Why does the right know nothing about political history and its evolution?

Why is it hard for conservatives to understand that the political ideologies in the time of Lincoln was completely different? There was a ideological transition that took place at the end of the Civil War through the late 1990's.

The Republican party was a relatively new party in Lincolns day and they were the forward looking, innovative party, and vaguely speaking they were the "big government" party and had policies that promoted big banks, big industry, big business.This party would have been considered liberal in today's political environment.

Democrats in, in the day of Lincoln, were the more tradition-minded party. They were also the party focused on keeping taxes low and when it came to promoting commerce, etc... wanted to leave it to the states. They were the "states' rights" party.This party would have been considered conservative in today's political environment. And yes, the KKK were Democrats.....

Many events took place that made these two parties flip....It was best said here https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Democrats-used-to-be-the-conservative-party-and-Republicans-used-to-be-the-progressive-party

LunaRose said:

Why is it hard for conservatives to understand that the political ideologies in the time of Lincoln was completely different?

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Most Americans don't understand those differences, regardless of party affiliation.

It also doesn't occur to most Americans that the political issues that dominate today were very different, or differently aligned, 50 or 100 or 150 years ago.

Heck, some people can't remember more than 1 year back. For example, leftists spent the better part of a decade fervently protesting globalization, which they saw as exploitative of foreign labor, a threat to unions, and harmful to the environment. Thousands of young progressives protested the WTO in Seattle and the G8 in Italy. "Black Bloc" anarchists were seen as the Threat Du Jour for a few years. All it took was one populist candidate, and Republicans have forgotten 20 years of left-wing protests.

What's happened in very recent years is that right-wing political hacks are trying very hard to discredit Democrats, particularly in the eyes of minorities. (Partisans are also acutely aware of hypocrisies by the "other team.") They are deliberately ignoring the major shift in both ideologies and consistencies that took place in the 1960s.

Before then, Republicans had the black vote mostly locked up, in no small part because they could use machine politics to trade favors in exchange for votes (and votes and votes, as fraudulent repeat votes were common in both parties). However, the improvements in safety nets wound up unwinding many of those machines, by cutting those strings. Then, Democrats pushed for civil rights laws and reforms, which led most of the southern Democrats to switch parties and become Republicans.

Thus, it's not in the interest of said hacks to admit that anything has changed. And since Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot on the issue of race, the claims have no real traction, especially among blacks.

Why is it impossible for Progs and Liberals to understand that it's their own misguided core set of ideologies, violent behavior, refusal to accept defeat graciously and be truthful that threatens to destroy the very nation that they live in?

And btw...the Left is doing a damn good job of discrediting itself.

Good attempt at deflection....but no sale.

LunaRose said:

Why is it hard for conservatives to understand that the political ideologies in the time of Lincoln was completely different? There was a ideological transition that took place at the end of the Civil War through the late 1990's.

The Republican party was a relatively new party in Lincolns day and they were the forward looking, innovative party, and vaguely speaking they were the "big government" party and had policies that promoted big banks, big industry, big business.This party would have been considered liberal in today's political environment.

Democrats in, in the day of Lincoln, were the more tradition-minded party. They were also the party focused on keeping taxes low and when it came to promoting commerce, etc... wanted to leave it to the states. They were the "states' rights" party.This party would have been considered conservative in today's political environment. And yes, the KKK were Democrats.....

Many events took place that made these two parties flip....It was best said here https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Democrats-used-to-be-the-conservative-party-and-Republicans-used-to-be-the-progressive-party

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So you would've voted for Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover?

LunaRose said:

Why is it hard for conservatives to understand that the political ideologies in the time of Lincoln was completely different? There was a ideological transition that took place at the end of the Civil War through the late 1990's.

The Republican party was a relatively new party in Lincolns day and they were the forward looking, innovative party, and vaguely speaking they were the "big government" party and had policies that promoted big banks, big industry, big business.This party would have been considered liberal in today's political environment.

Democrats in, in the day of Lincoln, were the more tradition-minded party. They were also the party focused on keeping taxes low and when it came to promoting commerce, etc... wanted to leave it to the states. They were the "states' rights" party.This party would have been considered conservative in today's political environment. And yes, the KKK were Democrats.....

Many events took place that made these two parties flip....It was best said here https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Democrats-used-to-be-the-conservative-party-and-Republicans-used-to-be-the-progressive-party

Click to expand...

I see it somewhat differently. In Lincoln's day the Democrats were the party of slavery and later of segregation, Jim Crow, lynching, and the KKK. They used violence to oppress blacks and keep them under control. They are basically the same now; they just use different methods.

Republicans and Democrats did not "trade places". Republicans are still classical liberals and they never adopted the racist, segregationist agenda of the Democrats. Republicans still support free speech, democracy, egalitarianism, and liberty. Democrats want to control every facet of our lives. Once they supported sexual freedom, but no more; sex is subject to a stultifying orthodoxy. They still support freedom to use drugs, but I suspect that will fall to their authoritarian tendencies pretty soon.

LowDown said:

I see it somewhat differently. In Lincoln's day the Democrats were the party of slavery and later of segregation, Jim Crow, lynching, and the KKK. They used violence to oppress blacks and keep them under control. They are basically the same now; they just use different methods.

Republicans and Democrats did not "trade places". Republicans are still classical liberals and they never adopted the racist, segregationist agenda of the Democrats. Republicans still support free speech, democracy, egalitarianism, and liberty. Democrats want to control every facet of our lives. Once they supported sexual freedom, but no more; sex is subject to a stultifying orthodoxy. They still support freedom to use drugs, but I suspect that will fall to their authoritarian tendencies pretty soon.

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Definitely not your grandpappy's democrat party.

LunaRose said:

Why is it hard for conservatives to understand that the political ideologies in the time of Lincoln was completely different? There was a ideological transition that took place at the end of the Civil War through the late 1990's.

The Republican party was a relatively new party in Lincolns day and they were the forward looking, innovative party, and vaguely speaking they were the "big government" party and had policies that promoted big banks, big industry, big business.This party would have been considered liberal in today's political environment.

Democrats in, in the day of Lincoln, were the more tradition-minded party. They were also the party focused on keeping taxes low and when it came to promoting commerce, etc... wanted to leave it to the states. They were the "states' rights" party.This party would have been considered conservative in today's political environment. And yes, the KKK were Democrats.....

Many events took place that made these two parties flip....It was best said here https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Democrats-used-to-be-the-conservative-party-and-Republicans-used-to-be-the-progressive-party

Click to expand...

If you go way back to what Locke and Madison see as liberal, I would be a liberal myself. Things have really changed since then, and since Lincoln. Democrat does not mean anything more than republican, communist or libertarian, have a look at my signature.