>Carrol Cox wrote:
>
>>In other words, about 30% of the population, an incredibly large number,
>>are potential recruits to an active left.
this kind of thinking was already evident. take a look at NORC General Social Survey on line. look how many people still support all kinds of social welfare programs and all sorts of things the left supposedly promotes.
>>Do you see why I feel so optimistic?
do you fail to see how happy people would be to make everyone carry around an ID to turn over to the cops to prove they're citizens? this says a lot about how people have internalized the cop so much so that when he calls us and says, "stop", we comply, readily. this makes you happy? it doesn't make you pause or that a large minority wouldn't mind if credit card purchases were monitored? or that a 1/4 would say "no problem, monitor phone calls". uh... this might just might have something to do with whether or not we could even keep any kind of left stuggle going.
there are hard line economic libertarians who object to using the CIA to hunt down terrorists. they aren't potential recruits any more than my mother is. she is of the mind, carrol, that she'd be happy to pay 70% in taxes if we could live like democratic socialist countries. but, alas, she is horrified by what happens and considers it an act of war on us. she wants to see us do something to show that we won't put up with that kind of nonsense. even so, she also rejects the use of the CIA to assassinate terrorists abroad, but she'd support bombing Afghanistan military installation or their soccer stadium if the Taliban doesn't turn him and others over.
she wouldn't be a recruit for the left anymore than my stepdad who actually lived in Afghanistan during the 70s. he thinks spec ops forces are the way to go since, again, for him someone declared war on us 9-11. he surely wouldn't support the CIA assasinating them because that's not "right" but to send grounds troops and special forces in, okay by him.
neither one of them would be caught dead being recruited to the left and i'm sure it pains my mother to listen to me rant. she indulged me only because it was my birthday, i'm sure. my stepfather just likes to argue and is quite a bit more knowledgeable and cosmopolitan having spent years and years abroad working with NGOs working with the School for International Living and now as an untenured prof. with his master's degree. he might, just might, protest for peace. but he'd never be caught dead being recruited to the left.
>It hurts me to say this, but when Buchanan says things like we can choose
>between a republic and our empire, I think that's something with a lot of
>potential resonance.
>
>Doug