[Bill,
May 26, 2009]
The liberal narrative: Freeing ourselves from the ignorant bonds of the past
For centuries, malevolent authorities oppressed mankind and set up the world for the benefit of a few rich, usually white males. Superstition and lies kept people in their lowered station; when that didn't work, the power used force. Unfortunately for The Man and His minions, a few brave souls, interested only in truth, questioned the authorities, invented science and reason, and began to dispel the superstition, lies and dogma.
As the darkness subsided, these truth seekers showed us the way to emancipation from ignorance and want. This emancipation threatened the privileges of the elite, and thus began five centuries of struggle between progressives and conservatives — progressives seeking to shine light on ignorance, folly and oppression of the past, and thus dissipate its power, and conservatives seeking to suppress and silence this truth-seeking, in order to protect their economic interests and preserve their illusions.
Galileo. Copernicus. Kepler. Again and again, the truth-seekers pierced the veil of ignorance (not in the Rawlsian sense) and pushed back conservatives, creating a new, more just and better civil order. The Church and its heirs, the source of many of these superstitions and oppressive institutions, was forced over generation after generation to concede point after point — on gravity, on geo-centricism, on the divine right of kings, on witches, on reason and mathematics, on philosophy, on the creation narrative, on slavery and on serfdom. The rise of capitalism created a new class of oppressors, and capitalisms excesses pit the progressives on the side of labor, safety, and environmental protection against the conservative defenders of monetary privilege, environmental devastation, child labor and impoverished labor.
Again and again the progressives told the truth, and the conservatives were forced to retreat each and every time when the truth came out. Conservatives were forced to retreat on segregation and racism. Progressives then turned to emancipating women, and conservatives were forced to retreat on sexism, women in athletics and the workplace, and women's equality. Even on matters of taste, such as art, music and literature, progressives forced conservatives to retreat because of their creativity, leaving conservatives' clinging to ignorant old ways and at best outdated culture.
This trend has continued to this day. Progressives seek to correct the inequalities of capitalism and still seek to end poverty and ignorance, opposed still by conservatives who in each case, eventually lose. Progressives noticed that antibiotics and the pill changed the old need for institutions to control human sexuality, and they eagerly embraced that liberation, extending the emancipation program to homosexuality, transgendered people and bisexuality.
Emancipation also continues through detailed source-based criticism and social change within all the old, formerly hidebound institutions that used to oppress — everything from the churches, to the universities, to the mass media. All values and assumptions, from what men and women are like and what their conditioned to believe about themselves (and who benefits) are open to question, and require change ti improve equality and justice between the sexes, the differently abled, the races, and well, everyone. Progressives embrace change and technology, and even greater human progress could be made if the conservatives would just get out of the way and let things take their course, and not cling to their ancient ignorance, superstition and racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, and hegemonic hatreds.
Not only that, but given this great 500-year-old narrative of progressive emancipation from ignorance and want, only someone with psychological problems could seriously disagree with any of this, and only the stupid and the ignorant could remain a conservative ... or someone who's trying to protect their privilege. The former group deserve our efforts at consciousness-raising; the latter deserve our scorn. In any case, history is on our side, as always, progress continues, even if a few stubbornly cling to the darkness and miss the train. But there's a new dawn ahead for mankind, if we can overcome these conservative obstacles in time. In that new dawn technology will reverse Adam's curse and liberate us from work, greater healthcare from disease, raised consciousness from war, and reason will liberate us from jealousy, anger and strife, and we will live like literary Indians in peace and harmony with one another and the earth, returning to an almost child-like simplicity.
As the darkness subsided, these truth seekers showed us the way to emancipation from ignorance and want. This emancipation threatened the privileges of the elite, and thus began five centuries of struggle between progressives and conservatives — progressives seeking to shine light on ignorance, folly and oppression of the past, and thus dissipate its power, and conservatives seeking to suppress and silence this truth-seeking, in order to protect their economic interests and preserve their illusions.
Galileo. Copernicus. Kepler. Again and again, the truth-seekers pierced the veil of ignorance (not in the Rawlsian sense) and pushed back conservatives, creating a new, more just and better civil order. The Church and its heirs, the source of many of these superstitions and oppressive institutions, was forced over generation after generation to concede point after point — on gravity, on geo-centricism, on the divine right of kings, on witches, on reason and mathematics, on philosophy, on the creation narrative, on slavery and on serfdom. The rise of capitalism created a new class of oppressors, and capitalisms excesses pit the progressives on the side of labor, safety, and environmental protection against the conservative defenders of monetary privilege, environmental devastation, child labor and impoverished labor.
Again and again the progressives told the truth, and the conservatives were forced to retreat each and every time when the truth came out. Conservatives were forced to retreat on segregation and racism. Progressives then turned to emancipating women, and conservatives were forced to retreat on sexism, women in athletics and the workplace, and women's equality. Even on matters of taste, such as art, music and literature, progressives forced conservatives to retreat because of their creativity, leaving conservatives' clinging to ignorant old ways and at best outdated culture.
This trend has continued to this day. Progressives seek to correct the inequalities of capitalism and still seek to end poverty and ignorance, opposed still by conservatives who in each case, eventually lose. Progressives noticed that antibiotics and the pill changed the old need for institutions to control human sexuality, and they eagerly embraced that liberation, extending the emancipation program to homosexuality, transgendered people and bisexuality.
Emancipation also continues through detailed source-based criticism and social change within all the old, formerly hidebound institutions that used to oppress — everything from the churches, to the universities, to the mass media. All values and assumptions, from what men and women are like and what their conditioned to believe about themselves (and who benefits) are open to question, and require change ti improve equality and justice between the sexes, the differently abled, the races, and well, everyone. Progressives embrace change and technology, and even greater human progress could be made if the conservatives would just get out of the way and let things take their course, and not cling to their ancient ignorance, superstition and racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, and hegemonic hatreds.
Not only that, but given this great 500-year-old narrative of progressive emancipation from ignorance and want, only someone with psychological problems could seriously disagree with any of this, and only the stupid and the ignorant could remain a conservative ... or someone who's trying to protect their privilege. The former group deserve our efforts at consciousness-raising; the latter deserve our scorn. In any case, history is on our side, as always, progress continues, even if a few stubbornly cling to the darkness and miss the train. But there's a new dawn ahead for mankind, if we can overcome these conservative obstacles in time. In that new dawn technology will reverse Adam's curse and liberate us from work, greater healthcare from disease, raised consciousness from war, and reason will liberate us from jealousy, anger and strife, and we will live like literary Indians in peace and harmony with one another and the earth, returning to an almost child-like simplicity.