the odd political spectrum
What struck me today was how strangely aligned our current political spectrum is. The thing that got me started was global capitalism and its adherents and opponents.
It makes perfect sense, for instance, that Jason, who is more politically conservative than I am, would complain so strongly against Wal-Martization — the way it replaces home-crafted stuff with less expensive foreign stuff, displacing American jobs overseas — while I, being slightly more liberal than he, would be more positive about it (though I have no love for Wal-Mart).
But perhaps Jason and I are much more consistent in our views than the average person. As you must be aware, the average conservative is rather affable on the subject of globalization, whereas the average liberal is militantly against it. So you get the spectacle of left-wingers marching in the streets, and John Kerry declaiming loudly, about "keeping our jobs at home." Meanwhile, Bush sounds positively progressive, encouraging the equalization that global trade permits, and proposing plans to allow illegal temporary workers in places like south Texas to be considered legal.
What's going on here? Of course, this isn't the only weirdly inverted issue: after all, for 30 years now the party that has stood for giving voice to the voiceless has fought strongly for the right to abortion, while the party that should by all rights be saying "let the market decide" fights strongly against.
It makes perfect sense, for instance, that Jason, who is more politically conservative than I am, would complain so strongly against Wal-Martization — the way it replaces home-crafted stuff with less expensive foreign stuff, displacing American jobs overseas — while I, being slightly more liberal than he, would be more positive about it (though I have no love for Wal-Mart).
But perhaps Jason and I are much more consistent in our views than the average person. As you must be aware, the average conservative is rather affable on the subject of globalization, whereas the average liberal is militantly against it. So you get the spectacle of left-wingers marching in the streets, and John Kerry declaiming loudly, about "keeping our jobs at home." Meanwhile, Bush sounds positively progressive, encouraging the equalization that global trade permits, and proposing plans to allow illegal temporary workers in places like south Texas to be considered legal.
What's going on here? Of course, this isn't the only weirdly inverted issue: after all, for 30 years now the party that has stood for giving voice to the voiceless has fought strongly for the right to abortion, while the party that should by all rights be saying "let the market decide" fights strongly against.
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