Liberal Anti-War Rallies

[lady lemonade]

It's a rally. It's where loud people brandish cut and paste slogans, chant potent propaganda and just make a whole lot of noise, whether it be at a liberal or conservative gathering. For those who organized it, the different messages don't count as much as how big the turn-out is, how great are the numbers that will be in the papers the next day, the more people the better. I'm sure you could have found people in that crowd that might be opposed to some issues and supportive of others; but the point was not to discuss both sides of the various issues, it was to get a big group of people to make themselves heard in the press and express their dissent with the current policy, which is their right under a democratic regime.

[melon]

Originally posted by garibaldo
I'm currently going to school in Cambridge, MA, which is just as liberal.

LOL...you're right next door. I would never have guessed. Going to Harvard?

<--lives in Cambridge

Truthfully, your criticisms of liberalism are warranted. An interesting analysis of 20th century philosophies are interesting in attempting to explain the world, but they are built upon the premise that it is "us" (leftism) vs. "them" (capitalism). Those in the positions of power ("dominant hegemony") are always exclusively capitalist, and the "solution" is always a shift in power that is more leftist/populist in base...but then they assume that they are immune of the same forces of power abuse as their capitalist predecessors. The Soviet Union clearly showed that that wasn't the case.

It is *because* of this notion of "ideological immunity" on the part of leftist philosophy that I believe that it warrants sufficient criticism, in the same fashion that leftism criticizes capitalism. With that, allow me to comment on the particular issue of the face of the "liberal left." I would say that these particular leftists are as far left as Jerry Falwell and his followers are far right. The exclusionism and the polarized demonizing with simplistic answers as to how "fix the world" are two things that these groups would certainly have in common. I also think that both groups share the distinction of being considered too extremist to be taken wholly seriously, but have enough followers that they are noticed by the press. However, both are simply loud minorities within both ideological ends, and I, personally, would not say that this is the general face of liberalism. Or, at least, no more so than Jerry Falwell could be the general face of conservatism.

Anyhow...interesting thread...

Melon

[BVS]

Well Garibaldo I appreciate your posts. In the very least is gives me just a little more insight into the "other side". I've always lived in the mind set of "know thy enemy".

I just think that you should be careful of the contradicitons you walk through. You say their research and education is biased yet alot of your arguments came from very biased ideals. You seemed to hide behind jokes, and still use the argument that "it's just not likely".

Being on either extreme of the spectrum is living in dangerous waters in my opinion. But like it was said this was a rally, you can't spell out the true beliefs of every individual there. You said that your ideas sometimes stray to the left, but there was no way to tell from your first post. You came off pretty far right. And I'm sure some people judged you that way, be careful of your assumptions. You know what they say about people who assume.

[pax]

Originally posted by garibaldo
Let's not pretend to be open-minded and inclusive and then go ahead and make generalizations about other people, mmkkkay?

Frankly, I have little respect for most of you (I'm sure the feeling is shared).

Hence, why this thread is being closed. Any complaints, take them to Elvis. I'm sick of this one already.

There are a number of conservative posters here (nbcrusader and Dreadsox come to mind immediately) who air their viewpoints pretty freely and with respect and courtesy. So don't even start with the "FYM Mods Hate Conservatives" thing. We don't.

Move on, kids. This thread only had a fragile justification for existence in the first place.