Friends, those of us who (bravely) stand in opposition to the agenda of the Left must live with the fact that, at any moment, something we say or do could go viral, and we could be subject to harassment, dismissal from our jobs, death threats, and worse. The left-wing mob is ornery, to say the least, and it takes pleasure -- undisguised pleasure -- in causing us pain. Its actions are also strategic, however. They are designed to intimidate and thus silence us. Will it work? Bravado might lead us to reply "No way!", but the truth is that no one can say for sure. Bullying is a human universal. That is, it exists in all cultures and sub-cultures. Why? Because it fills an inner need, and it often achieves practical aims. It can only be defeated by stout hearts and granite resolve. Do we have both, and in ample enough quantities? We shall find out in the next few years.
My latest article, soon to appear at American Greatness, examines some of the recent developments in the battle against cancel culture:
Bill Barr's Offensive Against Antifa
Extremists is Good News, but “Cancel Culture” is Still On the
Rise
Of late, it has
often seemed as though rioting militants and statue-destroyers have
been given the green light by blue state and big city governors,
mayors, prosecutors, and (shell-shocked) police chiefs to terrorize
ordinary Americans, to deface and destroy public property, and to
extort public officials into making further concessions to left-wing
ideologues.
This
week, though, the Empire struck back. Attorney
General Bill Barr announced
that 150 extremists have been arrested for their roles in the recent
unrest. Meanwhile, more than 500 investigations are ongoing that will
inevitably produce an even broader crackdown.
Finally, Antifa
and other similarly violent and radical organizations are being
treated as the font of domestic terrorism that they are.
The problem,
however, is that, even if the Trump administration succeeds in
stifling the “armed wing” of the Democratic Party — for now —
and thus restores order and calm to our streets, left-wing radicals
will remain in a dominant position in most of our key institutions.
Moreover, the Marxist firebrands who hold sway over many of our
corporations, over every level of U.S. education, over our popular
culture, over social media, and over the news media, are increasingly
taking the gloves off as they sense an opportunity to expunge
conservatives and patriots from the public sphere, and even from
private sector employment, once and for all.
Progressives have
long possessed a louder, more robust voice than conservatives in
debates over public policy and social-cultural values. If the
proponents of “cancel culture” have their way, however, the
now-timid voices of the right might be silenced for good.
Consider
the recent
firing
of a Vice-President at Michigan State University. His offense?
Sharing on his blog an
objective, scientific study
that found no evidence of a racial disparity in the incidence of
police shootings.
The
administrator in question is not,
in fact, a conservative. He is, more accurately, a liberal who
accepts most of the “diversity and inclusion” dogmas of the
dominant crypto-Marxist culture of academia.
He
failed, however, to understand that, in the fraught context of the
George Floyd era, there is only
one
perspective on police brutality and racism that is welcome among
progressives. The propagation of any other narrative, even if it is
backed by unimpeachable data, is inadmissible.
As
the fired administrator commented, the consequences for “academic
freedom and freedom of inquiry” will be dire. In effect, there is
now a litmus
test
for all academic and scientific research: does it advance “the
cause” — that is, the agenda of the Left? If not, it serves no
purpose, at best, and it embodies “white supremacy”, at worst.
Speaking
of “whiteness”, the City of Seattle recently subjected its white
employees to a bizarre
form of training
designed to help them “examine [their] complicity in the system of
white supremacy”. City workers were encouraged to “[undo] your
own whiteness” and to accept that social justice requires them to
give up “physical safety”, “expectations or presumptions of
emotional safety”, “the certainty of your job”, and “control
over other people and over the land”. They were further reminded
that even seemingly innocuous concepts such as “individualism”,
“silence”, “intellectualization”, “comfort”, and
“objectivity” are pillars of white domination.
Journalist
Christopher Rufo, who exposed Seattle's misguided attempt at the
racial deprogramming of its white employees, says it best: “...this
is exactly the kind of thought-policing they want to implement
everywhere... The new cultural revolution is being fought via
corporate HR, city diversity training, and public school curriculums.
