Culturally Appropriating the Word “Liberal”

I became politically aware as a teenager in the mid-1970s. It was a different country, and a different world. America 1.0, as I like to call it. I gravitated naturally to the far Left side of the political spectrum. I was against all war. I thought the poor were getting a raw deal. I didn’t think blue-collar workers were being paid enough. I felt sympathy for the unjustly convicted and opposed the death penalty. I thought marijuana should be legalized. I believed our leaders should be focusing on the many domestic problems, instead of senseless foreign intervention.

Most importantly, I became a civil libertarian. Patrick Henry’s words, “I may not agree with what you say, but I’ll defend to my dying day your right to say it” resonated with me almost as much as Huey Long’s great “Share the Wealth” speeches. I was also influenced by Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Philosophy, which talked about “victimless crimes” and ignited my libertarian streak.

I thought the Democrats, or most of them, were the good guys. I cast my first vote for Jimmy Carter, even though I liked almost all the other party presidential candidates better. I really liked Frank Church, especially when he headed the first congressional investigation to expose the abuses of the Central Intelligence Agency.

It didn’t take long for me to become more politically mature. I grew to understand that most of the social programs created additional costly bureaucracies, and didn’t seem to provide much help to those who needed it. Once the Vietnam War finally ended, I began to notice that most Democrats were just as pro-war as most Republicans.

The election of Bill Clinton in 1992 signaled the end of the old “liberalism,” which had drawn me to politics in the first place. Clinton was the first politician to make a habit of virtue signaling rhetoric, in which he could “feel your pain,” but his “reforms” resulted in poor people getting less financial aid for shorter periods, and convicted more largely Black people of “victimless crimes” than ever before. His myriad of personal and political scandals made Richard Nixon, whom I had considered the ultimate villain in my youth, look like Thomas Jefferson.

Clinton was the first to co-opt the term “liberal” without adhering to any of the classic tenets of liberalism. He didn’t overtly support the unions that were even then largely impotent. He didn’t demand higher wages for average workers, or criticize the incredible growth of CEO compensation, often accompanied by large layoffs. He lobbied hard for the passage of NAFTA, one of the deadliest pieces of legislation in our history, and never batted an eye at the outsourcing and offshore factories that followed.

Bill Clinton might have bombed Kosovo, and helped consolidate the media into a  handful of huge corporations, but he could speak identity politics fluently. And that’s all that mattered to his base, which were being converted from empathetic, traditional liberals fighting for the little guy into authoritarians concerned over the views of those they opposed.

By the time Barack Obama arrived on the scene, he was treated like a male, biracial Mother Theresa by a fawning media and an even larger constituency indoctrinated for years by the virtue signaling professors that were already dominant in every major university. Obama was celebrated for what he was and how he looked, not for his political beliefs or principles. He was perhaps even better at feeling others’ pain that Bill Clinton was. But he too proved to be adept and bombing and even killing others, which he actually bragged about. And his supporters loved it.

The election of Donald Trump triggered something deep inside all of those now mature Social Justice Warriors, who’d been born under Clinton and climbed to positions of power under Obama. We see them now as the mayors and police chiefs of all the cities being besieged by looting, who have no desire to stop it.

The classical liberals, inspired by the likes of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, Charles Dickens, William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, and John F. Kennedy, are now all but gone from public life. Some of my friends, like peace activist Cindy Sheehan and former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, try their best, but no one on the left is interested in marching for peace now. Or protecting civil liberties. Sheehan and McKinney aren’t going to be welcome at the Democratic convention.

Instead, “liberals” today largely consist of often deluded Social Justice Warriors. They think and act with emotion, not reason. Their primary goal doesn’t seem to be fighting for the rights of those who’ve been denied them, but to take away the rights of those they disagree with. They don’t remotely believe in the Bill of Rights, especially the First Amendment. How many people have been fired recently, for posting a comment on social media, in their free time, which offended these Social Justice Warriors?

