Marxism

Now I’ve written at length about the three big religions of the Western world Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but I’ve ignored their modern day competitor: Marxism.
Yes, Marxism is a religion and sadly one that a great many self proclaimed secularists buy into it or claim to buy into. Marxism is a religion because it is built purely upon faith and nothing else. The claims of Marxism are every bit as ludicrous as those of every other faith and just as lacking in reality.
First there is the preposterous figure of Karl Marx, the prophet of Marxism and someone modern day Marxists don’t like to talk about. To be a Marxist one must believe that a semi employed 19th Century journalist, amateur economist and third rate philosopher was the wisest man who ever lived. Karl Marx who never held a real job and could barely support his family supposedly solved all of humanity’s problems when he could barely pay his own rent. That is as great a leap of faith as believing that a First Century Carpenter was the son of God.
All Marx did during his lifetime was to write a series of books and pamphlets extolling his philosophy. His philosophy was simply a regurgitation of ideas stolen from other better philosophers mainly Hagel and some half baked notions of his own.
Anybody who actually bothers to read Marx and note Marxists generally discourage people from doing just that because anyone who does comes away thinking how stupid the man was. He couldn’t tell the difference between a free worker for a wage and a slave for example.
There was nothing brilliant or particularly original about Marx or his thinking. Like Jesus, Buddha and Gandhi he was simply the right man in the right place when people went Messiah shopping.
The next leap of faith Marxism requires is to believe that all of humanity’s problems are caused by money and the pursuit of it. The Marxist believes that simply eliminating money and capitalist economics will make human beings better. The result will be paradise and all people will live in peace and equality. Biology, genetics and modern medical science not withstanding human beings will be magically transformed if a few economic reforms are instituted or the economy is restructured.
There is no evidence to indicate that Marxist economics makes people better or creates a paradise. Indeed history teaches us very much the opposite in societies where Marx’s ideas were put into practice such as Stalin’s Russia and Pol Pot’s Cambodia human behavior got worse because all civilized standards of conduct were abandoned.
Once the Marxist faithful buy into the lies about old Karl they seem willing to fall for anything. For example the fantasy that Lenin and Stalin had created paradise on Earth in Russia when all they had done was to institutionalize mass murder. Or the equally absurd fantasy that Mao Zedong had created utopia in China by starving peasants to death and having thugs beat up little old ladies who owned bird cages. Today with Lenin, Stalin and Mao thoroughly discredited by history aging Marxists believe that utopia lies just across the sea in Cuba notice few of them actually go there they simply proclaim it.
Like the Jews the Marxists eagerly await the coming of the Messiah who will lead them to the promised land. When the Messiah Marx failed, they turned to the Messiah Lenin when he died, they turned to the Messiah Stalin when he was exposed as a murderous thug, they turned to the Messiah Trotsky when he died in obscurity they turned to the Messiah Mao when he was exposed as a madman they turned to the Messiah Castro. Today, many American Marxists have turned to the Messiah Noam Chomsky although it is unclear exactly what he will do for them beyond making obscene profits by selling them books and DVDs telling them what a genius he is.
Marxism is also a Christian heresy not only does it proclaim a new messiah it takes Christian teaching about the brotherhood of man and human equality to new heights. The Marxists believe that all human beings are equal when biology definitely proves that we are not. We are far from it and any attempt to treat all human beings as equals is doomed to failure. Or more precisely doomed because it will simply make it easier for the human wolves to get at the human sheep.
Marxism’s basic beliefs are Christian ones the equality of humanity and the teaching that money and greed are evil. The idea that there is a golden age ahead in the future is also a Christian one but in the Bible that golden age was predicted by God. Marxists believe people can achieve it through some sort of unexplained revolution.
Revolution is the greatest leap of faith of all Marxists believe that if people overthrow the status quo they will make things better. Even though history proves that revolutions achieve exactly the opposite see Russia 1917, China 1949 etc. They mindlessly back revolution believing it will make things better, unless of course the revolutionaries are trying to overthrow Marxist tyrants then the Marxists are usually quiet. The Marxist conception of revolution then equates to sympathetic magic the belief that one can instantly change reality by undertaking certain rituals.
Marxism then is a religion every bit as grounded as superstition, superstition hidden in pseudoscience and a perversion of 19th Century German philosophy but superstition all the same. The true secularist or free thinker must reject Marxism as he or she rejects Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc. For we do not we are simply trading one God, one Messiah and one Gospel for another God, Gospel and Messiah that are soaked in as much innocent blood as any other.