When you find something like this in your community, expose it,
criticize it, mock it, and reject it.” In Seattle's case, there has
been public pushback to the shaming of whites, but in all too many
companies and institutions a training session like this would be just
another day at the office.
Remember,
academics and public employees have far more protection from coercive
employers, and from outright dismissal, than do most American
workers. If even they
feel intimidated in the present climate, therefore, what chance do
the rest of us have of preserving our right to free speech and our
freedom of conscience?
Conservatives had
better wake up soon. They need, in the words of Rufo, to “expose”
and “reject” the Left's reverse racism and thought control while
they still can.
Otherwise, in the
near future, the leftists won't need to riot in order to exert
control over the American people. They will simply tell us to jump
through whatever “anti-racist” hoops they choose, and, if we know
what's good for us, we'll ask meekly, “How high?”
Dr.
Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred
and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com.
He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.
And here it is at American Greatness:
https://amgreatness.com/2020/07/12/welcome-barrs-offensive-against-antifa-but-it-wont-stop-cancel-culture/
And here it is at American Greatness:
https://amgreatness.com/2020/07/12/welcome-barrs-offensive-against-antifa-but-it-wont-stop-cancel-culture/
Here's more evidence of the rise of cancel culture and left-wing wackiness:
Will President Trump make higher ed pay for its attempts to undermine America? You'd think he would, but his threats are often empty, sadly:
Finally, whenever the Left praises lockdowns as a simple way to protect Americans from COVID-19, keep in mind that such policies also have costs and also take lives:
Where to begin? Let's see, I am afraid the deep state goes way deep. Unfort. it goes all the way to the military; generals and the DOD taking a stance on names of military bases/posts and the Confederate Flag. I am really ticked off with this. Let's get some context; Confederate soldiers are also U.S. veterans. The U.S. government recognized Confederate veterans as equivalent to Union vets via the Congressional Act of 1900, signed June 6, 1903, the Congressional Act of 1906, by the 17th Congress in February 1929 and U.S. Public Law 85-425, Section 410, of May 1958. OH BOY…I can not look at this rationally due to my intense study of this topic…here goes…and pardon me, this might be the longest comment I have ever had.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a US historian and recent graduate with an emphasis on US History and since the talk of treason and this Mark Milley and Esper is a topic in our home right now, let me take it from that angle. “An act of treason?” (the Civil War according to Milley)—umm, the only act of treason is the one being committed on a daily basis–these folks need to go. They obviously have a different view point and wanting to rewrite history to fit their narrative. BTW, when looking at the Civil War, one must go back to the 1800-1830’s to see WHY the south felt the way they did; the north was crushing the south economically (I just boiled it down to one topic). As for the victors/spoils of the Civil War (the North), they get to write the history to fit the narrative (let's just keep it real, ok). As for renaming bases, again, read the history of the naming of the bases and as for getting rid of the Confederate flag, shameful… although, I do agree one flag should only be flown; The U.S.A flag of America…so, since they are taking the Confederate flag, let’s make sure NO OTHER FLAG is there; BLM, other countries etc. BTW, America played games and conveniently lost General Lee’s and other Confederate’s pardon papers and the signing of allegiance to the U.S.A. which were done in front of Grant and forwarded to the President; those were recently found by a historian digging through the archives, BTW which are easily accessible for anyone to find. I should know, spent many hours digging through documents. OF course, no one wants to believe this, because it doesn’t fit the narrative that Gen. Lee and his troops weren’t treasonous murderers. They were not. Gen. Lee spent the remaining years of his life starting the school system and atoning his viewpoints on slavery, he died thinking he was free and pardoned, when in truth, America lost his signing of the papers. AGAIN, ANYONE can research the National Archives and documents. I am afraid though, these folks who want to rewrite history will conveniently loose things. This rewritten or getting rid of history to fit the liberal agenda has gotten out of hand and needs to stop…and those historians going along with it ought to be held accountable. Period. Cancel culture works because it is one way, period.
