Learning from The Cultural Conservatives, Part I: Messing With Their Minds
Posted by leftofdayton on March 3, 2008
A most thoughtful article that explores how it is that the Right Wing managed to gain control of the American Psyche and how Progressives can regain their voice…
By Sara Robinson
Created 02/29/2008
Make no mistake: When the conservatives set out to take over America 30 years ago, they were working off of a well-thought-out plan.The plan was put in place by a wide variety of thinkers — but three of the main strategists were Howard Phillips, Richard Viguerie, and Paul Weyrich, each of whom wrote important books and papers laying out the goal of creating a conservative America, and showing specifically how the movement could make that happen.The ideas in these plans went through various iterations through the decades; but their essential goals and intentions never changed much. And, as it turned out, they didn’t have to: the plan worked so well and kept the conservative base so focused and engaged over the long term that it didn’t need much more than an occasional refresher, or the odd subplan elaborating on how the main ideas should be applied in some specific domain.
Reading these plans now, as a progressive, it strikes me: We’re now living in an America in which every institution is dominated by these guys. Every facet of our looming disaster was dictated by bankrupt conservative ideas; yet our very ability to visualize fresh alternatives has been constricted by the frames they deliberately laid around our language and discourse. Most of the country finds it hard to even contemplate or discuss our predicaments in anything but conservative terms. It’s clear they’ve done more than merely mess up our country; they’ve also, quite intentionally, messed with our minds. Read the rest of this entry »
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