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A thoughtful piece well worth the reading. To my mind, "Trumpism" always struck me as a fevered attempt to create a kind of zombie McCarthyism. People tend to remember that scoundrel time as one of ideological anti-Communism, aimed first at the USSR and its presumed allies, including the "home grown" subversives. But the organized Left were never large enough to be posing a serious threat. It did tremendous damage to what remained of the radicalization of the 1930s and 40s, but it began in Truman's effort to marginalize the diehard New Dealers and, later, by McCarthy and other opportunists to bully their way into a stronger position in the governing structure. All of this involved conjuring an "international Communist conspiracy." For believers, that conspiracy centered on fears of "the deep State," the unelected, appointed Federal bureaucrats attempting to feminize America, destroy national virtue with its international influences, impose restrictions on business, put chemicals into the water, etc. To defend an idea of freedom that embraced their own right to be free from any altenrative ideas of arguments, they ritually victimized individuals exercising their right to speak freely or organize or just be different. It was as anti-science and as anti-rational as anything the Trumpwads have conjured. And--in the complete absence of the organized Left in that repressive context--the right-wingers enjoyed a monopoly in focusing class resentments. Cheers, Mark L. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