These poor souls are forced into public acts of contrition, but still lose their jobs, anyway. Why they still apologize for exercising their constitutional right to free speech is beyond me. The virtue signalers whose loud complaints got them fired, feel no remorse. No sense of guilt over families thrown into financial turmoil, especially in this unprecedented fragile economy. The new Left doesn’t care about the unemployed, especially if they disagree with them politically. It makes them feel good to see someone that offended them fired. That’s the essence of identity politics.

It doesn’t take much for Social Justice Warrior to demand someone’s termination. A pro soccer player was recently cut by his team for comments his wife made on Twitter. The stepmother of one of the officers involved in the shooting of the man found asleep in a Burger King drive-through was fired. For being  his stepmother. Others have lost their jobs for uttering undeniable truths like “all lives matter.” When that is considered not only controversial, but a fireable offense, then we have reached the heights of lunacy.

I am very active on social media. For celebrating Roger Stone’s commutation, I was blasted by some who had been big fans of my work. One person told me Stone should be shot for treason. Another said he should be hanged. Someone else said no one deserved prison more than him, and that he should be given a life sentence. For contrived process crimes, and a politicized prosecution in a kangaroo courtroom? So Stone deserves prison more than serial killers and child rapists?

I had much the same reaction for posting what I considered very good news, about embattled Kentucky teenager Nicholas Sandmann winning an undisclosed out of court settlement from the Washington Post. A good cyber friend, whom I respect greatly, called him a name and said he should “have his teeth kicked in.” Others called the teenager a “racist.” Clearly, that MAGA hat triggered them. They don’t need much triggering, but this red hat sets Social Justice Warriors off like nothing else.

The irrational hostility of these authoritarians who have commandeered the political Left is centered on Donald Trump. The inner party members in George Orwell’s 1984, engaged in the “two minute hate” while viewing the image and hearing the words of the opposition leader known as Goldstein. Today’s Social Justice Warriors engage in a 24 hour hate against the image and words of Donald Trump.

There is a consistent anti-White theme to everything the Social Justice Warriors say, and advocate. While the vast majority of these virtue signalers are White themselves, that doesn’t stop them from blasting “White privilege” nonstop. The irony of a group like Black Lives Matter being only 16% Black has been lost on our largely dumbed down populace. These protesters and looters are largely angry Whites. Who or what is financing and supporting them ought to be of concern to investigative journalists, if we had any.

With the violent tearing down of statues, the Social Justice Warriors have crossed another line. They have met no resistance from any of the “White supremacists” running this “racist” country yet. Their irrationality is on full display here. They have claimed Mahatma Gandhi, a Brown man who fought White colonialism and inspired the Black civil rights movement, was a “White Supremacist.” They want to tear down his statue, too. How can you possibly have a rational discourse with such people?

“Liberal” used to be a positive term. It indicated one who was interested in reform, and advocating for the poor and powerless. It has come to mean an authoritarian control freak, who not only has never heard of “victimless crimes,” but wants to create new offenses, such as “hate crimes,” to punish those whose beliefs make them angry. The Social Justice Warriors probably have never heard of Orwell’s “thought crime,” and thus have no awareness of how close they come to supporting such a dangerous concept.

I know I’m in a very small minority. Anti-war. Anti death penalty. A free speech purist. Not ashamed of being White. Concerned with class, not race. Judging people, like Martin Luther King, by the content of their character.

Racist Fatigue Syndrome

I’ve grown weary of the very word “racist.” And if you consume any media at all these days, it’s impossible not to confront it. Multiple times every day. It has, in fact, probably become the most used word in the mainstream media and the political, sports, and entertainment worlds. Well, next to “the,” I guess.

The word has lost all meaning and relevancy. If everything is “racist,” then ultimately nothing is. Much like if everyone was beautiful, no one would be. The word would stand for nothing, because there wouldn’t be anything to contrast it with. Right now, “racist” has come to stand for nothing, along with its companion “racism.”

