Almost 60 years ago, the historian Richard Hofstadter described what he saw as the true goal of McCarthyism. “The real function of the Great Inquisition of the 1950s was not anything so simply rational as to turn up spies or prevent espionage,” he wrote, “or even to expose actual Communists, but to discharge resentments and frustrations,…
Almost 60 years ago, the historian Richard Hofstadter described what he saw as the true goal of McCarthyism. “The real function of the Great Inquisition of the 1950s was not anything so simply rational as to turn up spies or prevent espionage,” he wrote, “or even to expose actual Communists, but to discharge resentments and frustrations, to punish, to satisfy enmities whose roots lay elsewhere than in the Communist issue itself.” - From Jamelle Bouie's NYT column
Great post, but I would add that I think the truth is somewhere in between...just like today. Unscrupulous politicians using fear as a way to sway voters/citizens....but I think the citizens truly think they are doing what's right. That's a very key aspect if we want to get out of this...don't just assume they are "bad" people. Easy to do, but that's not what will save our nation.
And that is why we will not ever get out of this. We will not be able to save our country. Citizens don't want what is right--- they want what will make them feel safe and secure. But democracy is unstable by nature. Democracy requires hard work, compromise, understanding and agreeing on facts, and the desire to see a politics where the greatest good for the greatest number of fellow citizens is held as an ideal.
Americans are tired of all the work democracy requires and so are ready to run to right wing or left wing authoritarians of one sort of another.
Right now it looks like the right wing authoritarians are winning because of the structural imbalances built into the Constitution. When the Constitution can no longer hold the country together because it has become the instrument of dividing the country then there is no way the "United States" can remain united.
Almost 60 years ago, the historian Richard Hofstadter described what he saw as the true goal of McCarthyism. “The real function of the Great Inquisition of the 1950s was not anything so simply rational as to turn up spies or prevent espionage,” he wrote, “or even to expose actual Communists, but to discharge resentments and frustrations, to punish, to satisfy enmities whose roots lay elsewhere than in the Communist issue itself.” - From Jamelle Bouie's NYT column
Those who don't remember the past . . . . .
And those who DO remember history--- are doomed to repeat it anyway!
Great post, but I would add that I think the truth is somewhere in between...just like today. Unscrupulous politicians using fear as a way to sway voters/citizens....but I think the citizens truly think they are doing what's right. That's a very key aspect if we want to get out of this...don't just assume they are "bad" people. Easy to do, but that's not what will save our nation.
And that is why we will not ever get out of this. We will not be able to save our country. Citizens don't want what is right--- they want what will make them feel safe and secure. But democracy is unstable by nature. Democracy requires hard work, compromise, understanding and agreeing on facts, and the desire to see a politics where the greatest good for the greatest number of fellow citizens is held as an ideal.
Americans are tired of all the work democracy requires and so are ready to run to right wing or left wing authoritarians of one sort of another.
Right now it looks like the right wing authoritarians are winning because of the structural imbalances built into the Constitution. When the Constitution can no longer hold the country together because it has become the instrument of dividing the country then there is no way the "United States" can remain united.