Why aren't liberals fun anymore?

[badrose]

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign...ls-fun-anymore

"The economic boom is now palpable to nearly all Americans. It transcends spin. Polls are showing that Trump is unpopular, but Americans are upbeat about the economy. Consumers are spending like there’s no tomorrow. That is what is so disconcerting about liberal rage. They are bitterly unhappy at the very moment that the American economy is as prosperous as at anytime in modern history, and when median family incomes just hit an all time high, when black and Hispanic unemployment have hit record lows. What’s so bad about feeling good?"

[Doc]

they cant deal with defeat. Too busy acting like spoiled childish brats, which is funny considering their objection to Trump is that he is a spoiled childish brat

PS: I could not get link to work

[badrose]

Too busy acting like spoiled childish brats

Well, that's it, isn't it? I've never seen it as bad as it has been the last year and a half.

[suncat05]

Well, that's it, isn't it? I've never seen it as bad as it hasM been the last year and a half.

W

But the worst, I fear, is still yet to come. And when it happens it's going to be way worse than we've ever imagined.
And we will all see one thing, but the spin will be that it is something else.
Lies. More lies. And more damned lies.

[kingcat]

Spin is the key word. And it goes both ways. It is by no means worse than what we saw under the previous administration.
Things like the national debt and spending we’re huge concerns then but no longer. The birther movement and other convenient conspiracies were constant until it no longer mattered

We have created a society where multiple truths on any matter are self evident according to which source you prefer. That way we can remain indignant when facing differing opinions.
Thanks to all sorts of communication and social media, we are all dealing with the greatest of lies ever perpetrated on the world. And it will get worse.

Except for me naturally...

[CitizenBBN]

As to the particular question, the reason is b/c "liberalism" is quickly dying, being taken over by a very different animal, "Leftism".

"Liberalism" as defined from roughly the WWII era till the last 15-20 years was basically a pro-market, pro-American, pro-individual framework that thought excesses of those things needed to be tempered, but not abandoned. The goose that lays the golden eggs, individual political and economic liberty, was OK, it just needed to be managed so as to create more balance.

That ideology is quickly being replaced by an ideology that wholly rejects individual liberty at both the personal and economic level.

Think I'm exaggerating? I'm not. Leftism is rooted yes in basic totalitarian notions that people don't know what's best for them and that the overall goals of the whole are more important than the needs or liberties of the individual. Socially we now see people saying with a straight face that "hate speech" (which is anything that offends people) should be banned, and people who actually think it's a real, current day "crime" for which you can be prosecuted.

Economically we now see outright calls for socialism. Not that 1970s/80s "Carter is a socialist" stuff, but real honest to Goodness socialism. Single payer government run health care, complete government control of education top to bottom, etc.

"Social justice", which is the nice way to describe state run totalitarianism in order to achieve a prescribed set of economic outcomes, is now seen as not a way to temper capitalism, but a way to replace it.


So in light of the fact that we are facing a growing number of people in this country who think our fundamental belief system where the rights of the individual being paramount should not only be rejected but is in fact arguably a "crime", no I can't imagine they are are a very fun bunch.

B/c what we are seeing is a totalitarian movement. Often called "fascism", in fact "fascism" is simply a subset of totalitarianism, but for all intents and purposes we can use either word as both describe a world where the needs of the state come before the needs of the individual and a system whereby laws exist to insure conformance to a prescribed way of thinking and behaving that goes well beyond the Lockean prescription that laws exist simply to protect the infringement of one person on another's individual rights.

That's not going to attract happy, fun people. It's not about the 60s where people went off to do as they pleased, now they are focused on getting everyone else other than themselves to behave the way think is right, no matter what those other people think. Those won't be fun people, those are going to be angry, disaffected people obsessed with concentrating power and achieving conformance and control with the zeal that comes only from thinking you have an exclusive on what is morally right and wrong for everyone.

[ukpumacat]

It's not about the 60s where people went off to do as they pleased, now they are focused on getting everyone else other than themselves to behave the way think is right, no matter what those other people think.

