Republicans use America's own social taboos against us

[slay]

Republicans draw their power from issues that we as a society have not been able to agree upon. The good news is that we have come a long way. Women and blacks have fought for freedom from the attacks of these assholes and won. Gays are getting damn close. Any issue which people are just expected to ignore gives that issue power over the people since it is an issue which is not being solved. Here's a list of current social issues we have not been able to solve which they use to divide and conquer us:

-So called "curse words" = Attack of the FCC. Remind me again why some words are illegal? Ridiculous.

-The fact that some people are gay = Ban gay marriage.

-Drug use = Many, many good people in jail. **Most all of us are drug users, it's just that some drugs (alcohol, cigarettes) are more socially acceptable than others. This is one of the saddest, most unjust consequences of Republican rule.

-Nudity = Return of the attack of the FCC and "family values". So the naked human body is something we should all be ashamed of I guess.

-Against the Iraq War = Get labeled as "you hate America".

-Non-Christian = No such thing. To them, all people are Christians, we just need to accept Jesus Christ and we too can be "saved".


I'm sure I'm leaving out quite a few. Republicans are indeed the masters of this Divide and Conquer type of rule. By focusing on issues that fall under the category of social taboo, Republicans stir up hatred and intolerance in their base. And oh yeah, they lie a lot too. It's high time we start calling them out on their lies and sinister tactics.

[applegrove]

1. It is Indirect Rule. First they get us all into little tribes. Even if

there were not differences.. they wedge us into little groups. Then they encourage us to fight with our neighbors. We are now victims of Indirect Rule. We get mired in the petty cultural & moral arguments.. while the elites rule the money & the resources & the structure of the nation.

England ruled Quebec like that. Quebecers were ruled through Catholic Church Parishes. All of English colonies in Africa were rules that way too. Also India and the ME.

Yup - Bush pushes for less tribalism (elite rule from above) in the ME. All the while he creates it in the USA. (The British also created tribal hierarchies where there were none - ask Nigerians how they liked the Biafran Civil war. Ask India and Pakistan how Indirect Rule worked for them. Oh.. and Rwanda. And Quebec.

Clap clap clap. Here is to Bush & Indirect (tribal at the bottom and elites at the top). We middle class will be so busy struggling with local 'customary law' that we will not have the time to poke our heads up and look at the structure of the Democracy. Ask the quebecors what they saw when they ignored the priests & poked up their heads and saw every single English speaking person living in a mansion on a hill... and not a French Speaking person among them.

FACT IS THAT IF YOU ARE NOT WORKING EVERY DAY AS A COUNTRY TO REDUCE DIFFERENCES THEN YOU ARE WORKING TO ENTRENCH THEM & THE HATE THAT GOES WITH THAT.

[slay]

2. Excellent points

You are so right. They do break us up into little groups. Gays, pot-smokers, liberals, etc. And that's just our side. However this time, it seems they may have gone too far. Many of these smaller groups are uniting against Republican rule - and in favor of each others worthy causes. One thing I've realized is just because they rule by division, we as individuals do not have to use that tactic. The good people who post here at DU have shown me that there is reason for hope, and that good people are out there. :)

*edited to correct "out" to "our". Durn spell checker.

[Deja Q]

3. Delete

Delete

[Lisa]

4. they also use taboos that progressives helped create ...

For example, all the activism that went into taking the stigma out of drug and alcohol addiction -- trying to get people to see it as a medical condition, not a sin. It's no longer acceptable to make jokes about alcoholics (well, I guess someone didn't get the memo:
"'All Drunks Are Welcome' is what the sign ought to say" -- GWB, Mar. 1, 2005).

The Republicans put any discussion of George W.'s past problems off limits -- if he drove drunk or couldn't carry out his Guard duties because he was inebriated, it was a "a personal issue". Even getting him to disclose it would be "trashing his character", and unfairly picking on him.

Same thing with learning disabilities. It's taken decades to get to the stage where a child who has trouble reading, writing, or concentrating in school isn't being written off as "dumb". Neo-conservatives frequently ridicule liberals, claiming that there is no such thing as ADD, for example -- just "lazy and undisciplined" students. They cut special-education programs because they "coddle" kids instead of getting tough with them, and are "inefficient" (no immediate $ benefit). Other people in Bush's family have been diagnosed with dyslexia -- Bush himself has never said whether his problems in school were ever associated with it. But if you criticize the fact that he often seems ill-prepared and mis-speaks, Bush's supporters do a 180-degree turn and accuse you of teasing the handicapped.

[BeFree]

5. Good point, Lisa

I never thought of it that way, but that is exactly what they do. It's like Judo: use your opponent's power to beat them.

Let's see: what is their power which can be used against them?