Here we are, with the autocrat Putin telling us our days are over, and our president agreeing as he misunderstands the comment. How did we get here?
After WWII, a few leading men hated the idea that the government would reflect new voters: people of color and women.
As government increasingly supported schools, hospitals, and clean cities, and as it regulated business, protected workers from dangerous workplaces, mandated minimum wages and maximum hours, and required businesses to clean up the pollution they put into the public environment, these men began to argue that anyone who wanted to expand the liberal idea was, in fact, a dangerous "socialist" or "communist."
Since it was quite clear that no one was arguing for the hallmark of those systems of government - they both depend on public ownership of businesses - they argued that the taxes necessary to pay for government programs redistributed wealth from rich to poor.
They insisted that anyone who reinforced the idea of western liberalism - Republicans and Democrats both - were dangerous "Liberals." By demonizing their opponents, that fringe group of businessmen came to dominate the Republican Party, and to take over America.
Now, in 2019, we have a Republican president who is so steeped in that rhetoric he has lost touch with our founding principles. He agreed with a geopolitical enemy that western liberalism is obsolete.
Putin's comment was not about politics; it was about the future of humanity. The head of an enemy power has taunted us with the idea that the principles on which the United States' democratic experiment was founded are "obsolete."
Clearly, Putin prefers his own authoritarian system that sets up a few people over the rest of the population. Putin has turned Russian into a deadly oligarchy in which he and his cronies hold all the power. Do we want the same?!?
The full article is available here
