America has become a "Small Town" (Personal Reflections)

I have been given this whole "values" issue alot of thought (note these are my personal thoughts so no need to parse)as to how the so-called "moralists" have taken over the dialogue of right and wrong in America and why we are SO CONFUSED and DISTRAUGHT over the outcome of this election. These so-called "moralists" are doing their best to stick their nose into everyone else's private business and we are at a loss to counter them. One thing I know is that the tide WILL turn and we must be ready and organized when it does. As always, the moral arbiters will overreach and turn off a proportion of their followers, when the reality of what they have given up hits them, we must be sympathetic and understanding and accepting of people of faith as we are primarily a people of faith and we must bring them out of the darkness to a "New Kind of Small Town".

It feels like America has become a small town again, as back in the day when the ladies or the men's Rotarians or the town preacher were the arbiters of the town's "visible" moral behavior. If one didn't show up in church EVERYBODY KNEW IT! There was shame and shunning associated with not complying with the town's mores. A shop owner perceived as godless lost business. One could hire the "black folk, learn to love them and sometimes even have children with or by them (see Thomas Jefferson, Strom Thurmond) but by God!, you don't "mix" with them or there would be hell to pay if the morality police found out. A person could be undone by whispering campaigns (a device employed by Carl Rove) and it was all driven by fear and superstition, the need to feel "better than". The entire world of the town's citizens was determined by the town moralists.

I believe that the PUBS figured this out and used this tactic to win Bush a second term. They appealed to the small town mentality of their base.

There are four things, among many, that stand out to me that made America a great country, the beckoning beacon to the world; The Constitution, the Industrial Revolution, the New Deal and the G.I. Bill. Now if I tried to track the effect of these events, I wouldn't finish this post for a year (remember these are my thoughts and not perfect) so I'll skip the details and figure you know where I'm going with this.

Many, many town citizens chafed under the control of the moral arbiters and struck out to new lands, new challenges, new struggles, new tragedies and new triumphs. The promise of freedom given by the founding fathers seemed on the brink of fulfillment. It was in the air. With all the changes wrought by these four events, many, many people in these "small towns" struck out for the big cities and reveled in the ideal of freedom and "free thought" and "free association". Businesses were built, tract homes sprung up and the sky was the limit! We realized despite all the bad things that happened in the fifties and sixties that the people ruled! (We thought) Freedom and true equality appeared to be realized. Affirmative Action promised the most downtrodden a shot at an equal chance, Social Security ensured our retired citizens they would not starve, but a storm was brewing.

The moral arbiters and Rotarians were a little pissed off at their loss of control. The folks left behind by all these free thinkers felt a little threatened. They had played by the rules and were looked down upon as a bunch of "Rubes" and "Rednecks". The free thinkers were just a little too haughty and "Elitist". They felt irrelevant and cast aside.

In the mean time, corporations who long had held sway during the Industrial Age and whose owners personally profited incredibly had to suffer the slings and arrows of unions, anti-trust legislation (remember that?? Seems sooo long ago...), Affirmative Action, a fair wage, pension benefits in the form of ERISA, the Fairness doctrine and they were chafing too. They were not happy giving up corporate profits to benefit their employees. (I know, the employees do the work but, never mind).

There was a convergence between these two groups in the Seventies and Eighties that we did not see…the era of Jesus Freaks and Jews for Jesus (the ultimate oxymoron) on college campuses coupled with the assault on Affirmative Action, followed by the ascendancy of Reagan. These two groups developed a plan (however unintentionally, but seized upon by the Pubs) to take back the power and control over these people who thought they were free. Roe v. Wade was the BIG turning point. As well, the fight against Affirmative Action “in the name of equality” and the fight against unions and social security are the result of the manipulation of these constituencies by the GOP. None of these fights make sense as they are against the best interests of the people.

Remember that our current way of life is unknown in human history; the plebes actually had a say and lived well! We are actually an aberration in human history, an aberration we must fight to maintain!

The most amazing creation to me has been the development of these "Super Preachers" who prey on the fears of the folks in the small towns and those who have migrated to the big cities (Witness Crystal Cathedral in the OC (How ironic is that!)) but need a "moral" voice" to help them find their way in an increasingly harsh and unfriendly world. These "Communities of Faith" play on all of the fears and have essentially become towns in and of themselves. The members have become citizens of the church and the preachers; well they're still the small town moral arbiter. This is how and why we lost this election. I think we need to GET THAT. The other thing that we MUST GET is that these "Communities of Faith" have joined and have become indistinguishable from the Republican Party. They figured these folks out and are using them to maintain their hold on political power.

