REAL ART YEAR TWO BEGINS

From Real Art comments:

Visit my website.....you might learn something.
dp | Homepage | 11.07.03 - 12:41 am |

It appears that some drunken conservative asshole stumbled through the Real Art threshold and crashed my party. I checked out his blog and found the typical confused, sloshed, angry version of reality: Butthole O'Reilly styled "common sense" lectures about the "way things are" and how you're an idiot if you disagree with him. What do you say to a guy who can't see beyond the computer chip embedded in his skull? Here's what I posted in response:

"Shut up, you American! You Americans, all you do is talk, and talk, and say "let me tell you something" and "I just wanna say." Well, you're dead now, so shut up!"

The Grim Reaper

from Monty Python's Meaning of Life
Ron | Email | Homepage | 11.07.03 - 9:30 pm |

Nothing like a little tit-for-tat absurdity to avenge that spit-upon feeling that I get from smarter-than-thou conservatives these days.

I'm reminded of an argument I once had with my older brother who often verges on this kind of right-wing arrogance (we don't argue any more; my views tend to piss him off more often than not, and I prefer to be on good terms with him). I don't even remember what the argument was about, but what stuck in my mind was him stopping the conversation thread in frustrated exasperation and hissing through his clenched teeth, "haven't you ever taken an economics course?!?" The argument ended soon after his outburst. What else could he say? Not only have I taken economics at the college level, I've been rather obsessed with the subject since high school. I understand quite well where the conservatives are coming from, and I reject their false, harsh version of reality anyway.

Conservative or neo-liberal views of economics are based on unfounded assumptions that simply do not work in the real world the way that they do on paper. Furthermore, these views tend to promote a sort of social Darwinism that savages the poor: conservatives, who are utterly without any sense of irony, simply cannot understand that neo-liberalism, as a philosophy, both impoverishes vast numbers of human beings while establishing a belief system that blames the poor for their poverty. "Compassionate conservatism" is a sick joke. It is impossible for a conservative to be compassionate--conservatism is, by definition, a stark and painful understanding of human existence: better take care of yourself, because you're on your own! I pledge allegiance to ME!

This brings up another great irony at the heart of conservatism that conservatives have no ability to appreciate: neo-liberalism is anti-Christian. Again, I don't say this because I have no knowledge of Christianity; rather, I know this because I used to be a fundamentalist: I was an insider and know their point of view, but I reject it anyway. If the Gospels are to be taken as a fair record of Jesus' teachings, the philosophy that seemed to guide his life is anathema to neo-liberalism: Jesus was anti-materialism and wealth, and pro-love and charity. I like Jesus. Fundamentalists, however, clearly reject the example set by their Lord, warping and twisting it into the stark, selfish, unforgiving view that they prefer. This dark version of Christ, this "Anti-Christ" if you will, has made it easy for fundamentalists to change "love your enemy" to "kill your enemy." It is no accident that the Southern Baptists were some of the most bloodthirsty supporters of the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq.

Because so many Americans have the concept of Christianity so deeply embedded in their identities, conservatives have been able to play havoc with our nation's sense of morality. The conservatives have convinced many that good Americans are also good Christians, and conservatives work hard to define the concept of "good Christian." Conservative appeals to basic human herd mentality through such cherished concepts, symbols, and ideas have been wildly successful. If anyone doubts this, consider the current American love of authority--Old Testament patriarchal notions of obedience, God's wrath, and punishment run rampant in the United States. At the same time we're supposed to worship democracy and individual freedoms--the contradictions in our society are maddening, and conservatives use them to great advantage.

Here is the greatest advantage: wealthy elites, not the people, rule America. The amount of money infesting the political process, American worship of wealth, pro-corporate news media, and other factors make our nation not a democracy, but a wealth driven oligarchy. America: the land of the slaves and the home of the scared. The fact that our democracy is functionally dead has allowed a chimpanzee frat-boy to illegally seize the White House. The fact that our president is a moronic chimp has allowed the Machiavellian opportunists known as neo-conservatives to pull his strings. Our country is really fucked up!

That brings me back to the drunken, conservative lout who tracked up the Real Art carpets with his muddy, webbed feet. As my blog begins its second year, I realize that I'm not really writing for people like him. His people have already decided that they understand "the way things are," thank you, and please don't confuse them with the facts. Their minds are closed--their worldview is intertwined with their sense of identity; doubting conservatism is, for them, to doubt themselves. They cannot change their minds without a great deal of pain and turmoil. I doubt that even a two-by-four to the forehead would make much of a difference. Instead, I write to support and strengthen the wills of those who agree with me, and to attempt to persuade those who disagree with me, but are open minded and willing to listen.

This goal is, after all, the American way: honest debate and dialogue will provide the best course for our great nation to follow. This is what democracy is all about. This is what I hope my blog, in its own small way, can help restore to America.

Happy birthday Real Art!

Update: it appears that my own little inebriated freeper troll has also been poking his nose through the Real Art cabinets and drawers and sniffing my underwear. After scanning my BUTTLOADS OF MICHAEL MOORE post below, he staggered into the comments section and tried to start a drunken argument. I'm amazed this kid hasn't passed out yet.

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