A Short Train Trip

I did something interesting and unique yesterday, something that my grandfather did all the time without thinking about I took a short train trip. It showed me how lousy America’s railroad system is and how much we need to spend on it.
I paid $44 to ride the Ski Train from Union Station in Downtown Denver to Winter Park, a second tier ski resort about fifty miles from Denver. I did this for a number of reasons, I’m a native Coloradoan who loves the mountains (I grew up in them) and a rail buff who loves trains. I’m also a staunch rail advocate and not being a liberal I figure I should subject myself to what I preach for others.
The Ski Train is an interesting anachronism one of the few working private passenger trains left in America (it’s not a tourist attraction it’s a real train that hauls people from point a to point b).Basically the Ski Train a bunch of rail cars left over from the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad’s Zephyr that hauls skiers and now summer day trippers from Denver’s Union Station to Winter Park. Winter Park is an old school ski area (a place for people who want to ski or snowboard not vacation it’s developing a new rep as a place for serious mountain bikers) trying desperately to adjust itself to the modern age.
The minute you board the Ski Train you see how pathetic America’s rail system is the cars are fifty or sixty years old they lack such basic amenities as air conditioning. In contrast the light rail cars and buses operated by the Regional Transportation District are rolling refrigerators on a hot summer day I have a sneaking suspicion that when it really gets hot in Denver a lot of poor simply get on the bus and ride until their ticket expires it’s one of the few cool places in town and it’s cheaper than the movies.
The train trip from Denver to Winter Park is full of unpleasant surprises. The train itself is rather fun it’s sort of neat to be riding on an old fashioned train like my grandfather. Unless you think for a moment and say wait a minute I’d never buy a car that was just like my grandfather’s today and neither would my grandfather if he were still alive and car shopping today.
The trip especially the trip back was a real eye opener, the track hadn’t seen any real improvements since the 1950s. Union Pacific which owns the route is trying it’s best to improve it, double tracking as much of it as possible and adding welded rail but that’s still far from enough. The new track they’re adding is what should have been built when FDR was in the White House.
When we went through the six mile long Moffat Tunnel you couldn’t walk between cars because of diesel fumes. If they’d just electrified the route that wouldn’t be a problem, it’s something that wouldn’t be hard, the Russians have electrified the Trans Siberian from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. We Americans can’t electrify the fifty miles between Denver and Grand County.
Everything on the rails between Denver and Winter Park looks like something out of the 1930s or 40s. Highways still cross the track, trains still pull over to sidings to let other trains pass, the tunnels still look like something out of an old movie. Drivers on busy state highways still have to wait as the train goes past.
Even worse, the train stopped for about twenty minutes on the way back so the train crew could still get out and inspect the track ahead to see it was safe to run on. I’m not kidding this happened less than thirty miles from Downtown Denver. Even worse every twenty thirty miles the Ski Train would pass a stopped UP coal or freight train and every time we did the engineer on that train was out inspecting the track.
If that wasn’t bad enough when we returned to Denver I saw one of the engineers stop the train and get out to operate a manual switch by hand. This is the year 2007 not the year 1907. What isn’t wrong with this picture? My friend James Kunstler is right the United States has a railroad system Bulgaria would and should be ashamed of.
The train journey did give me infinite respect for America’s professional railroad operators. The only reason our trains sill move is that America has the best railroad people in the world. These professionals heirs to a great tradition, to great lengths to keep the trains moving. The people one the Ski Train were far more courteous and professional and friendlier than any airline crew I’ve flown with. (One suggestion I noticed a tip jar on the snack bar filled with one dollar bills airlines take note want Stewardesses to be friendly allow tipping). They went far out of their way to make our journey safe and comfortable. Interestingly enough many of them were volunteers the children of old time rail road people keeping what they see as a vital tradition alive?
The train trip also disgusted me almost everybody on the train was younger than I was, the average passengers seemed to be a thirty five year old couple with two kids searching for an alternative to the drive into the mountains. These people had come onto the train expecting some far better than what they got. They’re not old enough to remember the great trains of the past so like me they’ve experienced and enjoyed good train service elsewhere, say on America’s growing commuter train network. Like me a lot of them undoubtedly felt ripped off when the train returned to Union Station.
It was shorter than some of the commuter train trips I used to take on Southern California’s excellent Metrolink (for months I rode everyday from Riverside to San Luis Obispo over terrain every bit as rugged as that the Ski Train runs on the only delays we experienced were from freight trains that shared the track) and the Ski Train (the closest thing to it I’ve ever on is a Canadian train I rode from St. Catherine’s to Toronto as a teenager) was nowhere near as fast or as comfortable nor was it anything like the overseas trains in places like France and Japan I’ve read about.
After getting off the Ski Train I got on the RTD light rail which I ride to work everyday. The electric powered light rail was faster, more efficient and more comfortable than the Ski Train. The track was modern and well maintained and the cars were air conditioned. Maybe it’s time to turn the train to Winter Park and the Ski Country over to RTD they usually seem to do a good job and their equipment is modern.
After riding the Ski Train I have just one wish that as many Americans as possible in particular our so called political leaders would ride it and see how pathetic our rail system is. Then maybe they’d try to fix, for I have a feeling if they don’t there’s going to be hell to pay….

