Thursday, May 29, 2008

Being a Liberal Used to Mean Something

Confessions of a former liberal:



As a former "liberal" I have a few statements to make. The very reason I was a liberal is because I felt it stood for something. I thought it stood for equality, for principles, for liberty, for standing up to lies and tyranny. Now I realize it has slowly become a bull shit whiners club. So much self flagellating and so little genuine critical thought.

Democrats ran the administration that defeated Nazism and the Japanese Empire, simultaneously, but what happened? These people were for the working class, they were liberal, and they wanted to make sure others had the same rights that they so valued. As I read the works of our founding fathers (United States) I see a group of people who view liberty as of paramount importance. The germinal works of the intellectual foundation of the United States clearly evidence a view that I can fully support.

We see liberals like Noam Chomsky (see below) who take every opportunity to distort reality and history to score points against the US. We see liberals who blame the United States for 9-11, saying we brought it on ourselves. They defend the Islamists, saying attacks on this pestilent ideology is Islamophobia. The biggest bit of nonsense ever. Islam is an ideology freely adopted by its adherents, not a race. Would these same whiny liberals object to the term "Naziphobia"? It is not denoting a hatred of Germans, it denotes a fear of "Nazism".

These liberals share a lot of common reasoning with the Islamists. For instance the grand mufti of Australia saying rape is the fault of the woman, is a lot like the liberals here saying 9-11 is the fault of America. This is even worse because if the analogy were reversed, it would be like the woman saying it is her own fault she was raped. And, no surprise, feminists lead the charge in this form of self flagellation.

Ironically, as it was the left in the US that fought and destroyed Nazism, it is the left in Europe that will usher fascism back into prominence. As they constantly apologize for the bigoted and violent rhetoric of Islamists living in Europe, as they continue to treat honor killings as individual events instead of part of a larger problem, they pave the way for reactionaries to rise to power. Once they allow a Muslim population to grow in numbers while simultaneously radicalising itself they allow neo-Fascists the opportunity of raising the specter of the "other", and they won't be altogether wrong.

Europeans have a history of appeasement of evil, it certainly seems the liberals in the US have adopted a similarly dangerous habit. I see the reason why so many neo-conservatives made the move they did.

6 comments:

Elephant said...

Someone very wise suggested to me that most people's "drift to the right" has very little to do with ideas. Rather, it's the growing realisation that time is short, and pragmatic solutions might be more worthwhile than grandiose ideologies.

The left always has plenty to say. It's practical action that's rather short. Talking about the awfulness of war and how terrible things are in Darfur doesn't actually stop anyone being killed, mutilated or raped. But it makes you look good as you make your Oscar acceptance speech.

Ibn al-Rawandi said...

Oh Christ. Don't get me started on actors and their nonsense. Just look at Sharon Stone's recent nonsense about Karma. Blaming some non-existent life force (a la George Lucas) for the death of thousands of innocents.

I am simply fed up with liberals, it has gotten worse over time. And I don't feel I am going right, I am just interested in reality, evidence, truth, and other things that liberals seem to only have a casual relationship with.

Gordon said...

What I am most fearful of is the rise of the right. The only substantial criticism of Islam is often the cover for racists and fascists.
We need to somehow start proper criticism of Islam in our mainstream discourse. The "left" whatever that actually means anymore is not only allowing the rise of militant (true doctrinal) Islam, the left is ensuring, facilitating, the more vile elements of the far right.

Ibn al-Rawandi said...

Gordon,






That is my point. As long as these issues go unresolved the more emboldened the ultra-nationalist fascists become. Solving the Muslim issue is key to pre-empting neo-fascism.

Podaar said...

Al,

I was reading your blog when Pantera's "Respect" started playing on the radio station I'm listening to. I've decided it's the perfect soundtrack to your blog.

I think I'm going to rip "Cowboys from Hell" to this computer for the times I check back on your thoughts. :)

Gregg

Ibn al-Rawandi said...

Podaar,







I got Pantera? Not bad not bad at all. I felt I was more of a Metallica "Master of Puppets Album" kind of thinker. I appreciate you providing the score to the movie that is my life.