Ronald Reagan: The Creator Of What The USA Is Politically Today

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.” ~ Ronald Reagan 

THE lie that is perpetually embedded in conservatism, with its associated isolationism and individualism.

"Today, we take a look at the life and legacy of President Ronald Reagan, the last transformational U.S. president whose regime we are still living in. Between his neoliberal economics, anti-government ideology, and white supremacist appeal to authoritarians, he did more to shape the last 40 years of the politics of the country and conservative movement than anyone else."

Click on the link below for a better understanding of the present US Republican Party:

Ronald Reagan, It Turns Out, Was Bad

The Republican War On Critical Thinking

"History has shown us repeatedly what happens when tyrants take education away from the public. Can the Republican led war on public schools turn generation Z, from Doomers to dumber? OR, will we learn from history so as not to repeat it?"

Click on the link below for the details of the Republican effort to end public education so that ignorance, unsupported ideology, and autocracy reigns in the USA:

The Frightening Reason Behind the Republican War Against Critical Thinking in Schools

Antisemitism: It's Not Partisan But, - - -

"Concern about antisemitism in the U.S. has grown following recent rises in deadly assaults, vandalism, and harassment. Public accounts of antisemitism have focused on both the ideological right and left, suggesting a “horseshoe theory” in which the far left and the far right hold a common set of anti-Jewish prejudicial attitudes that distinguish them from the ideological center. However, there is little quantitative research evaluating left-wing versus right-wing antisemitism. We conducted several experiments on an original survey of 3500 U.S. adults, including an oversample of young adults. We oversampled young adults because unlike other forms of prejudice that are more common among older people, antisemitism is theorized to be more common among younger people. Contrary to the expectation of horseshoe theory, the data show the epicenter of antisemitic attitudes is young adults on the far right."

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"Right-wing antisemitism and left-wing antisemitism are not identical. In the far-right mentality, Jews are viewed as people pretending to be white—“a faux-white race that has tainted America”13—or disloyal white people—“the ultimate betrayers of the white race” (Weiss, 2019, 68). American Jews are distinctive in that they are high in socioeconomic status and mostly identify as white, but unlike others with those attributes, they are liberal in their social views and supportive of racial equality and immigration (Smith and Schapiro 2019; Smith 2013). Prior work has argued that American Jewish liberalism is not a coincidence, but in fact, a political manifestation of Jewish identity—the distinct history of Jewish oppression may have led to prioritizing equality and support for marginalized groups (Forman 1998; Brodkin 1998). Conservatives might feel negatively towards Jews if they perceive Jewish religious values to be in direct conflict with their preferred conservative policy stances."

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"Research on left-wing antisemitism suggests some commonalities with antisemitism on the right. As mentioned, populism and anti-capitalism may trigger anti-Jewish tropes and scapegoating on the left just as on the right. The political left—typically sympathetic to oppressed minorities—may see Jews not as an oppressed religious group but instead as oppressors due to stereotypes of Jews’ involvement in capitalism or to solidarity with Palestinians in the Israel/Palestine conflict (Lerner 1992)."

Click on the link below for the results of recent research regarding this "othering" thinking and behavior:

Antisemitic Attitudes Across the Ideological Spectrum

Why Jews Have Been Hated For 2,000 Years

The conflict in the Middle East between the State of Israel and the Palestinians is relatively new in the history of the Jewish people. After the beginning of Christianity, there was a movement called the Jewish deicide:

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"Jewish deicide is the notion that the Jews as a people will always be collectively responsible for the killing of Jesus, even through the successive generations following his death.[1][2] A Biblical justification for the charge of Jewish deicide is derived from Matthew 27:24–25. Some rabbinical authorities, such as 12th-century scholar Maimonides and, more recently, ultranationalist Israeli rabbi, Zvi Yehuda Kook (1891–1982), have asserted that Jesus was indeed stoned and hanged after being sentenced to death in a rabbinical court.

"The notion arose in early Christianity, the charge was made by Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis as early as the 2nd century.[3] The accusation that the Jews were Christ-killers fed Christian antisemitism[4] and spurred on acts of violence against Jews such as pogroms, massacres of Jews during the Crusades, expulsions of the Jews from England, France, Spain, Portugal, and other places, and torture during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions."