Ok, Seattle...how outlandish. Coming to a job near you sooner than later. I am really getting concerned about this cancel culture...and really worried about finding a job...which isn't easy too do due to the restrictions placed here in NY.
As for Goya, I use Goya products and they are excellent, again, the cancel culture is a one way street, so it seems.
Did I leave anything out? Apologies if I did...looking forward to y'all's comments (excuse me, that is my southern twang coming out, don't cancel me because I am southern living/trapped up north) grin.
Linda, we would NEVER cancel you here at WaddyIsRight. No, you're hereby renewed for ten more seasons, in fact. The check is in the mail. Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the informed perspective on Lee and the Confederates. It amazes me that we're debating whether or not they were "traitors" in 2020. After all, let's not forget that ALL the Founding Fathers were (literally) "traitors" in 1776. Does that stop anyone from admiring them? No. Granted, the Left doesn't admire them anymore, but that's not because they were treasonous. It's because they failed to embody political correctness every second of their lives.
But let's stop right there. We're talking as if the arguments advanced by the Left have some intellectual substance and coherence. We all know that isn't the case. To have a fruitful conversation with leftists about history, they would have to believe in some definable standard for how history should be judged. They don't. Their "standards" are moving targets, constantly in flux depending on whether the historical personage or phenomenon at issue is appealing or unappealing to them. Simply put, the "progressives" will ignore any number of sins, and countless deviations from political correctness, in a figure that's already been added to their pantheon of heroes. Critically analyze the likes of MLK, Barack Obama, Cesar Chavez, or Susan B. Anthony? Perish the thought. No need. Left-wing icons are beyond reproach, by definition. Anyone beloved by conservatives and patriots, on the other hand, is condemned before the analysis even begins. Their flaws loom large. Their positive attributes fade into insignificance. How could it be otherwise?
In the end, the Left exalts only one standard, and only one principle: that their preferences, their likes and dislikes, shall reign supreme. The views and feelings of all the rest of us count for nothing. That's why the conceit that leftists are "rational" is so empty, and so dangerous.
The LEFT has always been the same since Marx and Engels issued their "Communist Manifesto" in 1848. Of course the Left is not exactly the same as they were in 1848. Let's say that today's Left is more like the Bolsheviks in 1917, except that more "people of color" have become Leftist in their ideological position.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, Europeans used to understand, (although the European Union is doing its best to squash this view), that Communism and Socialism stink! Actually, the Leftism we are incubating in this country now has more in common with Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Fidel Castro than it does with Marx.
Finally, I truly believe that our current situation is being funded by foreign powers in collusion with Americans. The entire business smells like disinformation with a goal of creating massive race wars and related terror and violence. It will continue, and if Trump is reelected it will get worse, which is of course no excuse to vote for Biden.
A Biden Presidency would probably stop the riots and so on, but there would never be a free election in this country again, and by 2050 we will be The United Socialist States of America. We will then become a satellite of Russia and China to some extent.
Fortunately, I will be be dead by then, but those who will have to live in a Marxist dictatorship will by the end of the 21st Century rise up against it.
Here is my worst case scenario.
ReplyDelete1. Biden and his Black VP will be elected after the Demoviks rig the elections.
2. Peace will be restored in that riots will fade out as the new administration "heals our nation".
3. Business with China will reopen, and the virus scare will be magically cured.
4. White Americans will begin to become the new bad race, because after all it's in our DNA isn't it.
5. Uncle Comrade Joe will become "incapacitated" and his VP will take over, paving the way for the Obamalistas to eventually take power again.
6. Massive waves of immigrants from Muslim countries and South of the Border, and from "countries of color" will come to America, and become the new elites and ruling classes.
7. The United Socialist States of America will become a third world country, and eventually become nothing but a satellite of Russia and China.
