Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Are You A "Real American"?

It was most strange watching The Daily Show on Monday night, since Jon Stewart and his staff pretty much copied my post from Sunday. Of course, I think my attempt to write about it was more feeble, and their version was a heck of a lot funnier.

However, this concept of real America vs. fake America, that a smaller town is inherently better than a larger town, that your choice during an election is framed purely by Good America vs. Evil America is an enormous denial of reality and a fervent embrace of the worst of human attributes. It's a tactic of creating an enemy to blame for every ill, a simplistic worldview with dangerous consequences.

Encoding political debate with such ideas has many historical precedences, none of them any good.

"
One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves."

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