Media Censorship of the Presidential Campaign

The most infuriating aspect of the current Presidential campaign is the sneaky way in which the media’s talking heads tell the candidates what to talk about.
A prime example of this was the July 8, 2006, edition of ABC’s Sunday morning coffee clutch "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" in which two dark horse presidential candidates Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel who are doing well in the primaries were interviewed. Now Paul and Gravel are two thoughtful and intelligent men who are trying to give primary voters a real alternative to the empty suits pushed by the media. The two are doing unexpectedly well thanks to strong debate performances and the Internet a medium that gives consumers choice.
The political powers that be are worried about this because Ron and Mike might ruin the presidential chances of their pets like Mitch Romney and Barrack Obama so Georgey Boy has his marching orders: make Ron and Mike look bad. This is done by controlling the debate the only issue discussed is the war in Iraq to which Gravel and Paul are both passionately opposed. This gets both men worked up and makes them look like single issue cranks. The real purpose of these interviews is to make the alternative candidates look like extremist cranks.
Mike Gravel and Ron Paul have lots of interesting ideas but those ideas are not discussed. Instead the only issue discussed is the war, one on a short list of approved issues the media talks to political candidates about. Georgie boy asked Mike Gravel about Iraq and his opposition to the Vietnam War which ended over thirty years ago. He didn’t ask Gravel about some of his proposals such as nationwide ballot initiatives similar to those in many states and replacing the income tax with national sales tax eliminating the IRS and tax exemptions (which would eliminate a lot of opportunities for politicians to shake down business for bribe money). A couple of ideas that would appeal strongly to average voters.
George spent a little more time on Gravel because Gravel is a Democrat who thinks for himself and refuses to go along with the media. Democratic voters must not be given a real alternative to Clinton II and Uncle Tom Obama because they might take it so any Democrat who leaves the reservation will be destroyed.
The treatment of Ron Paul was a little more polite, but again Georgie was under orders to keep Paul’s libertarian philosophy off of nationwide TV lest it appeal to voters. So after a few comments about the war Paul was let go. No effort was made to ask Paul about his stands on things like gun control, drugs and abortion which might appeal to voters. Instead he too was dismissed as a shallow one issue candidate. Note: Georgie being a Democratic operative might have been trying to hurt mainstream Republican candidates by making Paul look good here.
"This Week With Propagandist George" is a perfect example of the presidential campaign the media wants to create. All issues but the war are to be excluded there will be discussion of healthcare, the military industrial complex, Global Warming, Transportation, Energy Policy, taxes, immigration and trade are off the agenda. Only the war and meaningless issues related to it such as the Scooter Libby affair are to be discussed. We get the special interests’ dream election, nothing that might offend the corporate money men or spinmeisters who run the parties is to be mentioned.
Unfortunately Ron Paul (who is raising more money than John McCain) and Mike Gravel are upsetting the applecart. By taking advantage of alternative media where voters get a real choice they are attracting attention and votes.