Ray, all your predictions are plausible, except the part where you will be dead before most of our freedoms evaporate. You forget that Super-Obamacare/Medicare-for-All will abolish death forever! Like Biden, you will be pickled and hermetically sealed in a bubble, if need be, but you will certainly draw breath long enough to see America blossom into a glorious multi-hued workers' paradise. Fear not. ;)
ReplyDeleteCertainly, should the Dems seize power in 2020, the gates would be flung open for immigrants (legal and otherwise) to flood in. The Left strongly believes that the solution to the "problem" of the Republican Party is demographic in nature. They could be right, assuming that the media allows the Dems to manipulate and patronize people of color indefinitely.
You're right, though, that traditional Marxism is quite different from the modern variant of race-baiting, transgender-friendly crypto-Marxism. What Marx would make of it is anyone's guess.
Well, I still have the option of ritual Japanese suicide, don't I? Instead of "pickled and hermetically sealed in a bubble" I have selected freezing.
DeleteYou will have to admit that the right (conservative Christians and others) have allowed The Left to gain power through the decades. There was no real fight, just one compromise after another. Maybe we deserve what we get when it comes. Actually, it is already here.
Hopefully, The Rapture is true. Ha! Either that or those monsters like Godzilla and others, will destroy everything and everyone. That might be acceptable, because those monsters are no respecters pf political ideologies.
D.Waddy et al: About 30 years ago when I was a NY state employee we were honored by periodic visits from one of Affirmative Action Office's most vindictive Commissars.That was because our facility had a mostly white staff in this very rural area and was obviously condemned and in need of firm "awakening" and correction for our manifest evil. And oh, did he ever delight in reminding us that any doubt, dissent from or failure to applaud his pronunciamentos, together with the slightest criticism expressed on our "anon."written evaluations of his struggle session would work great hazard on our job tenure, notwithstanding Civil Service law.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy et al: That was under Cuomo I. In '95 George Pataki became our last representative Governor and he told the Affirmative Action Cadre to" Step Off!" I think he cut their staffing. Anyway, Torquemada showed up again after time and we ridiculed him; we knew by then that he was all "front". THAt is why I found Mr. Rufo's comments so germane.
ReplyDeleteI never worked for Andrew Cuomo, thank God but I can well imagine how it is for NY State employees. Under Cuomo I we were commanded that a man walking into a room with at least one woman and saying words roughly to the effect of "where is everybody?" had committed first degree sexual harassment and was summarily subject to all draconian penalties appending thereto. Why Cuomo I and his Red Guard were most prescient in pioneering the concept of microaggession or
implied or unperceived "bias" which is so very much the rage these days. Because while conceding to its adherents the right to define it, it also grants them, because they are unassailably and by definition "just" for having embraced the doctrine. full freedom to name examples. Gee,do you think they might recognize any principled limits to this privilege? Why? It gives them absolute discretion to condemn anything, ANYTHING! It was for fear of losing that power in the face of the very real progress made in race and sex relations. Why, that would blow up their game!
Dr. Waddy: MY wonderful 1965 Poi SciI Prof, whirled on us inhis demonstrative way, fastening his coke bottle glasses enabled gaze and sweeping gesture on us and roared "Forget high school civics; the essence of politics is POWER!" How right he was.
ReplyDeletePerhaps most of the new left was sitting in that voluminous classroom (perhaps not at the little state school I attended) because they devoted themselves to that principle since then and we are seeing the cumulative and God help us, perhaps decisive product of their realpolitik which has been no more obvious than it is now (1936 if we are lucky).
