I hate to see the word "radical" ruined as it has been, but yes Republicans are, as a whole party, startlingly dishonest, and contemptuous of democracy. They advance despotism.
I agree. And the people to whom I’m referring, not necessarily ALL Republicans, are radicals. Definition: a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform.
I understand what you're saying here, JL. I had always heard "radical" associated with extreme liberalism, or the "far left" while "reactionary" was always conservative to the extreme. Unsure of my self, I looked it up and found this.
"In popular usage, reactionary refers to a strong traditionalist conservative political perspective of a person opposed to social, political, and economic change. Reactionary ideologies can be radical in the sense of political extremism in service to re-establishing past conditions."
My proposal for 5 parties in the US is (reading from left to right) Radical, Liberal, Centrist, Conservative, Radical.
Unfortunately, even the word "reactionary" fails to describe the people infesting the republican party today. They have strong views, certainly, but they have nothing at all to do with tradition or conserving the American way of life as it has evolved since 1787. They are disgusting, with their obsession with other people's sex lives, and despicable, with their attitudes and intentions with respect to women and girls. They make me sick.
I have lots of friends that are Conservative. They are right of Centrist but left of MAGA's. Most of them will vote for Trump again for the 3rd time which I find disgusting.
I was recently back in Omaha for my 50th high school reunion. Most of the women are Never Trumpers and probably Liberal as Ally points out above. And a large portion of the men are Conservative. The men are Cons for one reason -- their interpretation of the 2nd amendment and the fear that Democrats will take away all of their guns. Of course this is hogwash and very tribal in my opinion.
So, I have a 50th HS class reunion in CT at the end of the month, and am worried about what I'm going to find among my erstwhile classmates. I haven't had any contact at all with any of them since leaving to go to college (at 17) in 1973, so I have no idea what any of them is like. It's a very small town - my graduating class was 53 people - rural/suburban outside Hartford. So, I'm curious how you found out about your former classmates' stance. And how anyone who holds actually conservative views could justify voting republican? How do you talk to such people?
My class had 765 graduates and about 275 attended or 50th from all over the US (41 different states). The committee that puts together the reunions has 15-20 people on it -- 3 men and the rest women. They meet once a month and have already met for our 55th reunion in 2028. I have known about 1/2 of the committee since I was in the 2nd grade most of the rest since junior high. I have talked to several of the committee members about politics since Trump announced in 2015. Most of them are Never Trumpers or life time Democrats. But, most of them are very intelligent professionals having worked as attorneys, doctors, teachers and entrepreneurs.
I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood that was a mix of blue and white collar workers. My parents worked as census takers in 1970 and 1980. In 1970, there were around 5000 people in our one square mile neighborhood. Lots of lots of kids. There were several families that had 12 kids living in 3-4 bedroom homes averaging 1000 sq feet. There was a Catholic K-8 school in the neighborhood which explains many of the large families.
A large portion of the homeowners built their homes in the 1950's and stayed in them long after their kids were grown. I knew many of the kids in my class since we started kindergarten and many others for most of the 13 years we were in school. There were exactly zero people of color in my graduating class unless you want to count Raj whose mother was from India.
Anyway, all of guys I hung around with in elementary school are lifetime (about 8 of us) Republicans, the girls Democrats. But, since there were 13 elementary schools that fed the high school many of the guys I know are Democrats. This reunion we didn't talk politics hardly at all unlike at the 45th. May it was because Trump was doing terrible things almost every day in 2018 and now he is just a lying loser criminal.
So, yeah, I wouldn't be concerned about running into MAGAs at your reunion. I have worked for a company in New Haven since 2008 and many of them commute from Hartford. We almost never talk politics even when we get together socially. A couple of my co-workers refuse to say anything about anything political. Fine by me.
Why are you going to your reunion? I go to observe how people have changed and to catch up I think. We share a history so it's easy to find things to talk about. People really don't change much in 50 years I've learned from the 10 reunions I've attended.
We must all work hard to save and protect America from these radicals. It begins with the local races and involvement there.
And, yes, before someone asks as they did he last time I made a similar comment, I am on my city council and running to Lee my seat.
Together we can overcome.
I hate to see the word "radical" ruined as it has been, but yes Republicans are, as a whole party, startlingly dishonest, and contemptuous of democracy. They advance despotism.