They are also exposing the weakness of the media/political elite, increasingly there is no difference between the media and politicians witness Georgie boy who used to be Bill Clinton’s chief eunuch (excuse me chief of staff) now masquerading as a journalist on TV. The media/political elite is scared to death of Paul and Gravel because they expose the impotence of its pet candidates and their refusal to deal with the nation’s problems. Not to mention the weakness of the media’s tools of oppression and deception such as daily newspapers and the network news.
Almost nobody is watching network news or paying much attention to the Sunday morning propaganda outlets and newspaper circulation is falling faster than TV news ratings. People are getting their news from the Internet and Cable TV which give them a real choice and ignoring the talking heads. The talking heads such as Georgie Boy are trying to justify their existence to their corporate masters so they’re becoming increasingly partisan and nastier.
What comes next? My guess is that alternative candidates powered by the internet will do better and better and the media/political elite will take more active efforts to destroy them.
So here’s a prediction, if the talking heads’ censorship of Free Speech in the presidential campaign fails which looks like it will, our self proclaimed leaders will get really nasty. If Ron Paul, Mike Gravel and other alternative candidates do well the media will start calling them names like child molester, racist, rapist, terrorist sympathizer (already being deployed against Paul), fascist, Nazi, Communist, drug dealer, gay and worse. Ugly and nasty smears will be spread against these men all over the internet to destroy them and make an example of them as a lesson to any other American who dares try and exert his or her rights in an attempt to give voters a real choice. If Ron Paul does really well in the Republican primary (which he might) don’t be at all surprised if his face shows up on the cover of The National Enquirer next to a headline that says, "Congressman exposed as Child Molester." (Remember you heard it here first)
What are average voters to do? Keep doing what we are already doing, ignore the media and start using our minds. Especially when we walk into the voting booth.

In Defense of Bottled Water

Bottled water has been under attack for years, its critics call it a rip off because water is free from taps and fountains. Environmentalists complain that plastic water bottles fill up landfills and contribute to global warming because they are made of oil. Now the forces of Neo Prohibition are targeting bottled water because it is a luxury that harms the environment.

I have to rise to defend bottle water here because I think it is a very good thing. Sure, bottled water is expensive (compared to tap water) but compared to soda pop it’s possibility cheap. Bottled water quenches your thirst without making you fat, giving you sugar diabetes or rotting your teeth like soda pop does. Bottled water maybe expensive but when you need a thirst quencher say when you’re mowing a lawn on a hot summer day or are on a long road trip bottled water can be a lifesaver. Literally, because it is a healthy alternative to unhealthy soda pop.

I can remember the days before bottled water, you’d be doing something like mowing a lawn on a hot summer day and you’d need a thirst quencher. Somebody would go to get one and come back with a can of soda pop. Sure, soda tastes good but it doesn’t quench your thirst and if you’re really thirsty it’s almost sickening.