Our society is corrupt to the core, and run by the worst sorts of people the most demented mind could imagine. They are so bad that it is difficult to argue with the anarchists now. One sees the people running things at city and state levels, and one realizes the problem isn’t just with our familiar, horrific federal “representatives.”

Many of these lower-level officials are Black. Most of them appear to hate White people. Which should concern all those interested in a fair and just administration of power. But it doesn’t seem to concern anyone, least of all most White people. The Lori Lightfoots of the world wear their anti-White antipathy on their sleeve, and don’t make any pretenses about it. They are large and in charge, and will let their own personal prejudices dictate their actions.

Seventy five years ago, Black defendants had little to no chance of justice in a southern courtroom. The judges, prosecutors, and particularly the juries were openly hostile to them, especially if they were accused of raping a White woman, for instance. Today, a White defendant in any big city has just as little chance at justice, because the judges, prosecutors, and juries are largely Black. This is especially true if they are connected to the individual vilified as the ultimate “racist,” Donald Trump, as was the case with Roger Stone. In such cases, the lead juror can even express their animosity for you openly on social media.

We have reached the heights of lunacy when the claim is made that Black people are being purposely held down, and wronged, by “systemic racism.” Which part of the system oversees this “racism” is difficult to ascertain. All major corporations, all mainstream media, and the entire entertainment world, have expressed their heartfelt support for Black Lives Matter. White employees who criticized BLM even half-heartedly on social media have been summarily fired from their jobs. For expressing their right to free expression on their own time.

A professional soccer player was fired for something his wife tweeted. The stepmother of one of  the police officers involved in the recent shooting of Rayshard Brooks was terminated by her employer. For being his stepmother. Many other employees have quickly been dismissed for politically incorrect comments online.

This, of course, ought to bother everyone concerned in the slightest with civil liberties and human liberty. But the question that begs to be asked is; why would companies largely run by White people fire Whites for criticizing Black Lives Matter? And why publicly support BLM, and in many cases donate millions of dollars to their organization? Isn’t that a very peculiar way for those running businesses under “systemic racism” to behave? Is there a case, anywhere, of a Black employee being fired for social media comments, that “offended” White people?

We don’t see this “racism” in the White public at large, either. Look at the videos of Whites dropping to their knees to apologize to random Blacks. In one case, police (who have also been kneeling), washed the feet of some Black pastors. A group of deluded White males whipped themselves severely in front of an appreciative (or bemused) Black audience. Whites have placed sale tags around their necks and marched in further acts of contrition.

Meanwhile, the “White Supremacists” we are told run this society are largely invisible. Does a single member of the KKK hold even a modest position of power? Just wearing a Donald Trump MAGA hat can result in a severe beating, or a job termination, and neither the “supremacists” nor the “racist” police defend those impacted. Again, this is a very odd byproduct of “systemic racism.”

Whenever I post anything about a particular historical event or figure, some of those who follow me on social media invariably inject “racism” where it isn’t relevant whatsoever. It has become impossible, for instance, to discuss the War for Independence, without the Founding Fathers being dismissed as “racists.” Or the Civil War, without slavery overwhelming all other issues combined. This is not just on my social media, but in every discussion, on every media platform.

Black people comprise about 13% of the American population. They aren’t even our largest minority group any longer; that distinction belongs to Hispanics. And yet, our entire culture now revolves around the aspirations, complaints, and alleged mistreatment of this one specific group. “Blacks and Whites” are coupled together, as if the two were remotely equal in terms of population numbers, and as if Hispanics, Asians, and other ethnic groups were irrelevant and/or didn’t exist here.

Watching sports, when they were still being played in the days before the Great Plandemic, has become unbearable, if one suffers from Racist Fatigue Syndrome, as I now do. Even the biggest White superstars, like Tom Brady, are openly mocked and disliked, when they aren’t ignored. All coverage by sports “journalists” is focused exclusively on Black athletes, and how they are still somehow being discriminated against. The average salary for the largely Black NBA is $7.7 million. Whoever is being discriminated against, it clearly isn’t Black athletes.

