Jeez. Sure there's some inflexibility on both sides, but the mindsets that are inflexible are different. Xenophobia, e.g., is part of that mindset on the right, but not on the left. And I'd say xenophobia is very much a self-centered viewpoint.
As to stupidity, my point, in response to the article Barry posted, was that to the degree that right-wingers are stupid, it's not because their religion is stupid, contrary to what the author claimed. That's why I posted the statement from the National Evangelical Association, which is clearly not stupid. Here in this country, we've been trying to talk to the right for a couple of decades now, and the bullheaded resistance from the far end of the spectrum has only gotten worse. Political debate with them has long since become pointless. Even the Republican establishment has become disturbed by it, according to the NYTimes article I linked to. I don't know what the answer is, but talking doesn't do any good if the people you're talking to aren't listening. It looks like the exercise of political muscle by the non-Tea Party Republicans--withholding support, financial and otherwise, from the extremist candidates--is the only viable approach. If they can't get elected, they can't do as much damage. Goodness knows the establishment Republicans are no picnic, but they aren't crazy-stupid. And we can't give in to the threat of violence by catering to the extremists. They have to be opposed and politically marginalized, neutralized. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <s3raphita@...> wrote: "My point was that stupidity is a characteristic of right-wingers . . . The stupidity has much more to do with a certain inflexible and self-centred mindset": Come on! The inflexible mindset is a characteristic shared across the political spectrum - left, right, centre. And there have, on occasion, been highly intelligent people on both sides of the left-right divide. On the right, I'd mention Ezra Pound and Céline. Both were highly articulate - but both were full-on anti-Semites and it's that xenophobia (rather than the stupidity) of the right that is the more worrying issue to me. The trouble with dismissing your political opponents as stupid is that, if true, they are clearly not worth wasting time talking to. And once political debate becomes pointless people feel justified in turning to violence. ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote: Of course there are no one-to-one correspondences between right wings, just some strong similarities on specific issues (in the case of the U.S. and Europe, the biggie with their right wings seems to be immigration, especially Muslim immigration). As the article Barry cited points out, the specific issues the U.S. right wing is fixated on are mostly not theological (abortion and homosexuality being the major exceptions). My point was that stupidity is a characteristic of the right-wingers, not their religion per se. The religion itself is almost incidental. The stupidity has much more to do with a certain inflexible and self-centered mindset, so the fact that other countries' right wings aren't religious is basically irrelevant. Seraphita wrote: Something I wanted to add. Re "it seems like the U.S. isn't the only country that has problems with its right wing.": You are, no doubt, well aware that no other country has a right-wing voting bloc like your US right? The whole "religious-right" cause has zero appeal elsewhere - except in Islamic republics ;-) And the tiny-state, full-on, free-market capitalism approach is probably these days only advocated in the Far East - Hong Kong, Singapore, . . . All the right-wing parties in Europe are pro-welfare state parties - and the further to the right they are, the more welfarism they support. They are basically "national" socialist parties - but no one wants to invade other countries any more. It would be interesting to find out how many of the policies of Euro rightists would be to the left of your Democrats! ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote: Oh, hmmm, it seems like the U.S. isn't the only country that has problems with its right wing. From an article in today's NYTimes entitled, "Right Wing’s Surge in Europe Has the Establishment Rattled": "...All over, established political forces are losing ground to politicians whom they scorn as fear-mongering populists. In France, according to a recent opinion poll, the far-right National Front has become the country’s most popular party. In other countries — Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland and the Netherlands — disruptive upstart groups are on a roll. "This phenomenon alarms not just national leaders but also officials in Brussels who fear that European Parliament elections next May could substantially tip the balance of power toward nationalists and forces intent on halting or reversing integration within the European Union...." Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/09/world/europe/right-wings-surge-in-europe-has-the-establishment-rattled.html
