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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Moral Superiority

LowDown

LowDown

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Shelby Steele writes that in the 1960s the central aim of liberals changed from freedom to moral authority.

All of America's old sins, i.e., racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc., were being revealed and reviled, and liberals sought a way to distance themselves from that in order to reclaim moral authority. From that day to this what they seek is moral legitimacy and superiority to the bad old America, which is represented by ordinary Americans.

America, since the ’60s, has lived through what might be called an age of white guilt. We may still be in this age, but the Trump election suggests an exhaustion with the idea of white guilt, and with the drama of culpability, innocence and correctness in which it mires us.

[...]White guilt is not angst over injustices suffered by others; it is the terror of being stigmatized with America’s old bigotries—racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia. To be stigmatized as a fellow traveler with any of these bigotries is to be utterly stripped of moral authority and made into a pariah. The terror of this, of having “no name in the street” as the Bible puts it, pressures whites to act guiltily even when they feel no actual guilt. White guilt is a mock guilt, a pretense of real guilt, a shallow etiquette of empathy, pity and regret.

It is also the heart and soul of contemporary liberalism. This liberalism is the politics given to us by white guilt, and it shares white guilt’s central corruption. It is not real liberalism, in the classic sense. It is a mock liberalism. Freedom is not its raison d’être; moral authority is.
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And so, in my opinion, a funny thing happens. Liberals become the very sort of intolerant, hateful, and even violent bigots that they decry. There is no reasoning with them, there is no debating them. Either you agree with every bullet point in their agenda or you are a bad person, worthy only of scorn and derision, which they will supply with gusto.

And so we have insane liberal policies. Four thousand shootings in Chicago last year, and the mayor announces that Chicago will be a sanctuary city. This is moral authority over reality. Liberalism is exhausted because it has become so corrupted. Hence we get Trump, the push-back to liberal morality, the President who doesn't give a flip about what they think of his morality, who wants to "abolish" political correctness. Hence we get the rabid, ferocious, crazed reaction to him from liberals. Their ideology has become a religion to them, the source of all their self esteem, and Trump is showing the world what a farce it all is.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-exhaustion-of-american-liberalism-1488751826 (hopefully not paywalled, the opinion section usually is not)

Here Steele explains it to Tucker Carlson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu7kuXlL1zM
 
I'm sure there is a measurable amount of yuppie liberals who might fit into the white guilt box. It isn't the majority of liberals.
 
If you want to know what liberals really think....ask a liberal....not a rightwing political hack.
 
Speaking of moral superiority. LOL
 
MrPeanut said:
I'm sure there is a measurable amount of yuppie liberals who might fit into the white guilt box. It isn't the majority of liberals.
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Are you embarressed by slavery and Jim Crow?
 
"Moral authority" is an over valued sound bite and a meaningless phrase pawned off on gullible college students.

It's like "Someone gave me something you don't have because I earned it and you didn't, and you'd better not ask me why I have it or you'll be in trouble." Huh?
 
Moot said:
If you want to know what liberals really think....ask a liberal....not a rightwing political hack.
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What do you really think?
 
LowDown said:
Shelby Steele writes that in the 1960s the central aim of liberals changed from freedom to moral authority.

All of America's old sins, i.e., racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc., were being revealed and reviled, and liberals sought a way to distance themselves from that in order to reclaim moral authority. From that day to this what they seek is moral legitimacy and superiority to the bad old America, which is represented by ordinary Americans.



And so, in my opinion, a funny thing happens. Liberals become the very sort of intolerant, hateful, and even violent bigots that they decry. There is no reasoning with them, there is no debating them. Either you agree with every bullet point in their agenda or you are a bad person, worthy only of scorn and derision, which they will supply with gusto.

And so we have insane liberal policies. Four thousand shootings in Chicago last year, and the mayor announces that Chicago will be a sanctuary city. This is moral authority over reality. Liberalism is exhausted because it has become so corrupted. Hence we get Trump, the push-back to liberal morality, the President who doesn't give a flip about what they think of his morality, who wants to "abolish" political correctness. Hence we get the rabid, ferocious, crazed reaction to him from liberals. Their ideology has become a religion to them, the source of all their self esteem, and Trump is showing the world what a farce it all is.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-exhaustion-of-american-liberalism-1488751826 (hopefully not paywalled, the opinion section usually is not)

Here Steele explains it to Tucker Carlson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu7kuXlL1zM
Click to expand...

