Politics
Out of context: Reply #9429
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great read.
A friend just sent me a quote.
Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.
Robert A. HeinleinOn first read it seems to make sense but look more closely. In the “such as” list there are seven “tags”. Six are “controlling tags” and only one is not.
In the political spectrum of Left and Right, “Left” is defined by the level of “control”. The more control exercised by the government, the more “leftist” it becomes. Extreme left is Communism, Nazism, and Socialism. These are fascist governments – total control.
The terms “liberal” and “democrat” are now synonymous. It is not possible to vote Democrat without supporting a liberal agenda - a socialist agenda. If you are a Democrat and don’t consider yourself a liberal, watch Glenn Beck. A liberal is a fascist wannabe whether the realization is there or not. Naiveté is a common defect among liberals.
A populist is merely a baby fascist – a fascist seed.
The amount of "Right" is defined by the absence of control with the ultimate “right” being no control; extreme right is anarchy. An extreme “rightist” government does not exist by definition.
In summary, all but one of the author’s tags fits "control" with conservative being the quintessential exception. The tag “republican” is not referenced by Heinlein, but this is not to say that a republican can not fall into the "control" category. However, said Republican would not be conservative and certainly not "Right" nor right. A conservative supports a constitutional republic as defined by the constitution and affirmed by the founders. The constitution sets a balance between the rights of the individual and the responsibility of the government, both State and Federal). A conservative is in the center at the constitutional balance between left and right. To the liberal, the center is now so far to his right it appears extreme.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/197555…
James R. (Jim) Lawrence