Unity, oneness, goosestep and all that happy horse poop

Who can be against unity (well, I can when it means accepting statist principles as the glue of unity)? We've got many differences that can be overlooked for a week or two until the giddiness subsides, but then it'd be helpful to get back to reality and look at the factions at play. Our two-party, which is becoming one-party, system is an illusion.

Here's how I see the divisions:

Professional/Corporate Statists

Conservatives/Religious right

Liberal/Labor/Middle Class

Libertarians/ left-right-anarchists

Progressives/Socialist/Environmentalists/Anti-Capitalists

Pragmatists

The Professional/Corporate crowd is a mixture of Democrats and Republicans made up the Washington intelligentsia, professional politicians, favored corporations -- the RINOs, limousine liberals and established Washington insiders. This crowd wants to maintain the status quo through state power enmeshed with powerful corporate players. They are concerned with status, connections, the right parties, the right inside investments, cronyism and all the perks and prestige of power. This is where the greatest resistance to change orginates, and it's designed to keep outsiders out and insiders in. You can relate this to pure, protected power and the military/industrial complex.

The Conservatives are the Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Gov. Sanford, Gov. Jindal crowd who promote fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility, relatively free markets, religious political action, right to life, morality, military strength, low taxes, war on drugs and other law and order issues. They differ from most libertarians due to an emphasis on strong military use, stringent enforcement of drug laws, subjective morality issues which can involve government coercion rather than free choice, such as pornography. Some libertarians may have the same moral understanding but would rather leave it up to society to work out problems of morality rather than law-makers. Plus, libertarians may believe in a strong national defense, but disagree with conservatives on how best to use the military -- a difference of military interference and non-interference. Many conservatives will accept a more intrusive government than libertarians who range from minarchy to anarchy.

The Liberal/Labor/Middle Class faction is the blue-collar crowd with a limited agenda of promoting labor against management. This faction could be made up of both Republican and Democrat blue-collars but is mostly Democrats from large industrial states. This can be related to populism and is probably the least ideological, just common-sense, down-home little guy against the fat cat mindset. Technological advances and a changing global economy are weakening the influence of this faction. Protectionism and resistance to free-trade agreements are characteristic of blue-collars.

Libertarians are a diverse group with weak political power. The Libertarian Party is established but doesn't have much influence except in the realm of ideas. Libertarians range from anarchists to minarchists to some on the left and right who accept a larger role for government but propose less government interference in private/personal matters. Libertarians, for the most part, are proponents for military non-interference, freedom of choice in all areas that don't violate the rights of others and for either a substitute for government or minimal government restricted to protection and courts. Libertarians generally believe in sanctity of property rights. The minarchist form of libertarianism believes in limited government, privatization, free trade and personal liberty that leaves a free society to handle moral issues.

Progessives/Socialists/Environmentalists/Anti-Capitalists started gaining power in the 60s and have had a lot of influence on government policy, although they've been cynically used by the Professional/Corporate crowd of the Democrat Party to build support for liberal agendas. This faction is statist with a socialist bent -- influenced by Marxist ideology with little respect for property rights. They are progressive in the sense of social progression having to do equality and fairness, but not progressive in the sense of technological or economic advancement. Who knows if Obama will be their hero or just another cog in the Professional/Corporate machine.

The pramatists I see as the McCains and Liebermans, the ones who practice practical, utilitarian politics. This group is made up the independents who receive so much attention come election time, the ones who say they will vote non-partisan for the best candidate with the best ideas. The independents could be libertarians if they begin to understand the ideas.

So, Obama is going to bring them all together in service of the greater good. Good luck with that - not.

Photo from http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x83/winwin1111/unity.jpg

Comments

[Jay Chambers]

That's a pretty excellent breakdown of political/philosophical factions.

[Mike Farmer]

Thanks. Now they will all be one. :)