Soda pop is also very bad for people, doctors tell us that soda is major contributor to America’s obesity epidemic. If we could get every office worker to replace his or her pop with bottled water we’d save lives and untold billions in medical costs (if cities were really smart they’d ban the soda machine and sit refrigerators stocked with free bottled water in offices). Yet the Conference of Mayors is trying to ban bottled water because it harms the environment. I wonder twenty years from now will some obese office worker be suing the city because they took away his Aquafina but left the Coke machine in the break room.

This move is motivated by self righteous arrogance rather than concern for the environment. If the Mayors really wanted to help the environment they’d be pressuring the bottled water makers to switch to recyclable aluminum cans, no they are trying to ban bottled water for the same reason Carry Nation and the temperance movement tried to ban alcohol: they want to force their morality on the rest of us.

The Neo Prohibitionists have become interested in the environment because support for their last two crusades is petering out. The public is finally seeing the war on drugs for the stupidity it really is while even the Congressional Democrats have given up on gun control (already largely discredited by Ruby Ridge and Waco).

To keep their political movements alive and tax dollars flowing into their pockets the prohibitionists are looking for new bogeymen to fight. Politicians love prohibition it gives them an issue to debate and another reason to waste our tax money. Some are talking about health and banning transfat and oil, red meat will surely be next. Of course this will cause a backlash so some clever neo prohibitionists have found a new cause the Environment.

They seek to control our lifestyles and expunge anything from them they see as harmful to the environment. Naturally these attacks will be highly selective no serious effort will be made to curtail automobile use (or more sensibly give the average man real alternatives to the car) or to tap into workable alternative energy sources (nuclear power). Instead they’ll concentrate on little things like body water that will make the ecogeeks feel a little less guilty while they’re tooling around in their SUVs. The yuppies will feel that something is being done for the environment because Joe Sixpack can’t buy a bottle of Arrowhead anymore.

Of course a lot of you will say, there’s no way they can ban bottled water. Of course back in 1917, (exactly 100 years ago) a lot of our great grandparents were saying there’s no way they can ban beer (they did). So we’d better watch these Neo prohibitionists carefully it won’t take them long to go from banning bottled water to banning any consumer good they see as a threat to the environment and God knows what that will be.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