Could you get back to me when you have an ideology other than "libruls bad, so me gud"?
 
Redress said:
Could you get back to me when you have an ideology other than "libruls bad, so me gud"?
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>implying there's more to politics than us=good, them=bad
 
Moot said:
If you want to know what liberals really think....ask a liberal....not a rightwing political hack.
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Why would we need to ask? Is it not enough to read their idiotic musings posted all over the internet, including no small amount right here on DP?
 
Trump supporters voted for a man who bragged about committing sexual assault, conned regular Americans out of a quarter billion dollars, and who has told over a hundred more lies in his first 57 days of office than Hillary Clinton told in her entire 35 year career. So you'll excuse me if I'm not impressed by what Trump supporters have to say about morality. They killed morality, raped its dead body, set it on fire and buried it in a shallow hole.
 
Cardinal said:
Trump supporters voted for a man who bragged about committing sexual assault, conned regular Americans out of a quarter billion dollars, and who has told over a hundred more lies in his first 57 days of office than Clinton told in her entire 35 year career. So you'll excuse me if I'm not impressed by what Trump supporters have to say about morality. They killed morality, raped its dead body, set it on fire and buried it in a shallow hole.
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That's not true and you know it. You too, prove Steele's point.
 
Moot said:
If you want to know what liberals really think....ask a liberal....not a rightwing political hack.
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That appears to presuppose (admit?) that one liberal speaks (thinks?) for all liberals. It is precisely the us or them mentality that is spewed by those claiming moral superiority.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
That appears to presuppose (admit?) that one liberal speaks (thinks?) for all liberals. It is precisely the us or them mentality that is spewed by those claiming moral superiority.
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As opposed to rightwing hacks speaking for all liberals and telling them what they think?
 
Cardinal said:
Trump supporters voted for a man who bragged about committing sexual assault,
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No he didn't.

conned regular Americans out of a quarter billion dollars,
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Never proven.

and who has told over a hundred more lies in his first 57 days of office than Hillary Clinton told in her entire 35 year career.
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Doubtful.

So you'll excuse me if I'm not impressed by what Trump supporters have to say about morality. They killed morality, raped its dead body, set it on fire and buried it in a shallow hole.
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It was already dead.
 
Moot said:
As opposed to rightwing hacks speaking for all liberals and telling them what they think?
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Why was it "rightwing hackish" when you made that same point? ;)
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Why was it "rightwing hackish" when you made that same point? ;)
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I'm not sure I follow. Maybe I misunderstood the OP/Steele's point....so what was his point?
 
Cardinal said:
Trump supporters voted for a man who bragged about committing sexual assault, conned regular Americans out of a quarter billion dollars, and who has told over a hundred more lies in his first 57 days of office than Clinton told in her entire 35 year career. So you'll excuse me if I'm not impressed by what Trump supporters have to say about morality. They killed morality, raped its dead body, set it on fire and buried it in a shallow hole.
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You're making Steele's point. Here, I'll show you. This is what Trump actually said:

Trump: Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

Bush: Whatever you want.

Trump: Grab ’em by the *****. You can do anything.

And here's your special edition, meant to simply brand him as someone who's committed sexual assault in an attempt to destroy his credibility:

Trump: Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. Grab ’em by the *****. You can do anything.

In the first example, Trump obviously speaks in crude terms but is basically saying "Hey, women throw themselves at rich and famous guys". Your example assumes Trump's guilty of sexual assault. You wholeheartedly sell the "grab em by the *****" comment while totally negating the "they let you do it" comment because you're trying to destroy someone you disagree with and probably virtue signalling at the same time.
 
countryboy said:
Why would we need to ask? Is it not enough to read their idiotic musings posted all over the internet, including no small amount right here on DP?
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Thats a two way street, countryboy.
 
Moot said:
I'm not sure I follow. Maybe I misunderstood Steele's point....so what was his point?
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That (all?) liberals think in some particular way. Then you pipe in with (paraphrased) "if you want to know what (all?) liberals think than ask a (one?) liberal". Perhaps that rightwing hack actually did ask one liberal and is (per your suggestion?) thus now able to know what (all?) liberals think. ;)
 
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Moot said:
If you want to know what liberals really think....ask a liberal....not a rightwing political hack.
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If I want to know what Liberals think I usually check out Media Matters first for the doctrine and then go to Daily Kos for the interpretation. It may not cover all Liberals but it does provide the "analysis" that is then spun for public consumption by CNN, WaPo, Politico and MSNBC.
 
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