NONE of the issues that they champion in an effort to divide us have any connection whatsoever with any element of the Bill of Rights OR the Constitution considering that both gay marriage and abortion rights are religious based and clearly violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Nowhere is marriage as a sacred institution mentioned. And frankly, marriage is a religious sacrament and all legal unions under the law should be referred to as civil unions for purposes of inheritance and other family legal rights regarding children, division of property incident to divorce, etc. That's what makes the gay marriage amendment so bogus. It was a straw man meant to confuse the average voter who is likely a little homophobic.

I don’t have the answer, I just lay this out for consideration and discussion. I do believe that while we must NOT compromise our beliefs, we must seek to understand the “small town” aspect of our culture, and appeal to them in a way that they understand that the Democrats have always been on their side as we are all from “small towns” too.

Note: For those who believe that there was a heck of a lot of shenanigans that cost us this election, I don’t disagree with you, if there is proof, we must seek out, humiliate and destroy those who sought to corrupt our ONLY VOICE in government. I know that our country has always been fraught with election corruption but in this day and age there is no excuse and they must be brought to justice. I am suspicious but not in a position to prove that point.

I really want input from the crowd and I am very worried about a slight decompensation given the election results. We are all feeling abused and confused.

I need feedback. Three words or less...

n/t

politics, I find your comments very interesting and insightful and would like to discuss further, I am tired and going to bed - e-mail me (I think you can contact me through the site) and we can continue this discussion later, I am leaving town in the morning and will not be back until Monday, but I would like to continue on this thread it is just that I am tired and have to drive to Chicago in the morning. Just one quick observation Republicans have always needed the bogeyman to scare the voters -someone who was going to invade the small-town and destroy its values - the utopia.

and thought provoking. We do need to try to understand where this mind set is coming from, although, those in the really hardcore "faith based communities" will never be reached because they are like a cult, and all their information about the world is filtered for them.

There are other elements in society though that are influenced heavily by this mindset, but who are reachable, I think, by the right kind of packaging of our message. We do need to try and better understand the electorate and realize that people often don't vote rationally. The pubs figured that out a long time ago, and to be frank, have a better understanding of human psychology and motivations than we do.

Of course, this is all a moot point if 1. we don't have any forum in the mass media from which to communicate our message, and 2. we don't have an intact and reliable electoral system.

but we must speak to all Americans. We have the right issues, we are just not articulating our message in a non-threatening manner. We should as a group formulate our core issues based on how we got here as Americans and I think the historical context is important. Let us evaluate the issues WE care about, consider those that are the most important and formulate a message.

Diane -- nice assemblage of thoughts about "values" ... you know when you ask people what "values" mean, it turns out to be nothing more than a codeword for the white-fascist belief system that is based on bigotry, fear and ignorance.

The way out is to make fun of them, embarrass them, because they don't want to get any redder than they already are.

These people have simply exchanged the race card for the gay and abortion cards because it garners more hate points.

On one side of the gay card is the protection of civil liberties of all Americans v.v the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; they prefer to flip that card so that it reads, perverse ungodly acts that threaten my children.

On the one side of the pro-choice card is protection of an individual's right to make a personal decision; they prefer to flip that card so that it reads, ultimate cardinal sin, murder in the first degree.

Meanwhile, they are walking, talking, energized hypocrites who will stand with their eyes agaze in front of the headlights of truth; Yet are always quick to backstab in the dark.

They are vitriolic and armor themselves in condescending cliches, wrapping themselves in things like the flag, our troops, Bush, seriousness, and any number of other diversionary tactics, that take them away from the mirror they abhor.

Again, they need to be exposed, just as Bush needs to be exposed, the greatest weapon of which is humor, so that they are made fun of. Rove knows this.

Keep up the good thinking.

I'll check tomorrow and if no action, let this go...

The suburbs went Bush. And farmland. Small towns and small cities are not near as big a problem as the suburbs. Because EVERYBODY KNOWS who's gay, who's on welfare, who's been beaten by her husband, who's raising their grandchildren, who's got no health care, etc., etc. Small towns care about their neighbors because they have ALL KINDS of neighbors. People from the suburbs don't because they're all exactly the same lily white snobs.