The Liberal's Conundrum

 

 

 We just came back from Mexico.  This time and for the first time in decades, we went to Merida.  At one time, Merida was one of the richest towns of the world.  It's unique landscape made for creation of many great Haciendas that provided the raw materials for rope for the rigging of the sailing ships of the European fleets of the time.

In 1542 Francisco de Montejo gave the name Mérida to the captured Mayan city T’ho (Tihoo). An early base for Spanish efforts to conquer the Maya, it subsequently became an administrative and commercial center for the Yucatán region. In the 19th century, its economy was based on the processing and export of locally grown henequen, a fibrous plant from which twine and rope are produced. By the early 20th century Mérida became one of Mexico’s most important commercial cities.

The city is a base for trips to several Mayan sites, including Chichén Itzá, Kabah, Mayapán, and Uxmal. Many colonial-era buildings, including the Casa de Montejo (1549) and the cathedral (begun in 1561), are also tourist attractions, as are the city’s ornate henequen-era mansions.

Except for going to one of the many water holes (cenotes) that formed after the meteor strike, we didn't go anywhere.  Instead we stayed at a henequin era Hacienda about 25 miles away.  Having been restored over the last several years  to a state of grandeur by a friend of a friend, we were guests.

Our room was a gigantic reproduction of the glory days of Merida.  The walls were thick and well painted. The ceiling was 20 feet high.  (their strategy for dealing with the afternoon heat). The grounds were lush and well manicured. Hacienda Petac has been around for about 400 years.

With the great food and the remarkable Mayan service, We disconnected pretty good. 

And it gave us time to reflect on the situation we find ourselves in.

This from Democracy Journal: 

"In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford observed a close connection between the holding of extremely conservative, system-justifying values and authoritarian tendencies. They took a multi-methods approach, conducting structured interviews and administering questionnaires and projective tests to countless samples of American adults. Among other things, they observed that people who endorsed statements like “America may not be perfect, but the American Way has brought us about as close as human beings can get to a perfect society” were also more likely to express prejudice, anti-Semitism, and anti-democratic sentiments.

Ever since the Democratic Party first took a strong leadership role on the issue of civil rights for African Americans in the 1960s, authoritarian tendencies have consistently predicted support for Republican presidential candidates. 

Whatever the proximal psychological causes, we are bearing witness—all over the world—to the rebirth of extreme right-wing movements that thrive under conditions of anxiety. These movements promise a return to “traditional” (often religious) values, a curtailing of reproductive and other rights of women (as well as sexual minorities), and a revival of nationalistic (often ethnic) pride and the “restoration” of national boundaries, along with a dismantling of the “administrative” welfare state and the imposition of illiberal reforms and vindictive immigration policies. 

It is worth recalling that Adorno and his colleagues identified nine characteristics of the authoritarian syndrome : 

(1) aggression against those who deviate from “the norm,”  

(2) submission to idealized moral authorities,  

(3) uncritical acceptance of conventional values,  

(4) mental rigidity and a proclivity to engage in stereotypical thinking, 

(5) a preoccupation with toughness and power, 

(6) exaggerated sexual concerns,  

(7) a reluctance to engage in introspection,  

(8) a tendency to project undesirable traits onto others, and  

(9) destructiveness and cynicism about human nature. 

These characteristics provide an uncanny description of Drumph. 

It  is as if he has been doing authoritarianism by the book. 

And that is my point.

We are not dealing with a Man.

We are dealing with something far more sinister.

So forget Drumph and his acolytes.

And remember Robert Frost’s admonition that “A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel.” Even though this is not a quarrel. It is a struggle.

And some would argue that Liberals would be better off “owning” the struggle in this historical moment. That rather than playing out our own internal contradictions, we should try to become as fully aware of them as possible.  

But I suggest we take their stage masks off, turn on the house lights, and see clearly their elaborate but thread-bare costumes. We look behind this curtain of lies.

Those who make up the current regime, are a cast of thousands in the presentation of a civil drama that intends to distract and even mesmerize those who would watch it as anything other than a sick play which moves from one scene to the next so that your energy is spent hating the characters instead of removing the producers and their hired directors and light men. 

For there is wealth behind every line as the audience follows the plot and the characters perform.

The recent return to space by the voyagers on Artemus can remind us that we all live on our Earthship.

For our Conundrum is our Salvation.

And the Obstacle is the Path. 

 

Earthfamilyalpha.earth

Earthfamily Principles

Earthfamilyalpha you tube channel  
 

Earthfamilyalpha Content V

Earthfamilyalpha Content IV 

Earthfamilyalpha Content III

Earthfamilyalpha Content II
 
Earthfamilyalpha Content