In the entertainment world, all any Black celebrity has to do is complain about the lack of Blacks being nominated for an Academy Award. No one questions the legitimacy of such complaints. The “racists” who run everything simply acquiesce instantly, and bestow what amounts to Affirmative Action Oscars. The world of popular music is utterly dominated by Black performers. The Grammy Awards are nearly indistinguishable from the BET awards. A few years back, future Trump supporter Kanye West ruined the moment for award winner Taylor Swift, as he grabbed the microphone from her and demanded to know why Beyonce, another Black artist, hadn’t won. This didn’t exactly trigger the super wealthy Swift’s inner “Supremacy,” as she has tweeted out her heartfelt support for BLM.

While the professional sports world is wildly over represented by Blacks, compared to their demographic numbers, as is the music industry to only a slightly lesser degree, Hollywood disproportionately selects Black actors for its projects as well. How many Hispanics, who are our largest minority group, have major roles in any film? In any television show? In any commercial? Or on any local newscast? How many Blacks do you see in those roles? Do they comprise more than 13% of those appearing onscreen?

Those pushing the “systemic racism” mantra are largely White. A shockingly low 17% of the members of Black Lives Matter are Black. If you’re confused by angry Whites, lecturing others about “White privilege” and calling them “White Supremacists,” you may have Racist Fatigue Syndrome, too. Self-hatred seems too mild of a way to describe this phenomenon. Do these Whites realize they are White? Do they exempt themselves from these blanket indictments? Their parents? Their siblings? Their children?

I am, in fact, sick and tired of hearing so much about Black people. Or African- Americans. Perhaps I should call this malady of mine African-American Fatigue Syndrome. Black people aren’t some kind of magical creatures, as absurd movies like The Green Mile would have you believe. If we are quite rightly urged not to believe negative stereotypes about Blacks, then why should we be expected to accept that they are natural athletes, and dancers, and lovers? If all of us truly are equal, then why don’t we treat Black people the same way we treat everyone else? Why the obsequious condescension, and the shameful pandering? And why is it acceptable to promote negative stereotypes and generalize about “rednecks,” “White trash,” and White people in general?

I am not trying to sound like a neo-Nazi, whatever that is. I am certainly not a “White Supremacist,” whatever that is. I try to treat everybody with respect, and don’t think anyone is superior to anyone else. I’m about as egalitarian as they come. But I am White. So is my wife. And my children. And my siblings. My parents and grandparents were White. I hope to have grandchildren someday, and odds are they will be White. So when I hear a screaming Social Justice Warrior lambaste “Whites,” I think of them. And it infuriates me.

My grandparents were lower middle class on my Mother’s side, and dirt poor on my Father’s side. I grew up in a lower middle class household. If my parents, or their parents before them, benefited from any “privilege,” it was invisible, came with no financial benefits, and had zero impact on our standard of living.

At what point do White cucks (and there is no other accurate word to describe their sickening submission to those who irrationally hate them) finally get a backbone? Especially prominent White cuck leaders, on the “conservative” side- when will they say enough is enough? When there are demands that they relinquish their homes, their bank accounts, their personal property? After all, they benefited from “White Privilege,” didn’t they? If any Whites have “privilege,” wouldn’t it be our leaders?

Tearing down statutes of Confederates, and Founding Fathers, and Christopher Columbus, and Catholic saints, is apparently not enough to rouse Kipling’s sleeping Saxons. The authorities stand down to this kind of mindless destruction of our historical heritage. What are we paying them for? But again, who are the authorities in almost all of our big cities? It certainly isn’t White “racists” who are steering this curious brand of “systemic racism.”

If such maladies as post partum depression, and executive burnout, and post traumatic stress disorder, and gambling addiction, and sex addiction, and chronic fatigue syndrome can exist, then so can racist fatigue syndrome. Who knows how many suffer from this disorder? Most victims maintain a fearful silence.

A cure appears highly unlikely, as it would involve a powerful dose of reason, common sense, and courage. All these ingredients are rarely found today in our collapsing country.