Paul Krugman - The Rise of the Right in American Politics

Have you read the reviews on Krugman's new book yet? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004J8HXGS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=t...

The laws that were supposed to protect unions were largely unenforced. So this was a pretty dramatic story that had a dramatic change on America. If the New Deal policies from the 1930s were so popular, then why were those changes ignored so recently? National security and social values played a role, and George Bush was a defender against abortion and gay marriage.

These values play a role in individual elections, but they can't explain the rise of the right and the decline of American liberalism. To explain that, you would have to go back to the civil rights movement. Because of that, the south shifted from Democrat to Republican. There was little change around the rest of the country. Taxes and welfare are all code for racism. America's original sin is race.

The United States doesn't guarantee health care to all of its citizens. How did that happen? Even Harry Truman tried to implement nationalized health care in 1947, but it failed because of a coalition between doctors and southern politicians. It is just another example of the racism of southerners.

Now we are getting ready for a new New Deal. People are finally started to move further to the left on issues like healthcare. The importance of race is also declining. One reason is a demographic change. There are growing numbers of immigrants, so the Hispanic and Asian vote is becoming more important. So the core vote from the racists is becoming less important. The other reason is that we are now a better country. The amount of raw racism that used to be prevalent in this country has declined. More people are accepting of mixed marriages. The fact that we elected a president named Barack Hussein Obama is a clear indication that the importance of race has declined in America.

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[ManFriday6]

@japandata Speaking as someone from "the left", I am always uncomfortable when conservatives are dismissed so easily as racists. I don't think it says very much for our abilities to argue a point if we are so quick to sideline opponents as uneducated and undesirable. I realize you had a point to make, but it still left me uneasy.

[japandata]

From this week's The Harvard Crimson:

"the Romney campaign has made it a point to stoke the flames of suspicion about the President’s supposed lack of American authenticity. At a rally in Las Vegas last week, Romney accused Obama of not “feeling…this American spirit” that “we share.” He said that Obama is intent on “poisoning the spirit of America” and “replacing ambition with envy.” ... a dog-whistle aimed at the racist....

[japandata]

@MrDanielWP Racism is a conservative concern, even though it's not a vocal one, just as it frankly is a white issue. Uneducated White Americans see their "way of life" declining in part because of competition from people with lower education (Chinese, Mexican). Because the minimally educated are such a large voting population, many political leaders (mostly GOP) court them with racist keywords, brewing hate. Racism may not be a core value, but it is a core tactic.

[GhettoEnterprises]

@fielsjd Have you ever heard of revisionist history? Lol

[fielsjd]

@MrDanielWP

Have you ever heard of "The Southern Strategy?"

[jrwel14]

@MrDanielWP have seen many racist remarks by conservatives. tea partiers, especially.

[MrDanielWP]

Race is of little importance to republicans. The core values of Conservatives aren't race-centered. Bringing up race only serves to stir up strife. The issues of importance, and basis for Conservative values, are Economy and National Security. Not all conservatives agree on those topics, but they against certain views found on the left - namely socialistic programs and laws that exceed the enumerated powers of the Federal gov't. These are the points of contention between Cons and Libs, not race.