Authoritarianism - A present danger

Recently, I reread an article published almost a year ago, and noticed something salient to what has happened in America over the past year. The urban/rural divide in America also corresponds to a second divide - that of Libertarians and Authoritarians.

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In the Vox article published last March, they discussed a simple 4 question test that could be used to determine whether a person had authoritarian tendencies:

1. Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have:  independence or respect for elders?
2. Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have: obedience or self-reliance?
3. Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have: to be considerate or to be well-behaved?
4. Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have: curiosity or good manners?

These questions appear to ask about parenting but are in fact designed to reveal how highly the respondent values hierarchy, order, and conformity over other values.

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I do not intend to ignore how a person values hierarchy, order and conformity.  Instead, I pose that without adequate checks and balances, these values can easily be subverted to destroy liberty.

Recently, one member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir resigned her position in the choir, instead of perform at Trump's inauguration. She considers her church's lesson of always choosing to do what is right, over that of what is convenient, a very important lesson for all to follow.  The appearance of the choir at the inauguration in her eyes is an endorsement of someone who violates all Mormon tenets, save that he does not drink alcohol.  

The history of the Mormon church was one that began with oppression.  They were persecuted in the early days, and chased out of states like New York and Missouri until they reached their promised land in Utah. Although I do not agree with their creed, I respect them as people - as they try to respect others.  Many Mormons remember their history, and are very offended by Trump's campaign when he advocated a Muslim Registry.  They were among the first to see the potential for an authoritarian government going wild.  And though Mormons tend to be more "traditional" in their answers to the 4 questions above, their faith tends to provide a form of check and balance against tyranny - which might be due to the teaching to do what is right, over that which is convenient.

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We now are seeing a president who does only what is convenient, and not what is right. He has partnered with people whose beliefs and prior actions indicate that they will shred the current social safety net, and leave nothing good in their wake. Additionally, he is now starting to destroy the credibility of the independent press, so that he and his cronies can "gaslight" the public. 

In a recent CNN posting, we are asked what side of history we want to be on.  I hope that enough Americans stand up to do the right thing, no matter how inconvenient, so that we pass on a great country to our children and grandchildren.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy

Although I am still a registered Republican, I don't remember the last time I could honestly say that I could vote for a candidate on the Republican Party line. The wingnuts have taken over the party, and the rhetoric coming out of some former standard bearers has been an embarrassment for any thinking person.

Recently, Rudy Giuliani has stated that he doubted that our president, Barack Obama loves America. It seems that he believes that if we love our country that we should blindly praise our country without question, and never criticize it.  This is not love - this is blind, unthinking loyalty to a potentially corrupt leadership. Did the Abolitionists (pre Civil War) not love their country because they disagreed with the law of the land? What about people like Martin Luther King Jr. - could you say that he didn't love this country because he was critical of how it treated his race? What about the Japanese-Americans who were herded into prison camps? Almost every group who are present in this country has a legitimate gripe to complain about - do their complaints mean that they do not love this country?

Giuliani stated that Obama does not believe in American exceptionalism. Later, on Fox News, he "doubled down" and restated the same claim. (And this, with Fox News trying to give him a chance to hedge things, so that he didn't look as much like an idiot as he did.) The former NYC mayor opened up a firestorm, as CNN noted that this puts the GOP 2016 contenders for the Presidency in a bind - Do they support Giuliani, and disrespect the office of the President? Or, do they criticize Giuliani, and say something good about Obama to show respect for his office? Of course, the left has had a field day, with one congressman using the constitution's "3/5ths Human" value of a slave for the head counts needed to determine the number of congressmen a state has.

To me, the most galling of Giuliani's statements show how racist he really is.  Giuliani stated that he was OK to criticize Obama in his way because he (Obama) had a white mother. To me, that's like saying someone isn't racist because he/she has a black friend. Our society has a lot of racist elements in it, and they can not be eliminated overnight. But to say that the sitting president of our country doesn't love his country because he refuses to shout meaningless lines like "we're number one!" and makes valid criticisms of this country is insulting to those who want to continue making this country a better country for all.

Our country was founded as a result of a minority revolt against unjust authority. It caught the British by surprise, as the British acted as it being associated with Britain was reward enough for any injustice suffered by the colonists. History has proven the British wrong - growth always is dependent on a "What have you done for me lately?" attitude. If we're not moving forward as a nation, then we are backsliding. And this president does not seem to be a backslider - even if a critic disagrees with the direction in which the president wants to take this country.

I love my country. But I do not think it is the best country in the world. Instead, we may have the best ideal, the best goal for a society in this world. The opening of the Declaration of Independence comes to mind - "We hold these truths...." We are far from that ideal - but it is a direction we all should take. If we didn't criticize our society, we would have blind obedience to corrupt leaders - and never would have given Blacks the right to vote, nor would we have given Women the right to vote. We never would have fought to end Jim Crow, much less had our current president in office, if voices of criticism were silenced, and defiance of unjust policies never occurred.

No, our president does not love this country in the same way that Rudy Giuliani does, and I thank God for that. I'd rather have a man in charge who is comfortable with criticism than to have a leader who squashes all dissent.