Dr. Waddy et al: And still we persist in civilized and principled opposition to incipient barbarian and totalitarian savages who are very close to naked assertions of their intentions. Attention to prewar Britain: A Chamberlain crippled by fear of a Second World War,(perhaps forgiveably , that war was an indescribable horror and yet unpossessed of the raw nerve and killer instinct of Churchill, who DID serve in the trenches)was replaced at the ultimate moment by that stalwart the country needed and who more than proved his worth. Our country has that stalwart in the Presidency now and if we do not perform the simple action of voting for him in November we will have fluffed and we will incipiently or perhaps summarily ( I mean, these radical boomers are getting pretty long in the tooth and impatient, yes Babs?)be dealt the desecration the Nazis planned for Britain and the world, in every bit of its totalitarian. vicious, murderous and summary chaos. If you are a decent person, please take off the blinders, now! The fact is: power IS everything. Those who seek 20th century hell on earth have always known it. Believe it, embrace it or we will all be buried by the avatars of Hitler and Stalin. JUst look at Seattle ( a once down to earth town until CA invaded it) or NY or NJ or Washington State or Portland or Austin or Colorado or New England sans possibly still sane Maine. The afliction is spreading and we must stop it. The best way is to support President Trump. Do it real America!
ReplyDeleteRay; I agree , there is much consistency in Marx/ Engels' message throughout the history of its support and tragic enactment. But:
ReplyDeleteLenin gave it leave to purposely advance the evolution Marx predicted. He said, "why since it is inevitable, let us to it!And that unleashed the deluge times infinitum.
Ray: And what we have experienced now, until and including this , is its product: Stalinism, Maoism, KImism. Castroism, Ho ism, Che worship,Ethiopian dynamiteism, further N. Korean dehumaniztion and it all stands in condemnation!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that there will be Antifa and BLM thugs at the voting places in November 2020. These two organizations are nothing more than the militant arms of The DemoBOLSHEVIKS, ably assisted by their pimps in the media, academia, and the film industry. The true face of The Left is know on display in our country. In the end, The Left ALWAYS reverts to violence when it believes that its path to complete power is being threatened. You did NOT see this while Obama was President except in diluted form, and you would not have seen it with President Clinton II had Hillary actually won in 2016. But you are seeing it now, because The Left will not tolerate another four years of a Trump Presidency who might actually undermine their Marxist plan for this country. You can also count on every effort by the DemoBOLSHEVIKS to rig and sabotage the elections in November 2020. These are really grim times we are living in. If Biden seizes power through fraud, there will NEVER be any free elections in this country for a very very long time, and only after a bloody Civil War and Revolution has occurred. If you don't believe me, then you will come November 2020.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I am always talking about the possibility of Joe Biden becoming President, and the dangers of some Left Wing Dictatorship in the near future. BUT FOLKS, WE ALREADY LIVE IN A LEFT WING DICTATORSHIP. We are under the control of the media, academia, and the film industry 24/7. Certainly your Email is controlled by companies that are solidly Left. SO I WAS WRONG! We already live in a dictatorship, with the mere formality of a Leftist getting into The White House again, so he/she can make sure that The Left has ABSOLUTE CONTROL over everyone and every thing. Hell, I should have committed suicide years ago.
ReplyDeleteRay: I agree, the militant left WILL attempt to intimidate any voters it thinks likely to vote against it. I was going to say that would most likely happen in places already secured for anyone run by the Dems (eg. many cities and very blue states because of course that is where the American Taliban festers and propagates).But then there are the swing states. Still, the real America is not likely to be physically deterred.
ReplyDeleteRay: IN fact, the possibility of American Taliban high handedness may well inspire many otherwise indifferent voters to vote,just to put a thumb in the totalitarian eye.
ReplyDeleteLInda: As a first Confederate (because I liked the way they told the North to mind its own business) but then a circumstancially but soon glad to be ,Union reenactor, I may have a fairly unusual view of all this.
ReplyDeleteAfter I joined the Union army reenactor corps (because that was what people did in his area back then and I love living in this Southern Tier) I did much reading on the Union cause . I was most influenced by Garry Wills's book Lincoln at Gettysburg and having stood honor guard, in Union uniform,on a cold November night on the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address at the very site ( at least that honored by posterity but recently doubted)of his immortal address,I am convinced of the justice of the Union cause and am glad to recreate it
Linda: That sincerely said: Having lived with many Southerners especially in the American military in which they so dutifully serve to this day; I WILL NOT EVER DECRY their reverence for those of their people who honorably protected their homeland, to the very visceral and corporal limit, to the very end of their endurance, from 1861 to 1865.NEVER!
