Political Spectrum: Far Left: Totalitarianism - Far Right: Anarchy |
By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
The liberal left media has been covering a horrific happening in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a driver of a car plowed his vehicle into a crowd in a manner we normally seen committed by Muslim Terrorists. Great Britain's Daily Mail Online provided the following headline: Woman is killed and 19 hurt as car plows into anti-fascists at white nationalist rally: Driver 'intentionally' accelerates into crowd and is arrested after riot cops use tear gas to break up violent clashes.
The Drudge Report provided a list of links revealing for us the ideological attitude being chased over what happened in Virginia.
MAKE AMERICA HATE AGAIN!
CHAOS AT RACE RALLY IN VIRGINIA
MAKE AMERICA HATE AGAIN!
CHAOS AT RACE RALLY IN VIRGINIA
CAR PLOWS INTO PROTESTERS...
Video... Drone view...
Clashes leave dozens injured...
Detroit Red Wings to white supremacists: Stop using our logo...
Battle over Robert E. Lee statue...
Trump condemns bigotry and violence...
Justice Dept, FBI investigating...
McAuliffe Counters Critics of Police Response...
Charlottesville Mayor Blames President...
Video... Drone view...
Clashes leave dozens injured...
Detroit Red Wings to white supremacists: Stop using our logo...
Battle over Robert E. Lee statue...
Trump condemns bigotry and violence...
Justice Dept, FBI investigating...
McAuliffe Counters Critics of Police Response...
Charlottesville Mayor Blames President...
The Republicans are screaming, "See, those far left racist, black lives matter, antifa, communist, socialist Democrats have been violent ever since Trump came into office, and now that their violence has garnered a violent response from someone who is an individual and doesn't even represent us, the idiots want to try and blame it on Trump when it has been their mob-violence that has been encouraging this kind of behavior!"
The Democrats are screaming, "See, I told you those racist, right-wing, gun-toting, bible-thumping Republicans are capable of being violent, and are more dangerous than terrorism being committed by a small violent wing of the religion of peace! Oh, and it's also Trump's fault."
I am sure there are various variations from both sides.
Reading the reports, and watching the videos, over what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, I have determined two things. First, not a single person in that crowd on either side purely represents my point of view. Second, all of the ideologies represented by the various protesters are completely foreign to what was originally intended by the Framers of the United States Constitution.
The media clumps everyone into two groups. Right, and Left. There is, indeed, a political spectrum that exists, and I agree that progressives, socialists and progressives lean left, and conservatives, libertarians and members of the GOP who adhere to the Republican Party platform lean right. But, where do nationalists, white supremacists, Nazis and anarchists lie? What about constitutionalists, like me?
While the left-right paradigm essentially exists, we forget about degrees, and the misinformation that has certain people and certain groups mislabeled. Nazis, for example, are socialists who believe in a fascist methodology to achieve the utopian dream of socialism that is slightly different than what your run-of-the-mill socialists believe. Rather than straight out socialism, which is government ownership of the means of production, fascism uses the bundling of regulations to control the means of production without the government actually taking possession of the private sector as we've seen historically by socialist and communist regimes. In other words, different strategy, same outcome. So, if Nazis and fascists are socialists who still reach for governmental control over the people by way of controlling the means of production, but accomplish their task in a slightly different manner, how is it that we place them on the right with conservatives who believe in limited government, and allowing the private sector to operate without any government interference?
The same goes for nationalists (Founding Father's definition, not today's media's definition), white supremacists, the KKK (both of whom find their roots in the Democrat Party), and some of the racists who see the confederate flag as an excuse to be a racist, not a historical banner for a segment of the United States who were angry that the federal government was trying to force its will upon them (confederates largely also share a foundation with white supremacists, the KKK, and the Democrat Party). While the Confederacy's reason for being willing to fight a war against the union because they didn't wish to be controlled was flawed when it came to the primary ingredient behind that opinion (slavery), the idea of not wanting the federal government dictating to a State what it can, or can't do, is a sound argument on its face. As for Nationalism, from the Founding Father's point of view, it has more to do with pure democracy and mob rule than what they originally intended, concepts the Democrat Party's history has more in common with than that of "right-wingers."
Constitutionalists are the true centrists. The Constitution, based on the political spectrum that places 100% government to the left, and 0% government to the right, is dead center. It created a big government (federal government), and then limited the heck out of it, largely using checks and balances, and two constituencies (Citizens and the States).
Ronald Reagan said "there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down." In other words, right versus left is really about right versus wrong.
When I view groups and political opinions, right and left is not my main concern. My main way of looking at it is simply to ask, "Are they, and their opinions about government, in line with the United States Constitution?" I follow a political belief system that is more in line with the concept of Laissez Faire, and the opinions of the Founding Fathers who did not consider themselves to be nationalists, or monarchists.