"In the catechism that was produced by the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century, the Catholic Church taught the belief that the collectivity of sinful humanity was responsible for the death of Jesus, not only the Jews.[5] If one were to claim that only the Jews were responsible for Jesus’ death, the logical corollary to this would be that Jesus’ redemptive suffering, death and resurrection was for the sins of Jews alone and not all of humanity, as is taught by the Church. In the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the Catholic Church under Pope Paul VI issued the declaration Nostra aetate that repudiated the idea of a collective, multigenerational Jewish guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus. It declared that the accusation could not be made 'against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today'.[1]

"Most other churches do not have any binding position on the matter, but some Christian denominations[which?] have issued declarations against the accusation.[6][7][8]"

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_deicide)

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"CHRISTIANITY’S UNDERSTANDING OF ITS ORIGINS centers on the New Testament, particularly the poetic rendering in the gospels of the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus, which is traditionally known as the Passion.5 In the gospels’ rendition and as interpreted for centuries, the Jews are perceived as 'the Christ killers,' a people condemned forever to suffer exile and degradation. This archcrime of 'deicide,' of murdering God, turned the Jews into the embodiment of evil, a 'criminal people' cursed by God and doomed to wander and suffer tribulation to the end of time. No other religious tradition has condemned a people as the murderers of its god, a unique accusation that has resulted in a unique history of hatred, fear, and persecution. When it came to Jews, the central doctrine of Christianity, that Jesus was providentially sent into the world to atone by his death for mankind’s sins, was obscured."

(https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781403979124_2)

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"After a few centuries of freedom from harassment during the Carolingian period (800-1000), the Jews of western Europe began to suffer new indignities as the crusades came on. The Muslims were the 'infidel' targets in the attempted recapture of the holy places in Palestine. However, the pillage and slaughter committed by Christian mobs against Jews on the way linger long in Jewish memory."

" - - - Martin Luther in his early days naively imagined that the Jews, to whom he was attracted by his studies, would flock to the Church in his reformed version. When nothing of the sort happened, he denounced them in a set of pamphlets written in vituperative fury. He had produced the early, favorable "That Christ Was Born a Jew" in 1523, but after he turned on this so-called "damned, rejected race," he wrote Against the Sabbatarians (1538) and On the Jews and Their Lies (1543)."

"Germany was populated with more Jews than any country in Western Europe when Hitler came to power. It also had the same ugly heritage of anti-Jewish sentiment as all Christian Europe. The short-lived Weimar Republic could not deliver Germany from the severe economic hardships it experienced after World War I. Jews had been the Republic’s strong supporters and a few of them were the architects of its constitution, a fact that Hitler capitalized upon. Huge inflation in 1923 and the depression of 1929 increased Germany’s problems. Some leading capitalist families, gentile and Jewish, managed to escape these problems, but the eyes of the angry populace were trained on the Jews rather than the gentiles."

(https://www.ushmm.org/research/about-the-mandel-center/initiatives/ethics-religion-holocaust/articles-and-resources/christian-persecution-of-jews-over-the-centuries/christian-persecution-of-jews-over-the-centuries)

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My comment on the above:

It is clear to me that, without Christianity, the Jews would not have been subjected to the horrors of the last two centuries. Ah, religion. Isn't it wonderful?

It is also clear to me the irony of the strongest supporters of the State of Israel, besides conservative Jews, are conservative Christians. Could it be because of how they interpret Scripture regarding "The End Times?"

Citizens United: The Root Of A Major Problem In The USA

"If America is to recover any semblance of meaningful democracy in our country, we have to cut out the cancer of big money in our political system. We MUST overturn Citizens United. It won’t be easy, but it’s the most important thing we can do over the next two or three years. This one action alone will have a huge impact on, and must necessarily predate, positive action on pretty much every other issue."

Click on the link below for a concise video on this important historical decision that has to be overturned.

Citizens United Has Destroyed America: Why Is Nobody Talking About It?

The US Supreme Court: It's Worse Than You Thought

"The U.S. Supreme Court — that over sixty years ago ruled against state-led prayer in public schools — has swung back the other way with a vengeance. The ultra-conservative majority on the current court has reversed 60 years of progress and put the rights of non-believers in jeopardy.

"In this episode, Jim Underdown speaks to Nick Little, former Director of CFI’s Legal department, and Eddie Tabash, Chair of the CFI Board of Directors. The two lawyers talk about the state of the court, recent decisions, and the problematic future for secular Americans."

Click on the link below for a podcast exposing, not just its destruction of the separation of religion and government, but essentially the foundation of the entire US Constitution:

Supreme Injustice

Conservatives And Child Welfare

"Spanning the gamut of terrible policy choices and their impacts on children, we look today at the perverse reality at odds with conservatives' claim to be standing up for 'family values' and saving children from the abuse of Democrats."

