberal doing the exact same thing, as a counter force.
Its this 'counter force' I think people need to respect more.
There is no doubt that over the last 30+ years this nation has drifted further and further to the right. What this means is that those on the right have been pulling harder than the left. Now at first thought, one might think that is because of greater numbers, but I believe that is actually not true. It is for far more complicated reasons
What has happened is the 'left of status quo' has been over marginalized, with the way 'liberal' as become such a slur, as a most obvious example. As the center moves right that group called 'liberal' get pushed farther and farther to the left. As the center moves to the right, it begins to see the 'left' as just as extreme as the 'right', but that is just a relative perspective from being pulled too far to the right. The true left represents the people, and their well being as its highest priority, and to see the right as equal to that in anyway, puts you on the right.
Fundamentally what has happened is the 'left of status quo' has been all but shut down for the better part of 30 years and that is why we have drifted too far right. The Tug of War needs two side to maintain balance, but this was the age of hippy punching. All the conservationist and other movements of the 70s dissolved into the roaring, money-centric 80s. The worst part is that we have drifted so far right, that the left can even look as far off as the right, when viewed from the current status quo. So now we have both the right and the middle fighting the left, but the middle can't quiet the right like it can the left.
Its what has gotten us to where we are...
The left has to be allowed to be as vocal as the right and shutting them down just furthers the rightward drift. The problem is the left are generally good people and when shut down, they just did their own thing. The hippies just stopped poking their heads up for anyone to punch. That can't be allowed to continue. The left must have its voice and then center shouldn't be trying to silence it. For its own good.
Things like climate change, the NSA, decade long wars and other such extreme situations have given the left their voice again. You are hearing from socialists and environmentalists and civil rights activists and all the other components of the left. But since the center is so right it tries to shut down the left as too extreme. We are not allowed to say anything bad about the status quo because it will help the right. Our left pull is seen as just a mirror of the right pull when its actually the counter to it.
That is the illusion that must be broken!
Pulling from the left never helps the right, it only counters the rights pull, in the Tug of War. Because we have lost sight of this as a people, we have allowed the center to go to the right. Remember the left isn't going to get everything it wants, but what it will get by pulling is what is needed, to counter what the right gets. That has not been happening, though we do get some things we lose far more and its because we don't allow the left to apply its weight to keep things in balance. The left needs to be just as vocal and pulling on the Dems, as the elements of the right do on their side. Otherwise they win the pull as we have seen for so long now.
Now its worse in that not only does the left need to balance the right, it needs to try and gain back some of the rightward drift thats been lost. So I say this to all who believe they are on the left, or left center and even dead center of the political spectrum. The right does not shut down its various factions, but lets them all yell loud and clear. We need to allow the same for every faction of the left. Not because we agree with all of them, but because we need their weight in the Tug of War. The counter to fascism is socialism and if you don't want fascism you need people yelling for socialism. Yelling for socialism probably won't get you socialism, but it will slow or reverse the drift to fascism that has occurred.
The right has been given a megaphone and the left has had a hand put over its mouth.
I'm not just talking socialism I am talking all aspects of the left no matter how extreme you may see them. I know its weird to think, that you need to support things you may not agree with from the left, to prevent those things you don't agree with on the right from happening, but its a truth. One that has been lost. This is a Democratic site its, where the liberals and progressives belong, even if the Democratic party has become less liberal and progressive.
There is a break at the 'more' and the 'better' because all 'better' are 'more', but not all 'more' are 'better', so there will always be a break at that line. But what I really want people to consider is how shutting down the left has helped the right, and at this point instead of fighting the left, given our obvious difficulties as a nation, maybe its time to join them.
Instead of worrying they will hurt a candidates chances, hope they will improve their performance when they win. That is the big lie, that pulling from the left compounds the rights negative pull. It actually a Tug of War and so only negates it, because no one who thinks a candidate isn't far left enough, is going to vote for someone even farther right. That is the big lie. You have to fight to the left of what you will accept or you will end up to the right of what you need.
That is the story of our last few decades and if nothing is done, it will be the story of our next few as well. Pulling from the middle at this point only helps the right keep the left from getting anything back. If you want better you have to fight for it and not just be content with what you got.
4:10 PM PT: If my presence hurts people then I will leave banned or not. I will not post here again.
My apologies!