As a result of the limited government strategy by the Framers of the U.S. Constitution, the United States has been an exceptional country governed by an exceptional system of liberty.
Exceptionalism is a term that has come to describe the American System. America is exceptional, not meaning we are necessarily superior (though our system is), but that our system is an exception to the rule. Different. Unique. No system is exactly like ours. The federal government should only handle external issues, disputes between the States, and issues that are expressly enumerated by the text of the Constitution, or any subsequent amendment.
All other ideas, concepts or systems are foreign, and do not belong in our culture.
The enemies of Laissez Faire use identity politics to divide everyone into warring factions, and multiculturalism as a foot in the door for groups like Islam, socialism, and fascism who hate the liberty our Constitution defends and promotes. They seek to destroy the individualism that fuels our system of liberty, and the market economic system that enables the prosperity that our system of liberty enjoys.
The American System of Liberty is the foundation upon which the pillars of Western Civilization rests. President Donald Trump understands that the values of the West were birthed as a result of American Liberty. He said, regarding our Western Values, in Poland, "The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?"
Foreign ideas, both overseas, and domestic, seek to destroy and replace our system of liberty, and it is our responsibility as Americans to protect it. That said, how difficult does that become when so many members of our own society have been infected with foreign ideas, such as the protesters on both sides of the police tape in Charlottesville, Virginia? Terms like "liberty," and "Western Civilization", after all, do not ring with ideas of Laissez Faire to the liberal left, or the people in Charlottesville the media has been calling the alt-right. Leftists hear "racism" and "religiosity," because to them the Western Culture is one of white Protestantism.
Foreign ideas, both overseas, and domestic, seek to destroy and replace our system of liberty, and it is our responsibility as Americans to protect it. That said, how difficult does that become when so many members of our own society have been infected with foreign ideas, such as the protesters on both sides of the police tape in Charlottesville, Virginia? Terms like "liberty," and "Western Civilization", after all, do not ring with ideas of Laissez Faire to the liberal left, or the people in Charlottesville the media has been calling the alt-right. Leftists hear "racism" and "religiosity," because to them the Western Culture is one of white Protestantism.
The reality is, regardless of the fact that Christianity and Saxon Laissez Faire are among the pillars of our system of liberty, ours is not an exclusive ideology. All Americans of all backgrounds are welcome to enjoy the opportunities available as a result of our individualism-centric system. That said, the reality is that other cultures and political systems are not morally equivalent if their system places additional control and power in the hands of the ruling class, and does not hold to the same moral standards that form the foundation of our system of liberty.
While I believe that the Charlottesville protesters believe they were just in how they were conducting their rallies, the mob-violence calling for racial division, or racial preferential treatment by government, has no place in our American System. Yes, it is important to fight for what you believe in, and I tell constitutionalists all the time how important it is to fight the good fight. But, the ends do not justify the means, especially when the goal is change through radical revolutionary means seeking communalism and collectivism.
While we have the ability to defend liberty as constitutionalists, and our methods are not even close to the terrorist-style of mob-violence being used by the kinds of folks who were at the confrontation in Charlottesville, that does not mean we are not to be firm in our stance, and resilient in the fight. To be honest, the real question is, do we have the intestinal fortitude to persevere through the long journey to protect our system of liberty?
The enemies of Laissez Faire use identity politics to divide everyone into warring factions, and multiculturalism as a foot in the door for groups like Islam, socialism, and fascism who hate the liberty our Constitution defends and promotes. They seek to destroy the individualism that fuels our system of liberty, and the market economic system that enables the prosperity that our system of liberty enjoys.
In truth, it is amazing to me that anyone would consciously reject liberty. Either, they don't understand that the American System is the anchor that has fueled freedom, prosperity, and the rise of innovation worldwide, or they hate it and prefer to live in a system that is barbaric and resides in a realm of poverty and tyranny. To a constitutionalist like me, it is unfathomable that anyone would prefer bondage over liberty, much less fight to defend systems of tyranny that historically result in misery and death; but the reality is, those people exist and are out there.
In Charlottesville, both sides, the hard leftists, and the group the media calls the "alt-right", are both mistaken in their ideologies. Their ideas of the way government should be run, and how a society ought to function, are foreign to American Liberty, and are destructive on the face. I hate the fact that there is anyone out there who even considers placing any of them in the same column with constitutionalism. In all fairness, while a few of them might share a political position or two, their overall positions are foreign to American Liberty, and foment the kind of violence we currently see them committing. In the end, the only answer to our downward spiral, is to return to the original intent of the U.S. Constitution, which means limiting the powers of the federal government, and disallowing the government from interfering with the free market.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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