What the Left and Right Can Agree On
I read, watch, and listen to news and information from a variety of different sources, each offering different perspectives. Of course, the conventional wisdom is that Americans are hopelessly divided on every political issue. Last night I had an experience that underscores how that's not necessarily the case.
Earlier in the evening, I listened to a public radio show called Moyers and Company, as I do most Fridays. Later the same night, I tuned into Coast To Coast AM, as I do once in a while. The first show leans distinctly to the left while most of the hosts and guests on the second show lean distinctly to the right.
But yesterday, both shows had nearly identical topics: the rise of the national security state, the erosion of our civil liberties, unrelenting government/corporate surveillance, the out-of-control military-industrial complex, and America's numerous wars around the world. And both shows had exactly the same viewpoint on those particular issues, with the hosts and guests on each show slamming both the Bush and Obama administrations for their policies.
So while the media likes to hype the divisions in American society and while endless bickering over taxes or abortion or gay marriage serves the politicians and the corporate elites who want the American electorate perpetually divided against itself, it turns out that the Left and the Right actually agree on some of the more fundamental issues. And neither side is happy with the government's relentless assault on our individual freedoms.
Earlier in the evening, I listened to a public radio show called Moyers and Company, as I do most Fridays. Later the same night, I tuned into Coast To Coast AM, as I do once in a while. The first show leans distinctly to the left while most of the hosts and guests on the second show lean distinctly to the right.
But yesterday, both shows had nearly identical topics: the rise of the national security state, the erosion of our civil liberties, unrelenting government/corporate surveillance, the out-of-control military-industrial complex, and America's numerous wars around the world. And both shows had exactly the same viewpoint on those particular issues, with the hosts and guests on each show slamming both the Bush and Obama administrations for their policies.
So while the media likes to hype the divisions in American society and while endless bickering over taxes or abortion or gay marriage serves the politicians and the corporate elites who want the American electorate perpetually divided against itself, it turns out that the Left and the Right actually agree on some of the more fundamental issues. And neither side is happy with the government's relentless assault on our individual freedoms.