ReplyDeleteThey were defeated and disenfranchised in the post war era.In the 1960's and since they have been further rebuffed. Its enough! And you purpose yet more infinitum totailtarian control; ehh, no more; we see your game! And I support those who resist your proven American Taliban proven dictatorial roadblocks.
Linda:I certainly do not mean you.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: The totalitarianism ever more open and blatant today has been experienced by many Americans already. I did, in NY state service 30 years ago. When the political correctness Gestapo showed up at our facility it was with the understanding on all sides that they were there to root out all heretics. Notwithstanding Civil Service Law,it is a maxim among public employees that if they want you they will get you. We were told, openly, directly, in writing and with a determination never shown in dealing with inmates, if you do anything in the slightest suggesting any disagreement with official doctrine on "racism" or "sexism", you WOULD be "gotten"". I saw it happen to a male staffer who stood up to his blatantly man hating supervisor and was "gotten" by a young up and comer in the Corrections Dep't who was looking to get his "political correctness" ticket punched.
ReplyDeleteIt lends much credibility to those who see the totality of our public and private freedoms threatened by American Taliban left dictatorship to note that many Americans are already actually experiencing it.
We'd love to have you come to our "Right Thinkers" group meeting in the Olean area. How can we reach you? You are a Rock Star to our group!
ReplyDeleteRay, you're quite right that we conservatives have rolled over for the Left far too many times. Even Trump, I'm sorry to say, gives in way too often. Leftists are bullies, and conservatives are unfortunately rather easy to push around. We're too bourgeois and respectable for our own good.
ReplyDeleteJack, no one wants to work in a hothouse environment where every word is parsed for potentially offensive meanings, even if not intended. Our only consolation is that liberals make one another's lives and careers almost as miserable as they sometimes make ours.
Jack, I certainly believe that we should all vote for Trump, but even I would hesitate to call him "stalwart". He hasn't been nearly tough and ruthless enough in dealing with the depredations of the Left, if you ask me, BUT he's the one man in politics who could be, if ever he was pushed to the wall, or if he felt sure the American people would have his back. Would I feel confident of defeating the Left if Trump is reelected? Frankly, no, but I would feel VERY confident of national and even civilizational collapse if he loses. Enough said.
Ray, I'm afraid you're right that the progressives have abandoned any scruples they once had about the use of violence to achieve their political aims. What did Nancy Pelosi say about the statue-destroyers? "People will do what they will do..." Translation: criminality and violence are inexcusable in conservatives. In leftists they provoke a shrug, at best.
Jack: well said on the Confederacy. The justice of the Southern cause isn't the issue. In dismissing the nobility of ALL Confederate veterans and leaders, the Left is really advancing an agenda of DEHUMANIZATION. Their goal, it seems to me, is to exclude all people they dislike from any form of sympathy, empathy, compassion, or even simple decency. Sweep us under the rug -- and that's a best case scenario!
Jack, as you say, even public employees, with their vaunted union protections, are vulnerable to ideological inquisitions. Let's not forget, firing someone is not the only way to effectively remove them. All you need to do is to make their life intolerable, and they'll remove themselves!
Unknown, welcome! I'd be very honored to meet the "Right Thinkers". You can reach me at: NLWADDY@yahoo.com I look forward to hearing from you!
Unknown:If your compliment was directed to me, THank you so very much for your approbation of my expression. You made my day and beyond. In persisting in the existential fight for our America which we face NOW, the only way I can participate is through this medium. For family reasons I cannot go public: I've already paid a hard personal price. But Dr. Waddy affords everyone ample opportunity to expound on a wide range of subjects germane to today's CRISIS.We are all doing our part and will be faithful through November and beyond. THanx again and I'll keep blatting and so will all our regulars I'm sure and I hope you join us.
ReplyDelete