[Reader-list] Fwd: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Danger on the Right

[Venugopalan K M]

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Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Danger on the Right
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Change takes place on the fringe of chaos. We are but seeing the results of
seeds sown.

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Danger on the Right
August 7, 2009 07:08 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/danger-on-the-right_b_254421.html

There is a social movement stirring on the far right of American politics
and it bodes ill for our future.

It is, in the classic sense, a movement, not an organization, with no
coherent structure, no creed or litmus test for membership. Rather, it
represents disparate currents, born of transformative developments and
traumatic events that have impacted the US in recent decades.

This movement has manifested itself in several forms. There are the
anti-immigrant armed militias patrolling our southern border keeping out
"illegals." There are also the "tax party" demonstrators, many of whom have
morphed into the angry chanting mobs that are now disrupting Congressional
town meetings over health care reform. And there are the so-called
"birthers," a not so small fringe on the far-right, that questions Barack
Obama's birth in the US and, therefore, his right to hold the office of
president.

If the individuals involved in these currents have anything in common, it
is that they are angry and alienated and have identified "government" as a
source of their problems and, therefore, as a target of their wrath.

Behind all of this discontent, of course, are real problems. The economic
crisis in America did not just begin with the collapse of the financial
sector in the fall of 2008. For years now, the US economy has undergone a
steady transformation. The loss of our manufacturing base has resulted in
dramatic social dislocation evidenced by the collapse of many once
prosperous and stable communities. As factories closed, not only were jobs
lost and economic security threatened, but people were forced to move,
neighborhoods died and families were at risk.

All during the 1990's, despite gains on Wall Street, many middle class
Americans were squeezed. Real incomes declined, costs of health care,
education and basic commodities rose, resulting not only in a declining
standard of living for many, but, for the 1st time in American history, a
significant portion of the middle class began to question whether their
children would be able to achieve the same economic status as their
parents.

The trauma of 9/11 and Katrina presented a double jolt, shaking to an even
greater degree American's sense of security and their confidence in the
government's ability to perform.

Add to this a nativist/racist current, fueled by large numbers of
immigrants from the south and fear of new foreigners (especially, after
9/11, Muslims) and the persistent presence of anti-black sentiment, and you
have the ingredients of the lethal brew that is now coming to a boil.

All of this, however, did not erupt spontaneously, it was helped, fueled by
fires set by those who sought, in ways subtle and not so subtle, to exploit
the fears afoot across the land. Radical talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh
and Mike Savage, Fox News and even CNN's Lou Dobbs exploited these issues
-- as did President George W. Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove, who used
it for electoral success. Even Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign
playbook tapped into these currents, as did the McCain/Palin campaign
strategists.

And so here we are in the midst of a hot summer, with "birthers"
fulminating about Obama's "foreignness," angry mobs breaking up town
meetings, and polling numbers showing a deepening partisan divide across
the nation.

All the while these events are unfolding, analysts and commentators are
spending endless hours of airtime observing and pointing accusing fingers,
without making an effort to understand how this came to be and where it can
go. Some conservatives are surely at fault for thinking they can simply
exploit this anger, turning it on and then off, at will. And some liberals,
too, are at fault for dismissing the anger they see, suggesting that it is
simply manufactured and artificial and, therefore, can be ignored.

I am reminded of similar developments that occurred in 1919 at the
beginning of the "Red Scare." Then too, a national movement, fueled by
fears of immigration, economic dislocation and wartime anti-foreign bigotry
was exploited by some, ignored by others, until it got out of control, with
lethal consequences.

If we are not careful and understanding, and if we do not start now, both
to address this troubling anger and alienation, and to hold accountable
those who are stoking the embers of discontent, we could end up in the
throes of a full-fledged nativist siege that could tear apart the fabric of
our nation.


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-- 



You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot
build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you
will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a
whole.
-AMBEDKAR



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