The three great theocratic religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam have two basic beliefs hatred of humanity and love of God.
The Cliff’s notes version of all three faiths’ theologies is this: human beings are corrupt, worthless creatures incapable of doing anything for themselves and the only thing that matters in life is how much you bow and scrape before the cosmic dictator in the sky. This is the most grim depressing and destructive belief system possible.
Think about it for a moment in these faiths nothing you do matters, it doesn’t matter if you’re a good parent or a good spouse, it doesn’t matter how much you do for your community or your fellow human beings, how much money you make, what art or entertainment you create or how much you improvement life for others. The only thing that matters is how much devotion you show to “God.”
Taken to its logical conclusion this thinking means that human civilization is worthless and meaningless. Human beings have no reason to strive or create or do anything for their fellow man. The ultimate result of such thinking was the Dark Ages when many of Western Civilization’s best and brightest withdrew to caves to chant and pray while barbarians destroyed everything around them.
The height of Christian civilization was the Medieval European city, a great cathedral filled with beautiful art surrounded by poverty and squalor. The height of Islamic civilization was the Medieval Moslem city a big beautiful Mosque surrounded by poverty and squalor. The height of Jewish Civilization (which was back in Biblical times) was Jerusalem a city with a great temple to Yahweh surrounded by poverty and squalor. You get the picture here the purpose of all three monotheistic faiths is to totally subordinate man to God and to lock up women up in the kitchen, the convent or the harem.
All three faiths teach that human beings are evil and sinful and that we must fear both the human body and the human mind. The human body is to be hidden and covered up at all times (which is odd because it is God’s creation). Sex is not to be talked about and used only for procreation. Women are denounced as evil monsters unless they are saintly mothers who sacrifice everything for their children. Any woman who thinks for herself is Jezebel and so on.
The products of the human mind: art, science, literature, scholarship, entertainment etc. are to be feared unless they conform to the faith in Christianity. Islam does Christianity one better it simply bans art entirely and accepts only science that conforms to the Koran. Judaism well fortunately in modern times the Jews have been too poor and scattered to think about these things. Now that there’s a Jewish state however, a Jewish minority is trying to ban art and entertainment.
The differences between the faiths can summed up as this Judaism teaches only God’s chosen people the Jews (why God favors this tiny group is never explained) have God’s love. If you happen to be Albanian or Vietnamese you can forget about finding God’s favor unless you find a Jew in your family tree.
Christianity teaches that anybody can find salvation (God’s mercy) by simply accepting the belief that Jesus Christ is God’s son (God incarnate on Earth) and bowing and scraping before him. If you don’t accept that well you’re out of luck and destined for the hellfire. That means the vast majority of people who ever lived including apostate Christians will burn in hell because they didn’t accept Christian theology.
Islam teaches well basically that anybody who accepts Mohammed as God’s last prophet on Earth and lives according to Jewish law (Muslims and Jews won’t admit this but Islam is simply Judaism for non Jews) as interpreted by the Koran can get God’s love. Anybody who has any doubts about the Koran, such as poor wretches who don’t want to die in Holy War or women who don’t want to put sheets over their heads will go to hell. Anyone who doesn’t accept the narrow simplistic twaddle in the Koran as God’s word and any follower of any other faith is doomed.
The bottom line of all three faiths is that God loves, man hates and the world sucks. There is no reason to go out and try and improve your life or anybody else’s, no reason for invention or science or technology all you need is your prayer mat, your rosary beads and your Torah, your Bible or your Koran.
Since the person of faith loves only God, he or she is then free to hate everybody and everything around him or her. The good Moslem, the good Christian and the good Jew hates his own mind, his own body and his neighbors. Naturally this makes it easy for the good Christian, the good Moslem or the good Jew to go out and kill his or her neighbors because they go to the wrong house of worship. Or his neighbors because they aren’t living up to the tenets of the faith.
Christians, Moslems and Jews are all preconditioned to hate by their faith, even though the faith teaches love. Don’t believe me take a look at the Good Books, the Jewish Bible is filled with stories of God killing, torturing and abusing those who are without faith and commanding his people to go out and do the same. The Christian New Testament contains the book of Revelation which predicts Jesus will return and go on a killing spree butchering everyone but his chosen people. The Koran glorifies Mohammad’s campaign of terror and slaughter against his enemies and predicts he’ll return much like Jesus and do pretty much the same thing.
In their hatred of their bodies and life itself the Christian, the Moslem and the Jew feel guilty whenever they enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures such as sex, a drink, a good meal, a good entertainment, etc. Unable to enjoy these things they only find pleasure when they deny them to others. They justify this prohibition by saying they will one day enjoy the pleasures of some sterile heaven and God’s company.
The only way then for people to enjoy life, freedom, peace and progress here on Earth is to turn their backs on these faiths that teach people to hate themselves and humanity and love God.

Dumb Laws Take Effect Liberty Takes a Hit

I used to have a poster that said “nobody’s life, property, health and welfare is safe while the legislature is in session.” One might add that nobody’s freedom is safe while the legislature is in session judging from some of the brilliant laws that took effect on July 1, 2007.

Among the legislation inflicted on average citizens by brain dead state legislators (individuals capable of coherent thought must be barred from entering state capitols across the land) are:

A law in my father’s home state of Virginia that imposes fines of up to $3,000 for traffic offenses. The greedy pigs in the legislature don’t even disguise the fact that purpose of this law is to raise money for new highway construction (which does nothing to improve the average citizens’ commute) not to enforce traffic laws. This evil piece of legislation actually exempts out of state drivers, only residents of the Old Dominion will have to pay the fines. Note to Virginia drivers who want to speed put out of state plates on the car.