Click on the link below for a podcast presenting the details of how, in many ways, conservatives are child abusers:

What Conservatives Think of When They Think of the Children

Liberal Consensus: What Has Ruled The USA (In Spite Of Conservatives)

"Heather Cox Richardson, a Boston College history professor and author of the 'Letters From An American,' newsletter, joins Preet to discuss her new book, 'Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.' They discuss the origins of the terms 'liberal' and 'conservative,' a 1937 anti-FDR manifesto that presaged today’s GOP ideology, and the ways in which the nation might move beyond the chaos of the Trump years."

Click on the link below for a history of the battle with conservatives and how the "Liberal Consensus" is still alive:

Democracy Awakened

Looking At US History As An Experiment: Progressivism Wins

Throughout US history there has been a tension between Progressivism and Conservatism. After its independence from England, there were several political parties but the main disagreements were around preserving the status quo versus change. The following reveals why progressivism wins:

The Civil War was fought over preserving slavery versus the abolition of such: conservatism lost and progressivism won.

Conservatives resisted entering both World Wars: it lengthened the wars and increased its harmful effects. Rachel Maddow has brilliantly exposed this situation in a series of podcasts. 

It was clearly the progressive ideas and policies of FDR that ended the Great Depression and allowed the democratic allies to win the Second World War. 

The period after the Second World War through the 1960s is widely regarded as the best period in US history (link)(link)(link) due to its application of progressive policies and the willingness of the two major political parties to work together to implement them.

Ever since there has been a gradual erosion of US society BECAUSE of the creeping influence of conservatism through the gradual radicalization of the Republican Party beginning with Nixon. The result is what we have today in the person of Donald Trump. This link puts it in a global perspective.

Evangelical Christians Have A Lot To Answer For

"On May 29, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed a new anti-gay law that puts the country’s already persecuted LGBTQ+ community at risk of life imprisonment for same-sex relations and calls for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” This draconian legislation is the latest blow to fundamental human rights in Uganda, and it has deep links to American evangelicals who have for years sought to export US culture wars over gender and sexuality to African countries and Uganda in particular."

Click on the links below for the evil details. Christian morality is an oxymoron 😡:

The Unholy Relationship Between Uganda's Anti-LGBTQ+ Law and US Evangelicalism

How US 'Christian Values' Helped Uganda Become An Evil African Presence

How U.S. Evangelicals Helped Homophobia Flourish in Africa

Poverty: It's A Policy Choice In The USA

"Poverty is a policy choice. Congress has chosen to have a significant percentage of our population impoverished, including — especially — our nation’s children.

"There is no law of nature or principle of economics or constitutional provision that dictates such a high number of people in poverty within the richest nation in the history of the world.

"Census data released Tuesday provides clear evidence of the choice that’s been made. The number of people with incomes below the poverty line in 2022 rose by 15.3 million. The poverty rate for children more than doubled — from a historic low of 5.2 percent in 2021 to 12.4 percent in 2022.

"The United States has just experienced the largest spike in child poverty since the current models for measuring economic distress were developed in 2009. All of the record gains made against child poverty over the previous two years have been erased.

"The reason for this extraordinary rise in poverty? Not the pandemic. Not a vicious recession. Not an economic depression. Not a huge increase in the numbers of people unemployed. In fact, employment is high.

"The reason, according to the Census Bureau, is the refusal by Congress to renew the enhanced child tax credit that was developed during the Covid-19 pandemic. That expiration was a policy choice." 

(link)

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"Matthew Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University, where he specializes in the study of poverty. His 2016 book Evicted won the Pulitzer Prize for its incisive examination of poverty and housing policy in America. He joins Preet to discuss his new book, 'Poverty, by America', and the many ways poverty is entrenched in one of the world’s wealthiest nations."

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Gun Control: Its History And Effects (Without The BS)

"Malcolm Gladwell is a bestselling author and longtime New Yorker staff writer. He’s also the co-founder and president of the audio-production company Pushkin Industries, where he hosts Revisionist History, a podcast about things “overlooked and misunderstood.” He joins me to talk about gun culture, and what we get wrong about firearms in America. He also reflects on some of his older writing on policing, epidemics, and first impressions."

Click on the link below for an enlightening podcast interview regarding the history of gun control. Hint: your conservative friends and relatives have it all wrong:

Revisionist Gun History

Sweden Is A Terrible Example Of How To Handle A Pandemic

The real news is reporting an upswing in COVID-19 with the experts (aka scientists working in pertinent fields) concerned about the strains on society's infrastructure, workers, students, and other individuals. If you follow conservative media, they are already citing the "success" of Sweden last time as a model for the USA (link). 