I know you know this...but this works both ways. In fact, I would argue that the wind behind the "leftist" (as you call it) sails was the gay marriage argument.
You could take everything you just wrote above and apply it to that.
In simplest terms...
Gay people wanted to marry (and therefore be afforded the same rights as straight people).
Those on the opposing side are/were largely against it (with very very few exceptions) because of their PERSONAL belief that being gay was wrong/a sin.
So they were imposing their beliefs on other people. They were "focused on getting everyone else other than themselves to behave the way think is right, no matter what those other people think".
This was the cry of that movement.
And now that that debate is virtually over, many conservatives who did that exact thing are calling foul now that they are on the other side of it on different issues.
I understand that you are a libertarian. But I would argue the majority of conservatives are not. They are just as guilty as "leftist" of trying to enforce their beliefs on everyone else.
We used to have political divides on actual economic and governmental debates. Taxes. Big government vs small government, etc.

But, now those debates are much more centered around how people "think" and "believe". And people are now more often voting on those lines...not the libertarian ones you are talking about.
And imo, that trend boomed in the 80's when the Republican Party went to bed with James Dobson and Jerry Falwell and the religious right took control of the party. It became about social issues and "what is morally right and wrong for everyone" and not about big government vs small government etc.
They forced that change imo (and I don't at all think they started it...but its where it really took root). Both sides have been guilty of it in the past. But we saw Republicans embrace it like never before.

And now those who are not as socially conservative (like me) have to make a choice.
What do we care more about? Taxes/The Economy/Big Government/(Libertarianism) or personal convictions on personal issues (Gay Marriage, Abortion, Immigration (not in its effect on the economy), etc?

This is the choice that has been handed to Gen X'ers and Millenials imo.

Go back to the first post in this thread: how can "liberals" be unhappy if the economy is booming? And the answer here was that they are spoiled brats (which I'm sure many are on both sides of the aisle).
No. The answer is that the economy is simply NOT the most important thing to many of them (just like it wasn't to "whiny" conservatives when it was vastly better under Obama than Bush).

[Catonahottinroof]

In summary of what Chuck posted above, rhetoric and BS comes from both directions based on the politics of who is talking.
It should boil down to is it right, or is it wrong, nothing more.

[kingcat]

..and does it re-enforce the freedom for the individual in making those decisions.

I am conservative on many issues. Many conservatives have mentioned that the party which claims to be Republican no longer exists and I agree with that. The contrast is increasingly stark because the Republican party has moved much farther right.

I am liberal on other issues and the main change I have seen is that the far left has been given a larger platform than in the past by the right wing media.
Which feeds on the anger they can instill in their followers. And the left does the same thing.

I am for what maintains my rights afforded to me under the constitution, my freedom to fully or partially participate in govt., and the ability to worship and live as I desire.

And so I am for what maintains everyone's right afforded to them under the constitution, their freedom to fully or partially participate in govt., and their ability to believe and live as they desire.
Neither can exist without equal importance being placed on them.

And I am for the fruits of a good spirit..love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.

As with most people right or left, Im against lewd conduct, unnatural lust, fornication, excessive drinking and drug use, murder, stealing, lying, cheating, gossiping, slandering, idolatry etc.

Yet to maintain my right to practice much of what I believe, I must equally support the rights of others to live differently.
At least until my Lord returns and all such choices as we attempt to judge are His to make, and rich and poor, blue or green, right or left, free enterprise, social services, etc.. are no longer any issue.

I am fervently for a nation taking good care of the weak and poor because Gods blessing is only on people and nations with such an attitude. He is against those who would discard the poor for the love of themselves and money, and more money..and even more money.



Oh..and Im for UK!

[KeithKSR]

"Liberals don't wanna have fun," wasn't that a Cyndi Lauper song?

[kingcat]

"Liberals don't wanna have fun," wasn't that a Cyndi Lauper song?

I kind of liked that tune. But I really, really liked this one...and the gal too.