Oh, indeed, that fertile ground has been building for quite a long time.
It started with the radical right wing response to FDR, who saw government as a useful tool for solving problems rather than as “the enemy of the people.”
Whether government is an enemy or a productive complement to private businesses depends on the values shared by the people IN government. The government is not a monolith unless those running it have made it so.
Those running resistance to government-sponsored social solutions in fact are authoritarians in sheep’s clothing.
Trump very much tried to create chaos in his opposition to all things rational and intelligent. I honestly believe he has a boss who lives in Russia, if you get my drift. That boss is eager for the USA to fall to ruin. That is why Russia is manipulating everything as much as possible. The goal is to increase chaos.
And that is why trump keeps pushing the anti-mask, anti-vaccine rants. If enough people continue to resist having EITHER constrains on their freedom to die and by indirection kill other people, everything good about this country will collapse. That collapse is already well on its way. I’m not sure Biden is strong enough to stay the course against those forces of chaos eager to destroy every last vestige of democracy in this country.
Chaos is fertile ground for authoritarianism. Democracy requires that order be established by the people for the people — which is what our founders deemed best.
When governments are run by ideologues from the right or the left the resulting disorder fails to secure an environment in which democracy can thrive.
There ARE “practical lefties” like myself who lean toward community established order. (@practicalLefty is my handle on Twitter.)
The “leftie” designation becomes irrelevant when one looks to support the interests of ALL the people, and not just the rich.
But the right demands that only the wealthiest run government, using the institution as the tool by which they secure their minority control. They bad mouth government only to keep it from serving the needs of those lower on the economic pole.
I’m pretty sure that’s not news to you!