Below is the truth about how a country that is secular/essentially non-religious and is also science-minded with high scores on societal happiness and well-being can act irresponsibly with catastrophic results:

“The Swedish response to this pandemic was unique and characterized by a morally, ethically, and scientifically questionable laissez-faire approach, a consequence of structural problems in the society. There was more emphasis on the protection of the 'Swedish image' than on saving and protecting lives or on an evidence-based approach. A strategy was never discussed among all relevant parties, and never implemented nor communicated to the public. In addition, there was an unwillingness and incapacity to admit any failures at all governmental levels; or to take any responsibility for the clearly detrimental outcomes for Swedish society. There were even attempts to revise history by changing, or deleting official documents, communication, and websites, and gaslighting the public. The Swedish authorities involved were not self-critical, did not engage in any official and open dialogue, and misled the public by withholding correct information and even spreading misleading information. A small group of so-called experts with a narrow disciplinary focus received a disproportionate and unquestioned amount of power in the discussion, nationally and internationally. There was no intellectual/scientific discussion between stakeholders (including independent experts from different disciplines), and the international advice of WHO, ECDC, and the scientific community was ignored and/or discredited.”  

(from an article in Nature, the premier science journal: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01097-5)

Conservatives And US Founding Myths

Conservatives in the USA have devolved into the promotion of lies and myths in general, and such includes the Founding of the USA. Click on the link below for an evidence-based expose of ten Founding myths that are primarily believed and promoted by conservatives:

10 American Founding Myths

A Deluded Brain CAN Be Changed!

"Politics isn’t the first to cause structural changes in the brain. More than a decade ago, researchers used brain scans to show that London cab drivers’ gray matter grew larger to help them store a mental map of the city. There more time they spent on the road, the bigger their hippocampi, an area associated with navigation, became.

This implies that despite the political leanings seen through our brains, how we vote—and thus the cause of our political affiliations—may not be set in stone, Schreiber says.

“'If we believe that we’re hardwired for our political views, then it’s really easy for me to discount in you in a conversation. ‘Oh, you’re just a conservative because you have a red brain,’ or ‘Oh, you’re a liberal because you have a blue brain,' Schreiber explains. 'But that’s just not the case. The brain changes. The brain is dynamic.'

Study Predicts Political Beliefs With 83 Percent Accuracy

Private Equity: A Conduit For Inequality

"It’s still possible for businesses to exist in order to produce wonderful goods and services. I know many retailers, small manufacturers, and professionals who do what they do mainly for the love of it. (My father ran a clothing store, and although he worked seven days a week, making money was secondary — enabling him to keep his family afloat and continue to do what he loved.)

"But the financialization of the American economy has turned almost all larger businesses into profit centers. Private equity in particular has leached out every other value."

Click on the link below for a synopsis of an economic reality that is undermining the quality of our society:

How private equity is destroying the labors of love

A Deep-Dive Into Trumpism/Conservatism

"Today we dive deeply into the world of conservatives as described in the new book “Strangers in their own Land” by Arlie Russel Hochschild in an attempt to understand how some non-deplorable people in the country could be supporting Donald Trump."

Click on the link below for a podcast from BEFORE Trump was elected in 2016. Democrats need to listen to this repetitively to fully understand not only the brains of conservatives/Trumpers but also how they have contributed to Trumpism in some ways:

What Drives Trump Conservatives - "Strangers in Their Own Land"

Distorting Black History Goes Way Back

"What can the controversy over Florida’s new Black history standards tell us about the politics of distorting the past? Heather and Joanne analyze the claims and framing of the standards and connect the curricular mandates to a century-old effort by the United Daughters of the Confederacy to control how Southern history was taught."

Click on the link below for details:

Telling Tales of History: The Florida Problem

Affirmative Action: What It Is, And How Important It Is

"Today, we take a look at the history and unceremonious end of affirmative action for college admissions that were an attempt to correct the compounded impact of hundreds of years of systemic racism."

Click on the link below for an in-depth presentation of the history and importance of Affirmative Action in the USA to rectify centuries of injustice:

Understanding what we lost with the repeal of affirmative action

The Truth: Immigration Is A Net Positive

If one is deluded by conservatives, one probably is thinking that immigration is a great negative for workers and society at large. Click on the several links below for the reality:

Immigrants are vital to the US economy

Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants Would Boost Economic Growth

Immigrants and the Economy

Immigrants Provide Huge Benefits to US Taxpayers

Ten Ways Immigrants Help Build and Strengthen Our Economy

Undocumented Immigrants

Positive impact of illegal immigration on the US economy