Our Liberties and The Fourth of July

I'm writing this entry in honor of our nation's independence and to celebrate our liberties.

“What does it take for millions of individuals to support a philosophy that explicitly negates their personal value?”

I saw this question asked somewhere out in Internets-land and it stuck with me.  It’s a question that begs one to study a little history.  Now, mind you, history was NEVER my best subject.  In fact history was way, way down the list.  But as I get older (and have a history of my own), I realize how important it is that we understand what has happened in the past and how that history could so easily be repeated.  Once we understand the mistakes that were made in the past, doesn’t that make us better able to avoid those mistakes presently and in the future?

I’ve asked myself that question many times through my life.  I’m one of those that need to make a mistake several hundred times before it finally sinks in that “Maybe I’m going about this the wrong way.”  But my mistakes don’t affect an entire nation.  At least I sure hope not!

Maybe a quick look at the rise of Fascism?  I know, I know….another “ism”.  But maybe this “ism” is an important one to ponder eh?

 A fascist regime generally gains support by promoting a series of ideas through the media, public rallies and other forms of propaganda. We’re all familiar with propaganda.  During the fifties, anyone who had to go through “duck and cover” drills was subjected to a form of propaganda.  Fear is a great motivator and fear of the Soviet Union by the U.S. (and conversely) fear of the U.S. by the Soviet Union, went a long way towards building a military-industrial complex in both.  We see fear tactics being used every day in television advertising – “you won’t get the girl if you drink THAT beer” “you won’t get the guy if you don’t use THIS toothpaste”.  We see fear tactics being used every day in politics – “You won’t have a job if we let those brown people stay here” “You won’t have a future if Muslims are allowed to worship in New York” “Death panels” “The 3 a.m. phone call” “Socialism” “Others”.

 
It’s that very deliberate manipulation of our sensibilities that leads us to a paralyzing fear.  We end up with a country that cares not for its citizens but for the power of its leaders.  They propagandize with, “We know what’s good for you.  We know what you need.  We know what to do.”  We are especially susceptible to this propaganda when our nation is in crisis, when “The State” is in decline.  Rather than point to the power-grab by unscrupulous leaders, they try to convince us that it’s the fault of racial or ethnic groups.  “They make ‘The State’ impure” and “They weaken us.”  They claim that there is a vast conspiracy by those groups that aims “to keep ‘The State’ down.”  They remind us of an idealized past and raise former power-hungry leaders to a status of sainthood.  Ronald Reagan has been elevated to a level beyond rational consideration by the Republican Party.  Knowledge of history would remind us that he was the first to provide “amnesty” (a dirty word to Republicans) for millions of illegal immigrants while doing nothing about border security.  It would remind us of Iran-Contra Affair.  At the time Ollie North swore that Reagan knew nothing about it.  Later, he admitted that Reagan had been part of the operation all along.  And Reagan’s economic policies and deregulation policies have led to thirty years of a declining middle class in America.

Now the Republican party (aka Grover Nordquist/Koch brothers/Pharma/Oil) are trying to convince the working and middle-class that the only answer to our problems is the need for us to submit to major changes - a new social structure and way of life - in order to achieve revival.

I describe the classical liberal idea this way.  Individuals have natural rights that pre-exist government.  Government derives its "just powers" only through the consent of the governed.   The principal function of government is to protect the lives, liberties, and properties of its citizens, not to aggrandize “The State”.  These are the very ideals and liberties that were crushed by Fascism in Europe after World War I.  These are the very ideals and liberties that are currently being crushed by the corporate take-over of America, with full backing and glorification by the Republican Party.