Kathianne
01-21-2015, 09:23 PM
Schisms between 'liberals' and 'progressives?'
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/01/21/civil-war-brewing-for-the-cultural-left/
It has often been remarked that the right won the economic arguments of the twentieth century, while the left won the culture war. Although Thatcher and Reagan succeeded in their quest to overturn the postwar economic consensus and undermine the USSR, the left consistently triumphed over social conservatives in political debates on society and culture.
Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, the left successfully positioned itself as the guardian of liberty and reason against a dogmatic and authoritarian “moral majority”. Moderates and liberals could not understand why the right wanted to deny gay people the right to marry, or women the right to an abortion. Nor could they understand the conservative quest to pull the theory of evolution from primary schools, or the regular campaigns by conservative moral crusaders against filth (http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/mary-whitehouse-recruited-teachers-in-fight-against-video-nasties-1-6494805), blasphemy (http://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/nov/13/world.news) and even Satanism (1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_debates_over_the_Harry_Potter_series), 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_controversies)) in popular culture. Against such opponents, it was relatively easy for the left to position itself as the defenders of academic inquiry, artistic expression and personal freedom.
But the sands are beginning to shift. The coalition of moderate liberals, sceptical intellectuals, and radical progressives that once stood together against the conservative “moral majority” is beginning to fracture. In the absence of a compelling external opponent, the internal tensions of this coalition are becoming more visible. While it is too soon to say if the revolution is about to consume itself, a number of serious divisions have emerged on the cultural left. And they are becoming increasingly bitter.
...
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/01/21/civil-war-brewing-for-the-cultural-left/
It has often been remarked that the right won the economic arguments of the twentieth century, while the left won the culture war. Although Thatcher and Reagan succeeded in their quest to overturn the postwar economic consensus and undermine the USSR, the left consistently triumphed over social conservatives in political debates on society and culture.
Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, the left successfully positioned itself as the guardian of liberty and reason against a dogmatic and authoritarian “moral majority”. Moderates and liberals could not understand why the right wanted to deny gay people the right to marry, or women the right to an abortion. Nor could they understand the conservative quest to pull the theory of evolution from primary schools, or the regular campaigns by conservative moral crusaders against filth (http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/mary-whitehouse-recruited-teachers-in-fight-against-video-nasties-1-6494805), blasphemy (http://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/nov/13/world.news) and even Satanism (1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_debates_over_the_Harry_Potter_series), 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_controversies)) in popular culture. Against such opponents, it was relatively easy for the left to position itself as the defenders of academic inquiry, artistic expression and personal freedom.
But the sands are beginning to shift. The coalition of moderate liberals, sceptical intellectuals, and radical progressives that once stood together against the conservative “moral majority” is beginning to fracture. In the absence of a compelling external opponent, the internal tensions of this coalition are becoming more visible. While it is too soon to say if the revolution is about to consume itself, a number of serious divisions have emerged on the cultural left. And they are becoming increasingly bitter.
...