There is a myth that Democrats and Republicans have allowed themselves to believe. Here is how they figure it. Since 1992 at any given time, between 17 percent and 23 percent of Americans said they were liberals. Between 34 percent and 43 percent said they were moderate. Between 36 percent and 38 percent said they were conservative.
The charlatans looking at those percentages figured that the number of moderate citizens plus the number of conservative citizens were greater than the number of moderate citizens plus liberal citizens. Thus, they declared America a "center-right" country. In other words, a country leaning conservative.
This construct was necessary to secure the roots of polarization. A huge tree of dysfunction could then be spliced onto those roots.
But I digress. One must remember that Americans are the ones who personally decide what liberal, moderate, or conservative mean. The corporate media over the last few decades have been successfully coerced into demonizing the liberal label. As a consequence, many moderates who would otherwise say they are liberal simply do not.
One should remember that liberal, moderate, and conservative in the past had little to do with political parties. There have always been liberal Democrats, conservative Democrats, and moderate Democrats. There have always been liberal Republicans, conservative Republicans, and moderate Republicans.
One must remember that liberal values got women the right to vote. Liberal values ended slavery. Liberal values ensured a livable 40-hour work-week. Liberal values gave us a minimum wage. Liberal values gave Americans a voice over the American plutocracy, the American corporatocracy.
One must remember that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was one of the greatest liberal achievements. It required the support of Republicans. While more Democrats voted for the bill than Republicans, a larger percentage of Republicans voted for the act. This, of course, is because in 1964 there were many more Democrats in both chambers of Congress.
That could not stand. It is too difficult for a plutocracy to maintain control of a more educated population that has the ability of nuance. It is easier to have a fight between parties. It is easier to have a fight between good and evil. It became necessary to purge.
The Democrats that voted against the Civil Rights act were mostly from the South. President Johnson knew that doing the right thing would have cost him and his party the vote margin in Southern states for at least a generation. President Nixon’s use of the "Southern Strategy" to take advantage of the increased polarization meant a Republican Party that had its center of gravity in the South. Many Southern Democrats switched parties to become Southern Republicans.
Then came the Moral Majority. Of course it really was simply a vocal and loud minority that fused values to the Republicans Party that had little to do with real human values. They simply became the coercion arm of the plutocracy on the Republican side. While the Blue Dog Democrats provided the cover on the pseudo-left.
The problem has always been that post-World War II America was never a conservative country. It was and is a big government liberal country. No one loves the bigness of the government more than the plutocracy. Do not be fooled into the small government tenet the right always speaks about.
Why is it that the plutocracy wants big government? It is rather simple. Big government extracts. It is one central entity from which the plutocracy through the control of policy can spend our tax dollars to enrich themselves.
The propensity for war is a classic example. As our wars are winding down, those watching the coffers of many corporations are concerned. The plutocracy does not want to spend its resources investing in Americans, in human capital. They want a handout. How can they get that handout? Create another war. The rather dumb ISIS/ISIL terrorists fell into the American plutocracy’s trap.
ISIS/ISIL is no match for the weakest of the NATO countries, yet through the media they have become the incarnation of a fused David and Goliath. In becoming Mr. David Goliath, the American plutocracy is ready to extract our tax dollars to build more bombs.
Why not invest those dollars rebuilding America instead of building the coffers of corporations that destroy other countries? Note that these wars are equipped with American arms on all sides purchased from American corporations with many of them paid for by American taxpayers.
While the left and the right fight about social issues and small government versus big government, the plutocrats simply grow the parts of government that they need to increase their wealth as they pilfer from us. All Americans want is government that works. All we get is big government transferring our wealth to a distinct few in the American plutocracy.