Political and Social Labels Divide Us

As I often say, Left and Right are both wrong. By this, I do not mean the people themselves, but the idea that we are that different on the whole. I am referring to the failed Left-Right paradigm. During the height of the Roman empire, they controlled populations through Divide et impera (divide and rule/conquer) methods, keeping factions believing they were different from each other, fighting amongst each other. By maintaining this division, ruling elite are able to maintain their control and siphon off the spoils of the labor class, creating, maintaining, and often increasing the wealth gap. By casting aside these differences, embracing them, and working together, the working class can become a strong majority and push back against the elite, taking back wealth, power, and even liberty.

It starts small, with individuals speaking up and standing out, trying to wake up as many others as possible. Eventually, that momentum increases, like waves lapping at the shore, and with it comes a widening awakening, changing the course of a society, bringing a return to liberty. I am looking for the hundredth monkey.

I often wondered when I was a younger man why there were so many different music labels. The music stores would classify music as Hard Rock, Reggae, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, Jazz, or Alternative. These are just a few examples of the cornicopia of music labels they utilized. What were the purposes of these labels? Music publishing companies need a way to categorize their music to make it easier to market to different segments of the general public. This also generally holds true when it comes politics. Politicians and political parties run their election campaigns the same way marketing and advertising executives run product campaigns. They pick a catchy label that they feel will define and explain their candidate in a favorable way to the voting public. They also use labels to portray their opponents in an unfavorable light. This all results in a myriad of artificial labels that political operatives create to define their candidates and separate them from their opponents. Identity politics has been created this way and it polarizes different political factions in the United States. My goal with this article is to identify and define the most prevalent labels on our political spectrum and within our two major political parties. I will attempt to show both the differences and the commonalities amongst these labels. Then I will describe to you what all of this labeling does to our political discourse and landscape. Finally I will describe what we can do to sift through this political brush and see what is going on more clearly. Both sides seek to confuse the public while demonizing their opponents while placing themselves in the best possible light.

The Republican party has many more labels in circulation than the Democrats currently have. The reason for this is that they are the party most in flux in our current political environment. The principal reason for this is the rise of the Tea Party. Let us first examine the most obvious label and group which also happens to be the one that is disappearing before our eyes. These are the moderate Republicans. They tend to vote conservatively but not strictly so. They are willing to vote with Democrats on issues they believe in. These Republicans are also more willing to compromise to achieve outcomes that they consider important. Another common label within the Republican party is that of the Social Conservatives. This group is generally religiously based. They believe that Christian tenets should strongly influence our governance. The constitutional concept of "Separation of Church and State" within the First Amendment is illegitimate to them. Their major causes are making abortion illegal, opposing gay rights and gay marriage, and opposing fetal stem cell research. Another major group within the Republican party are the Neoconservatives. Defense and foreign policy are their major areas of expertise. They advocate for a robust foreign policy where the United States asserts its military muscle to shape world events to ensure its national security. They are also willing to strenuously push for freedom and democracy in the world including the use of force to make that happen. Libertarians are another classification of politicians within the Republican party who have historically run on their own party line. They seem to have become incorporated into the party over the last several years. This has mostly been by way of Rep. Ron Paul and his son Sen. Rand Paul. Libertarians believe that government should stay out of the lives of its citizens as much as possible. They believe that government should provide for basic defense and the maintenance of civil order. Social programs would not exist under a Libertarian government. Our laws against activities such as prostitution and illegal drug use would be abolished. Finally we turn to the newest incarnation of the Far Right of the Republican party. They claim to not be part of any party. This faction is the Tea Party. The

Republicans have taken them into their bosom and they benefited mightily from their presence in 2010. Make no mistake, they are the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican party. The basis of their political philosophy is that government is bad and should be shrunk as much as possible. They wish to slash taxes drastically to help to downsize the government. Tea Partiers wish to cut enormously or eliminate most spending especially for social programs.

How Do Political Labels Define And Divide Us?

I’m a bit mystified by the mainstream media’s fixation with political labels. Apparently it’s un-PC (politically incorrect) for leftists to support libertarians in their campaign to restore Americans’ constitutional liberties. Most of the commentary on the recent Naomi Wolf/Ron Paul controversy boils down to a debate over the correct labels to assign each of them. I find it interesting that it seems to be male bloggers and blog readers who are the most concerned with labels. Comments from women are more likely to address specific issues where Naomi Wolf and Ron Paul supporters may or may not find common ground in addressing the very serious political and economic problems that confront Americans.

However the clearest pattern that is emerging is that it’s mainly the corporate media, the major political parties and the government propaganda machine that try to paint grassroots movements (like the Tea Party) with narrow and divisive labels. I frankly believe they do so deliberately – to divide us and get us to fight one another.

How Political Labels Divide Us « american in exile