General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What I've learned about conservatives in the last few months [View all]ewagner
(18,964 posts)I tend to vary slightly with the thesis of the OP only in that I think the conservative rank-and-file are indeed the useful idiots of those who do possess a very well-defined ideological agenda. I cite the Chicago School of Economics and point to the philosophies of Von Hayek and Milton Friedman and how they have tried to implent Free Market or "Austrian" economic principles all over the world. There is indeed an ideological agenda and the rank-and-file conservatives are the legitimizing force to keep them in power.
Hate and bigotry are only the tools they use and they are damned effective tools.
Another poster said it reminded him of what was happening in 1930's Germany...remember this: the movement the led to WWII was egged on by the industrialists of the country...sound familiar?
I've always been troubled by this clip from the movie, Cabaret...not just by the image but by the clip at the end where the wealthy industrialist is asked, "Do you still think you can control them? He cannot answer.
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