Don't just blame the Republicans and the Rich, Democrats and Liberals must take responsibility

[AZ Progressive]

Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

Reality: America is a competitive nation.

The members of the Republican Party and the Right Wing are largely from the business world, a world of cutthroat competitiveness and win at all costs. You have to be strong otherwise you won't be respected. In the business world, you have to be very aggressive otherwise a competitor will destroy you. Only the best and the most aggressive survive.

That is the nature of the beast, and you have to recognize that when you know what your going up against.

So why the hell hasn't the leadership in the Democratic Party and liberals / progressives EVER recognize that? And America itself is a pretty competitive nation, it should've been understood that when you come to play, that you have to put your best game on.

So why in the hell didn't the leadership in the Democratic Party as well as liberal / progressive leaders take the threat of the right wing seriously even as far back as the 1970's!? The Republicans and the Rich doing all this destruction nowadays wouldn't have happened if leaders in the left (especially unions) and the Democratic Party wouldn't have gotten together decades ago, recognized the threat of a rapidly growing right wing power base, that there was a war being fought against them, and decided how to deal with the threat, and dealt with it in an effective and organized manner.

Would Reagan have been able to unshackle the Rich via the lowering of the top tax rate if it wasn't with the help of the Democrats in the 80's? As far as I know, Democrats controlled Congress back then and they are responsible for significant changes to the tax code. A vigilant Democratic Party leadership in that time could've prevented Reagan from doing that. A vigilant Democratic Party would not have allowed things to get this bad in this country.

And wasn't it the Teamsters that endorsed Reagan in 1980? Where the hell have Unions been not anticipating threats against them? Unions have allowed themselves to become irrelevant, and who has suffered? The 99% and ultimately this nation. Unions in Europe seem to have been much fiercer as they are still much more relevant there.

Is it that Democrats and the American Left are just not the types of people to play rough with barbarians and thugs? Bullshit. Theodore Roosevelt was a highly aggressive progressive, took on the big corporations, and ushered in the Progressive Era of the 1900s - 1910's that dismantled them (Taft and Wilson included). FDR and Truman didn't let the Right bully them, they took them on aggressively. Even nowadays, the LGBT movement is about the only admirable part of the left and they can be admired for their strategy in getting both their rights to be advanced as well as for America to be accepting them. They are very organized and with effective leadership, including from GLAAD. Maybe the Left needs it's own Baron Von Steuben?

But really, socially things have gotten better, but what good is social progress if you are stressed out from having to work very hard just to support yourself (thus leading to a shortened life due to stress's harmful effects)? If you can't even get a job and thus have to live in the dangerous world of poverty or homelessness? If you are an economic slave? If your sense of self has been absolutely crushed because your life has effectively been destroyed because you lost your career and even can't get a decent job? Neo-Feudalism is a horrid world to live in and completely anti-freedom.

And why the hell haven't Democrats as well as other liberals and progressives been passionate about their cause compared to the right wing? It's worse than a slap in the face to all minorities, the working class, middle class, as well as younger generations. It's like "your not worth fighting for", or even more broadly: "The future of this country is not worth fighting for, despite all the sacrifices that have done just for this country to exist and for it's people to live good lives." Why in the hell are the gun toting bible thumping Right Wingers that are fearful of imaginary threats more passionate about their cause than ours? It's almost twilight zone like flipping of reality.

Democrats and liberals / progressives as a collective have been, I'm sorry to say, at worst, weak and stupid for decades, and at best, incredibly naive about the laws of the jungle or that, despite believing in a functional democracy, foolishly not recognizing or accepting that they are dealing with iron fisted autocrats. Nevertheless the American people, including minorities and the younger generations, have paid the price for it. As someone who studied Business Administration in College, I can't help but be appalled at the lack of an ability to perceive a threat as well as the lack of organization and leadership within the Democratic Party and liberals / progressive organizations.

I'm putting this up again: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke

[Thinkingabout]

1. Though the more affluent rich belongs to the republican party we know

90% is the lower income and we know there has to be lots of lower income people voting for the Republicans. In fact I know many around me who get less income who vote against their best interest. Many vote for Republicans because of the abortion issue, the gun nuts are convinced Democrats are coming for their guns and for others prejudices is overtaking common sense. Bottom line there are more Democrats and Democrat thinkers and we need to push them to get out and vote.

[msongs]

2. there is no longer much connection between democrats & liberals. why are you bagging them together

what is commonly referred to as "democrats" is pretty much liberal republican, the philosophy espoused by the head of the party

[Eleanors38]

3. Too bad most DUers have not commented here...

The Party had given up the duty of defining itself and its policies for fear of upsetting its corporate base, which it has catered to assiduously for some 40 yrs. The result: The GOP gets to define Both parties, which works in the FR's favor.

The "left" is in fragments, and has NO friends; in the MSM, in the Party, in the administration. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will awaken from our fantasies, and take the most minimal of actions: Take over the Democratic Party or create a new party. If this is not done, the "left" will only be relevant as some hobgoblin for anyone who wants to drag it out for a little beat-down sport.

Incidentally, I will keep my guns handy. The gun control issue is a shining beauty of how the Party looks deceptive, duplicitous and weak; a microsm of the worldview the GOP has successfully built. Otherwise, I'm with you.