I have grown so weary of conservatives and Republicans ceding the language of politics to the progressives and Democrats. Why is it that we allow media talking heads, prominent progressives and the elitist leadership of the opposition party to call us such hideous names and to take control of the language? When are we going to have a so-called conservative on one of the cable networks show genuine outrage at the suggestion that because a person is white, that person must, by definition, be a racist? How incredibly absurd? Because one takes exception to the political philosophy of another person, then there must be some perceived grievance and violation of “privilege. ”
Today, we are assaulted by media types and progressive commentators with every form of hate speech. The purpose of this deliberate approach of intimidation is to suppress speech and to cower, through some form of guilt burdening, everyone who cannot identify as an underrepresented population.
The late Aaron Wildavsky, an incredible political scientist in his day, wrote about the notion of radical egalitarianism—equal outcomes for everyone. In order for this idea to gain traction, there are three elements that must be in place—victims, villains and vindictiveness.
More and more today, those who cannot get their way through the political process of winning ideas winning at the ballot box must advance their agenda through fear, threat, bullying and intimidation. The more aggrieved an individual appears to be, the better. As we continue to send our children to campuses where intellectual diversity is non-existent, we will continue to see more and more victims graduating into our society. If there are victims—those with some perceived grievance—then there must be villains. There are many easy targets. Today, the cause de jur is simply being white.
White privilege, white supremacy, white oppression, etc., are the triggering words that are intended to shame anyone born white into believing that nature has blessed him or her with some advantage without regard to merit in any way. How is it we have forgotten the words of Martin Luther King about measuring the worth of an individual on the content of one’s character and not the color of one’s skin?
The leftists cannot compete in the arena of ideas
The vindictiveness of the far left and their media minions reveals so much about their true intentions. The leftists cannot compete in the arena of ideas, so they must resort to hate speech to intimidate and silence their opponents. We must fight back and must, at every turn and occurrence, call out the left whenever they advance the idea that we are all racists. It’s not true and they must be held to account.
The true racists are those who do not think that individuals can get ahead without some affirmative action of some kind being exercised. Perhaps we ought to focus on providing true equal opportunity in education and other areas so individuals, based on their own skills and actions, can raise themselves above the morass of chronic poverty and structural, institutional racism. Perhaps we should focus on eliminating food, daycare and healthcare deserts in impoverished areas so that individuals might get the education and training needed to raise themselves and their families out of desperate circumstances. All of this is possible.
Racism is the most evil of all societal sins. We must challenge the left at every turn, especially when it comes to race and racism. We must be willing to work to eliminate the left’s goal of keeping a permanent underclass in America. Equal opportunity is the value.
Sam Clovis was raised in Kansas and attended the United States Air Force Academy, serving for 25 years on active duty as a fighter pilot. He retired as a Colonel and the Inspector General of NORAD and the United States Space Command.
Sam served as a Fellow at the Homeland Security Institute, contributing in national preparedness and immigration policy. He recently served as a tenured full professor of economics at Morningside College.
Sam has a BS from the Academy, an MBA from Golden Gate University and a doctorate from the University of Alabama. He served as national co-chair and chief policy advisor for the Trump for President Campaign, was a policy director during the transition period and served as the Senior White House Advisor to the US Department of Agriculture. He currently lives in rural Iowa.
I have grown so weary of conservatives and Republicans ceding the language of politics to the progressives and Democrats. Why is it that we allow media talking heads, prominent progressives and the elitist leadership of the opposition party to call us such hideous names and to take control of the language? When are we going to have a so-called conservative on one of the cable networks show genuine outrage at the suggestion that because a person is white, that person must, by definition, be a racist? How incredibly absurd? Because one takes exception to the political philosophy of another person, then there must be some perceived grievance and violation of “privilege. ”