I agree. And the people to whom I’m referring, not necessarily ALL Republicans, are radicals. Definition: a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform.
radix - the root ... "root it all up and start again (but we will set the rule book)"
However did this all occur?
Radical can be far left or right. Better term might be extremism
I understand what you're saying here, JL. I had always heard "radical" associated with extreme liberalism, or the "far left" while "reactionary" was always conservative to the extreme. Unsure of my self, I looked it up and found this.
"In popular usage, reactionary refers to a strong traditionalist conservative political perspective of a person opposed to social, political, and economic change. Reactionary ideologies can be radical in the sense of political extremism in service to re-establishing past conditions."
My proposal for 5 parties in the US is (reading from left to right) Radical, Liberal, Centrist, Conservative, Radical.
Unfortunately, even the word "reactionary" fails to describe the people infesting the republican party today. They have strong views, certainly, but they have nothing at all to do with tradition or conserving the American way of life as it has evolved since 1787. They are disgusting, with their obsession with other people's sex lives, and despicable, with their attitudes and intentions with respect to women and girls. They make me sick.
I have lots of friends that are Conservative. They are right of Centrist but left of MAGA's. Most of them will vote for Trump again for the 3rd time which I find disgusting.
I was recently back in Omaha for my 50th high school reunion. Most of the women are Never Trumpers and probably Liberal as Ally points out above. And a large portion of the men are Conservative. The men are Cons for one reason -- their interpretation of the 2nd amendment and the fear that Democrats will take away all of their guns. Of course this is hogwash and very tribal in my opinion.
So, I have a 50th HS class reunion in CT at the end of the month, and am worried about what I'm going to find among my erstwhile classmates. I haven't had any contact at all with any of them since leaving to go to college (at 17) in 1973, so I have no idea what any of them is like. It's a very small town - my graduating class was 53 people - rural/suburban outside Hartford. So, I'm curious how you found out about your former classmates' stance. And how anyone who holds actually conservative views could justify voting republican? How do you talk to such people?
My class had 765 graduates and about 275 attended or 50th from all over the US (41 different states). The committee that puts together the reunions has 15-20 people on it -- 3 men and the rest women. They meet once a month and have already met for our 55th reunion in 2028. I have known about 1/2 of the committee since I was in the 2nd grade most of the rest since junior high. I have talked to several of the committee members about politics since Trump announced in 2015. Most of them are Never Trumpers or life time Democrats. But, most of them are very intelligent professionals having worked as attorneys, doctors, teachers and entrepreneurs.
I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood that was a mix of blue and white collar workers. My parents worked as census takers in 1970 and 1980. In 1970, there were around 5000 people in our one square mile neighborhood. Lots of lots of kids. There were several families that had 12 kids living in 3-4 bedroom homes averaging 1000 sq feet. There was a Catholic K-8 school in the neighborhood which explains many of the large families.
A large portion of the homeowners built their homes in the 1950's and stayed in them long after their kids were grown. I knew many of the kids in my class since we started kindergarten and many others for most of the 13 years we were in school. There were exactly zero people of color in my graduating class unless you want to count Raj whose mother was from India.
Anyway, all of guys I hung around with in elementary school are lifetime (about 8 of us) Republicans, the girls Democrats. But, since there were 13 elementary schools that fed the high school many of the guys I know are Democrats. This reunion we didn't talk politics hardly at all unlike at the 45th. May it was because Trump was doing terrible things almost every day in 2018 and now he is just a lying loser criminal.
So, yeah, I wouldn't be concerned about running into MAGAs at your reunion. I have worked for a company in New Haven since 2008 and many of them commute from Hartford. We almost never talk politics even when we get together socially. A couple of my co-workers refuse to say anything about anything political. Fine by me.
Why are you going to your reunion? I go to observe how people have changed and to catch up I think. We share a history so it's easy to find things to talk about. People really don't change much in 50 years I've learned from the 10 reunions I've attended.
I hope you have a great time!
"Radical" from radix, meaning "root." Used as an adjective, it invokes the idea of something that goes all the way to the root.
Hence, a "radical" is not someone who wants to patch, or fix, or modify. They are looking to remodel the whole thing, all the way to the root.
I like the way you bracket both ends of the spectrum with "radical."