Even good and important causes can morph from an exercise in overdue reform into a radical political movement. sullydish writes
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images One of the things you know if you were brought up as a Catholic in a Protestant country, as I was, is how the attempted extirpation of England’s historic Catholic faith was enforced not just by executions, imprisonments, and public burnings but also by the destruction of monuments, statues, artifacts, paintings, buildings, and sacred sculptures. The shift in consciousness that the religious revolution required could not be sustained by words or terror alone.
Similarly, in late-19th-century Russia, much of the intellectual elite also found themselves incapable of drawing a line when it came to revolutionary behavior — and so they tolerated violence that eventually swept everything away in terror. Even though they were the elite, the intelligentsia regarded the wealthy as the real rulers and salivated at the prospect of dethroning them.
Revolutionaries also create new forms of language to dismantle the existing order. Under Mao, “linguistic engineering” was integral to identifying counterrevolutionaries, and so it is today. The use of the term “white supremacy” to mean not the KKK or the antebellum South but American society as a whole in the 21st century has become routine on the left, as if it were now beyond dispute. The word “women,” J.K.
But the erasure of the past means a tyranny of the present. In the words of Orwell, a truly successful ideological revolution means that “every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.
My own view is that this is obviously central to Trump’s sudden, deep decline in the polls. A president who cannot act to prevent a fatal epidemic, who cannot keep a consistent message, and who has shown himself at times to be completely bonkers in his responses is one way this man’s utter unfitness for office has been proved even in the eyes of those more sympathetic to him — older white people. It’s their shift to Biden that has been dispositive in moving the fundamentals of our politics.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Andrew Yang Offers Scathing Explanation For Trump's Racist 'Kung Flu' SlursThe former Democratic candidate said Trump is “desperate” and “grasping at straws that aren’t actually keeping him afloat.”
Read more »
Research finds Andrew Yang's plan would cost Facebook $250 billion - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web.
Read more »
Perspective | Trump thinks Andrew Jackson’s statue is a great monument — but to what?Perspective: Trump thinks Andrew Jackson’s statue is a great monument — but to what?
Read more »
Artist Andrew Kuo Loves His Freezer'I think seeing the Chocolate Factory of amazing foods you can eat in New York City makes me hungry. Not seeing or smelling anything, I’m just like, 'Well, whatever, turkey sandwich sounds great.'' GrubDiet
Read more »
Andrew Puzder on prospects for a post-pandemic economic recoveryAndrew Puzder, senior fellow with Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy and former CKE Restaurants CEO, joins 'Squawk Box' with a look at how the markets and the economy may recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more »
How Andrew Cuomo's Daughters Helped Him Handle COVID-19 Crisis“You try to find peace in whatever situation you're in, and that was the best we could do to find peace.”
Read more »