I just saw 8 minutes of George Will on Charlie Rose. He said something I was trying to get at when I mentioned Obama's comment about God and Guns. He said something very close to:
What has afflicted Liberalism for the last 40 years is condescension.
I think he's right. And that is one of the pitfalls Obama must avoid.
6 comments:
Well, I'd take any "advice" for the Democrats from George Will with a grain of salt. Sounds like he's concern trolling here, which would be in character: he may be disaffected, but he's still a Republican at heart. I am suspicious that he's just trying to push a "liberals are condescending" meme, but I didn't hear the piece so I really can't say.
Having said that, are liberals "condescending?" I dunno. Haven't thought about that. I can think of a lot of adjectives I'd apply to them, many bad (incompetent, spineless, weak come to mind) but condescending is not one of them. I suppose some could view certain individual liberals as being preachy and moralistic and holier-than-thou, but certainly that is also true of the right wing?
Josh, since you seem to agree with him, can you give some examples? I am genuinely curious.
I was not persuaded by George Will, he just stated it clearly.
Trick question. Why do you think people who aren't rich vote Republican?
There's a great book out there that tackles that question. It's a couple of years old now, but it's still relevant. It was called "What's the Matter with Kansas?" and the whole point was to address the mechanisms that the GOP has used to induce middle and lower class voters to vote against their own economic self-interest.
In brief, I think they vote GOP because the GOP has been very effective in utilizing wedge cultural issues while pursuing policies which don't quite fulfill their campaign promises. VOTE to keep gays from marrying, GET social security privatization. VOTE to restore honor and dignity to the white house, GET tax cuts for the top 5%. and so on.
I think I see where you might be going with this, but I don't think it's condescending to point out that the GOP has been lying for 30 years and that people have been falling for it.
I've been struggling with how to respond. I don't want to attack you personally, but you really don't sense any condescension in
"You vote the way you do because you've been duped."
Josh,
Don't worry about "attacking" me -- I can take it all as fair discussion. I'm still friends with Matt after ten years of politics, right?
Anyway, no, I don't see that as "condescending," not intrinsically. To tell someone that they have been lied to, manipulated, and exploited is not condescending. To call the liars "liars" is not condescending. It is true that those who have a vested interest in perpetuating the lies can characterize this as "liberal condescension." That boxes us in nicely, doesn't it? How can we debunk the falsehoods and manipulations if the act of pointing them out is by definition taboo?
I recognize this as being based in the conviction that I am right and they are wrong. It is also possible to characterize that belief as "condescending." Bear in mind that they think the same thing! Why are *they* not condescending? It's because this whole meme is one created by conservatives to distract and confuse, and to smear liberals.
No, I firmly believe that it is possible to disagree, and to point out the manipulative behavior of the cons without "condescending."
But I think we would both agree that in order to win, negativity and telling people they are wrong is not a great strategy. We need to counter the bullshit, but we also need to stand for something affirmative. It's nice that for the first time in 20 years, our leaders appear to be doing so.
I've ordered the Kansas book because it is so often referenced. I think there is some denial here of how much a large part of the citizenry doesn't agree with many parts of progressiveness, liberalism, I'm not sure what the right term is. And so doesn't vote for candidates, usually Democrats, who hold views counter to their own.
But, you are right that we agree standing for something affirmative is good strategy, and Obama has that going. He has the rhetoric, anyway. That's what people like about him, I think.
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