Hope vs Fear

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The entire history of American political debate can, in one sense, be described as the argument between the hope of progressives and liberals for a better future vs. the fear of conservatives who want to protect the way things are now.

• Fear has been a staple of every generation of conservatives .... Fear of the democratic mob. Fear of the freed slave. Fear of the liberated woman destroying the traditional family. Fear of freethinkers destroying religion. Fear of communism. Fear of gays and lesbians. Fear of hippies, "free love," and the drug culture. Fear of the immigrant. In a bizarre twist, Social Darwinism gave us fear of the weak, and in the modern version of Social Darwinism, Reagan gave us fear of the poor on welfare. Post-9/11, you can now add in the ever-potent fear of terrorism. (from The Progressive Revolution by Mike Lux)
  

George Gerbner, who headed the Annenberg School for Communication for 25 years, noted:

• "Fearful people are more dependent, more easily manipulated and controlled, more susceptible to deceptively simple, strong, tough measures and hard-line postures. … They may accept and even welcome repression if it promises to relieve their insecurities."

How frightened and insecure do you have to be to deliberately choose the lowest mediocrity for your government?

It never ceases to amaze me that anyone would vote to vest the entire government in the hands of a group of people who don't believe in government and who do their best to see to it that government does not function well. And, that, my gentle snowflakes, means the conservative Republicans.

Remember, the great God of the conservative Republicans, Reagan said, "Government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem." Then Bush 43 came along and seemingly set out to prove just how badly government could function--Katrina for possibly the single most outstanding example.

So, I ask you, what drives people to embrace stupidity, aggression, recklessness, destruction and contemptuousness as national policy, especially when they have other choices?

Democrats/Liberals/Progressives know what wonderful, important contributions American can make when properly motivated. We are ready for hope - not fear - to be out guiding principle. For "What if?" - not "What happened?" - to be our next national question.

We know we all live here. We know we need a government that functions as well as possible with the least possible intrusions into any aspect of our lives. But, maybe most importantly, we know that we do need a government.