I think that I am encouraged by this manifesto against civility to say that it is idiotic. The problem is not that the Tea Party is uncivil; it is that it paranoid. The Fox/Hannity/Limbaugh/Palin discourse makes symptoms worse in paranoid schizophrenics. Is the argument against civility imply that we cannot be pissed off by the right-wing paranoia machine.
Think of what they are saying: Obamacare will take over all decisions about your health; Obamacare will make your death the decision of a death panel; Obama will take away your guns and make you a vassal of the state; Obama will take away your discretionary income and spend it on reparations. Then all this is said at Tea Party candidate rallies punctuated by the attendees firing off guns. This creates a frenzied environment in which meanings get deeply embedded in the mind. At these meetings, they are told that second Amendment solutions may be necessary; they are told that they must water the tree of llberty with blood; and the Democrat candidates who are accused of stripping away the people's freedom are put in crosshairs. Ssuch paranoid political discourse will make the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenics appreciably worse, and it will also give them clear targets on which to focus their anger about their putative persecution. Paranoid schizophrenics are affected by chaotic and volatile political climates. It is idiotic to argue simply against civility without also arguing against the hyper-paranoid, individualistic, anti-governmental discourse on which the Right is relying to protect the insurance companies, gun manufacturers and business in general. Lakshmi
_______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
