Democrats are endangering democracy with their bungling
Polarized, radical thinking and authoritarianism on the left and right are growing existential threats to America.
Left-wing authoritarianism is manifest in the Twitter organized “cancel culture” campaigns where a small minority of leftist radicals try to ruin the monuments or lives of those who dare violate their ideology. This is particularly true at universities, which overall are wonderful places of learning and research, but which also feature the occasional PC zealots skulking the hallways for nonconformers.
Gender is another controversial topic fraught with confusion and polarization. There is, for example, the incidence of a transgender woman athlete who has made her gender transition after reaching puberty. She has the height, weight, broad shoulders, and comparatively narrow hips of a man, all of which bestow athletic advantage, yet she may, nonetheless, be allowed to compete with females. It’s obviously unfair to the cisgender (regular identity) women.
Whether it’s coming from progressives, activists, advertisers, publishers, or whomever, there is an overdose of “woke” ideology these days. This leads to backlash, for there’s a difference between asking people to be accepting of new behaviors, versus rubbing controversial activities in their face.
The media is also a topic of concern for many Americans. Although vastly more accurate than Fox News, there is sometimes bias in what is often regarded as the “mainstream media.” This is particularly evident concerning immigration (see NPR) and racial issues. Incidences of black and brown people being racist are often marginalized in newscast or not labeled as racism. But acts of white racism are frequently headlined and shown repeatedly. This imbalance of coverage discredits mainstream news, antagonizes many white viewers, and feeds into hard-right politics.
“Defund the police,” a few Democrats shouted in the wake of seeing people like themselves murdered by white cops. In very few places was such an unproductive ideology partially implemented, and it has already been largely reversed. But it handed to Republicans the perfect occasion to assert, “These crazy liberals will make you unsafe.” Extremism on the left fuels it on the right.
Immigration is an unknown disaster for many Democrats. America is a country, not an employment agency or population relief valve for the rest of the world. As for refugees, my heart goes out to most of them, but there are other good countries willing to provide safe haven. Many people come here as a preference, not a necessity.
Moreover, the thought of being replaced by foreigners is revolting to people everywhere. Both parties share responsibility for excessive immigration, but Democrats (“Abolish ICE!”) currently are receiving the blame. Each new video of people crossing our southern border in droves is a disaster for Democratic prospects of wining future elections.
Another liberal debacle is ignoring rural and industrial America with its farmers, truckers, machinists, and other hard-working Americans. Instead of listening to their needs and values, liberals too often ethnocentrically look down on these folks with smugness.
The Democratic party is fragmented and somewhat weak in comparison to the GOP. Rarely, when they have an opportunity to land a straight right hand to their opponent’s jaw, do Democratic politicians not punch themselves in the face instead!
There are many problems with the Democratic party. Nevertheless, liberals aren’t a direct threat to American democracy, for they do much better than Republicans staying within the framework of the Constitution. Instead, Democrats threaten democracy through their frequent ineptitude, lack of inclusivity (regarding blue-collar Whites), and their outspoken members who provide cannon fodder for Republican criticism, such as Bernie Sanders calling himself some type of socialist.
However, an important difference to note between the two parties is that the radicals among the Democrats usually represent their lunatic fringe, whereas for the Republicans, QAnon followers and white supremacists have penetrated their center. The attempted coup on Jan 6th wasn’t solely orchestrated by Donald Trump, it was instead an organized effort by numerous Republican politicians and their allies. One of the most immediate existential threats to our great nation is the rise of autocracy within the GOP and the Bolshevikian government that it would produce.
If a person were to exclusively watch news of the faults and follies of either party, they could work themselves into a dither. Yet the easy approach of finding a familiar echo chamber seems too attractive for many people to resist. The cost, however, is that one misses most of reality. If you want to understand society, you must expose yourself to numerous avenues of information, frequently shift your attention, and look critically at different parties, peoples, and policies. Don’t label yourself (liberal or conservative), for that limits your perspective. Just be a thinker.