Liberal Elitism? No. Some People Are, Sadly, Stupid

[marmar]

from HuffPost:



Oliver Willis
Posted: November 12, 2009

Liberal Elitism? No. Some People Are, Sadly, Stupid




Mike Elk takes "liberal elitism" to task for not taking the Tea Party people seriously, and that that will lead to the election of Sarah Palin and other such ilk.

To quote our vice president, malarkey.

While I have long argued that there is too much elitism on the left for my tastes, there's a wide gulf between holding your nose in the air for no good reason and dumbing yourself down in order to appeal to the lowest common idiotic denominator. Such is the case with the Tea Party group and their leaders like Palin.

Far from the liberals in the '70s who were clearly not responsive enough to the middle class, leading to the rise of Nixon and resentment politics, today's left has gone to great lengths to be a big tent. So much so that some of our biggest fault lines are internal and don't involve the Republicans at all. But far from the pre-Clinton great society types, today's liberals understand that without blue collar people on our side we don't advance as a movement.

The problem is that the vast majority of the issues brought up by the tea party types and Palin are idiotic. These aren't people with the traditional lower-middle class concerns of Americans (which is my family background) but instead these are people who largely believe the conspiracy du jour, whether that involves secret armies, the president's "true" nationality, or Nancy Pelosi's "death panels" that are set up to pull the plug on Grandma. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/oliver-willis/liberal-elitism-no-some-p_b_356218.html

[The Wielding Truth]

1. It's not always stupidity, but gullibility. They are led with fear .

They are easily played. If the cards are dealt with fear in the mix they pick up there pitch forks and march without investigation. That has resulted in the mess this world is in. We are all responsible for finding the answer to dealing with the problems which arise when there is injustice, overreaction, and corruption without accountability.

We and they cannot be used by those who wish to abuse others, to illegally or unethically gain personal goals,power, or wealth.

Faith in an unjust movement, disguised as a holy and spiritually good creed, must be seen and debunked.

Pride taken in a narrow philosophy cannot be used when life's choices depend on so many variables.

How can you make them aware of these things? It has to do with a universal view. Can you make them open their minds to how others relate to their own environments? It's an educational problem, I guess.

A more well rounded person will understand and respect how others can have their own views without being afraid of those people. If, with investigation, we see wrongful actions, we can then summon our strengths and counter those who would harm us or others.

[StarfarerBill]

5. And many times, it's proudly-willful ignorance.

Teabaggers/birthers/deathers/ad nauseum can have the facts illustrated simply, told to them nicely, or shoved in their faces, and they will still call them lies. For some, I'm afraid the statute of limitations for being educated has run out.

[blogslut]

2. Rec #5 for Mr. Willis

The baggers are attempting to paint themselves as ordinary Americans and it's just not true.

[glitch]

3. Only if they are laying the ground story for another stolen election.

Palin will be an even harder sale than W 2004 was though but while these people lack souls they do not lack hubris.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[scarletwoman]

6. I pretty much agree with you.

There is a great deal of disaffection and unfocused anger out there, and that leaves them ripe pickings for demagogues promoting nonsense "conspiracy theories".

People aren't so stupid that they don't know that they're getting a raw deal, they simply lack the understanding of how and why they're getting fucked, and by whom. When someone shows up and says "here's why you're getting fucked", they'll grasp at that explanation -- because at least that someone has gone to the trouble of recognizing that they're disaffected.

The "left" has done a piss-poor job of giving these people an alternative explanation for why they're truly being fucked, because it's too busy defending Democratic politicians and turning up its "smarter-than-thou" nose at the "ignorant" underclass.

We should be co-opting the teabaggers and forthrightly addressing their justified anger and focusing that anger on the real targets -- the corporate-owned duopoly of the Political Class as manifested in our corrupt political system.

We need to stop defending the Democratic Party, and start defending the People.

sw