Quote of the Day

"Most people have come to associate capitalism with the advent of modern political democracy, on the theory that the growth of the market freed feudal minds and bodies. But while it’s true that capitalism’s productive power — new wealth from trade and investment, urbanization, advances in communications — made this democracy possible, the actual implementation of democratic reforms happened in spite of, not because of, capitalists themselves. As many modern scholars have argued, the roots of democratization were in the organized working class. Though workers needed the assistance of a host of allies from throughout society to triumph, these popular coalitions fought against yesterday’s oligarchs to secure suffrage and push for the social protections we take for granted today. Democratic reforms were foisted on resistant elites, from the English and French revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries on to the struggles of the last."

Bhaskar Sunkara
(Opinion piece for Aljazeera America website)

More on Conservative Heroes

First, we have the conservative hero Phil Robertson saying that African-Americans were better off and happier when they were being lynched and not allowed to vote.  Now the latest hero, Cliven Bundy, has announced that maybe they were better off and happier as slaves.  In Robertson's case, there was almost no conservative reaction.  With Bundy, there has been tepid criticism from a few conservatives, but since they've declared him a true "patriot" they seem to be having difficulty figuring out how to play both sides.

It's both ironic and sad.  Ironic because it comes a day or so after the Supreme Court has once again tried to "wish away" (Justice Sotomayor's telling phrase) the idea that racism still exists in America.  And sad because it seems to have become part of Republican mainstream thought.

Conservative Heroes

So who have conservatives put forward as heroes and role models lately?

Ummmm...

George Zimmerman
Ted Nugent
Michael Dunn
Phil Robertson
Cliven Bundy

(This is just a partial list...the ones that popped into my head the last 30 seconds.)

My conservative friends have a right to their own heroes, but all I know is that I don't want to taste their Kool-Aid.