In Massachusetts all citizens are required to buy health insurance whether they want it or can afford it or not. How this imbecilic legislation is to be enforced is not stated only it is on the books. So much for the state where the American Revolution began. Whether this law is for real or not I don’t know, my guess a lot of scam artists are going to make a lot of money selling fake health insurance policies in Massachusetts over the next few months.

Florida is going to start testing high school athletes for steroid use. A boon for the testing companies, a loss for working class kids trying to get a football scholarship.

Tennessee now requires people who buy beer to show ID to prove their age. Oh well at least the incomes of a lot of liquor store cashiers will be increased. Tennessee youth will now have to use the ever popular Andy Jackson ID (a twenty dollar bill) to buy a six pack.

Gays and Lesbians in Iowa can now sleep easy the state has guaranteed them the same basic rights they’ve always had under the constitution. I’m sure it’ll help them when faced with drunken homophobes in a dark alley. Note to gays forget the gay rights movement buy a gun, that might keep you safe from homophobic bullies this law won’t.

There’s only one conclusion I can reach from this news. Maybe it’s time the voters of some state put a new initiative on the ballot one that would really protect our liberty. A constitutional amendment abolishing the state legislature and making it illegal for that body to meet. Okay a federal judge would probably overturn it but it’s worth a try. Maybe the law could even mandate the National Guard to deploy tanks and machine guns to keep the state legislature from going into session. Now that would really protect our liberty…

“There is Nothing to Fear But Politicians”

“ “There is nothing to fear but fear itself,” no truer words were ever spoken and it is telling that this is a quote from a politician: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Politicians are in the business of using fear to divide people in order to gain power and influence for themselves.
No matter what their affiliation politicians try to make us afraid of each other with their rhetoric. Liberal politicians tell us to be afraid of businessmen, the military, gun owners, people of faith and rich people. Conservative politicians tell us to be afraid of immigrants, foreigners, bureaucrats, college professors, gays and liberals.
Politicians love racism because it generates fear and barriers between people, blacks and whites. Or Hispanics and whites and so on. Religion plays a similar role, liberals try to generate fear of the Religious Right while conservatives try to create fear of secularists. Class divisions are even better if you can make people afraid of the rich or the poor you can generate a lot of votes. When Democrats talk about the inheritance tax they are playing on fear of the rich, and when Republicans talk about welfare they are promoting fear of the poor.
Such divisions appeal to politicians because they create ready made constituencies. They bring in votes without having to make promises or deliver on those promises.
Politicians also like to make hysterical claims, gun rights activists tell us we’ll be enslaved by the government if gun control is implemented and social conservatives tell us that allowing gays into the military will undermine our national security. On the issue of gay rights liberals tell us that not allowing gays to marry threatens our freedom while conservatives tell us that allowing gays to marry will lead to the collapse of civilization as we know it.
Then there is the hysteria about various issues, self proclaimed champions of civil rights predicted that passage of the Patriot Act would create a fascist police state. Has there been a single case of major civil rights violations thanks to that law? I haven’t seen a single report of such an occurrence in the media since it was passed.
Some politicians have even made a career of hysteria, Al Gore has made or remade a career on the issue of global warming. Sen. McCarthy became a national figure on the issue of fear of Communists, real and imagined.
Interestingly enough fear mongering politicians rarely harp on real issues or real threats. Almost no politico mentioned terrorism in the days before Sept. 11, and when it concerns global warming only Al Gore (to his credit) talks about it. Politicians prefer imaginary bogeymen because they can easily be put back in the closet to real life monsters.
So in the end I suppose that FDR was right in the end there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Except of course, fear-mongering politicians.