The real victory of the American South is not only that have been able to take over the rap game, but that they have been able to influence American politics in a way that Northern Liberalism hasn’t. How?
Fox News and Talk Radio
The Republicans have used the media so effectively to demonize liberal values, so much so that it is considered an insult to call someone liberal. Their two main channels of attack have been Fox News and talk radio. If you’ve even seen two minutes of Fox News you’ll know which team they are playing for, they could turn coverage of a ribbon cutting ceremony into an attack on “Dems” as they so eloquently like to refer to Democratic members as.
LCD
Fox News has been successful in appealing to the lowest common denominator (LCD), in other words, people with very little education. Now this make come as surprise to most of us, but there’s a lot of dumb assess in the United States. By my guess its probably somewhere around 51% of the total population, [sidebar: This guess is based of the percentage of people that voted for Bush in the last election]. In fact, there are yahoos that still love Bush and I’m not talking about the good kind. But basically these are the people that want a President they can have a beer with.
Liberal Conspiracy
Now an interesting caveat to add is that these people that voted for Bush, the LCD folk, actually think that getting an education is a liberal conspiracy and believe that the entire school system teaches children to become more liberal. Oh no, why would we ever want to learn about different view points? We’re conservative and we’ll hold on to our traditions and values like our fathers and their fathers did before them. Really? Isn’t this what the Amish do? Isn’t this the same kind of thinking people from Islamic countries have? It’s funny that the very people who loath Islam have the exact same “Us” vs “Them” mentality. This “Us” vs “Them” mentality, which is basically ethnocentrism, that is basically my way of life is better than yours, because my culture is better than yours, lends itself to the prominence of “Outrage” talk shows.
I’m Outraged!
The biggest talk radio shows in the U.S. are largely made up of political conservative commentators who assist Fox News in the destruction of liberalism. In fact, according to A.C. Nielson the top five radio shows are hosted by the usual suspects, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Micheal Savage, Neal Boortz, and Glen Beck. Even Fox New’s figurehead Bill O’Reily’s radio show is very popular as well. So what is it about these shows that makes them so popular? Outrage.
If you listen to any of these shows, you’ll notice the amount of “outrage” they do. The hosts are constantly bashing something and then blaming the “weak liberals” either rightfully or wrongly, usually for the wrong reasons. Callers call in and express how they hate “illegals”, that’s the code word for Mexican immigrants, how crime caused by the “Brothers” in inner cities scares them and how all Muzzies, that’s their code word for Muslims, should be round up and shot and their countries nuked. But why are people so outraged that makes these shows so popular?
Their Bitter Because…
It’s sad to say, but the majority of people, that is the LCD crew, are simply outraged and bitter (word to Obama). Ever notice how whenever you have a random conversation with a stranger the first things you or they will use to start the conversation will be a “complaint”. I can’t believe the subway is taking so long. I heard it’s going to snow 5 more inches. Good lord, look at all this trash?. These people begin their conversations as being the “bearer of bad news”. They love to complain to anyone that will listen, I personally don’t want to hear it.
Whenever have you heard someone begin a conversation with “What a great day it is.” Never. Talk show radio in the U.S. has provided a channel to which the LCD can complain all day and the conservatives have managed to re-direct this outrage on liberalism as it is the so-called cause of all the problems in the Western world. So why can’t liberal radio shows adopt this same strategy and instead blame the Republicans?
Firstly, it’s very difficult once your competitor has already branded itself by branding you the cause of the world’s problems. Imagine Adidas’ slogan was “Just Do It”, it wouldn’t really work. Secondly, liberal ideology itself allows for and demands that we take differing view points. The world isn’t seen in a “Us” vs “Them” mentality, but in a “We’re in this together” mentality. To use a trite adage, while conservative see the world as “black and white” (literally and figuratively), liberals see the world in “shades of gray”. Liberals want to include Muslims into the political discussion, whereas conservatives want to see them wiped of the face of the Earth. So you see how liberalism naturally lends itself to those with more education as after high school the ability to argue both sides of an argument is crucial to you graduating.
The End of History
Now one more interesting about all this is that America was founded on libertarian values, not conservative ones. This countries constitution was written mainly by Thompson Jefferson, who was influenced by the political philosophies of John Locke and Adam Smith. You know personal freedoms and free markets expressed by the maxim, “You can do whatever you like as long as it doesn’t hurt someone”. Liberalism allows for humans to not only get along in one particular group at one point in time, but provides a platform for all humans to get a long for all time (Read “The End of History” by Francis Fukuyama”). Conservative values, on the other hand, do not allow such adaptability in an ever changing world and are thus said to be not progressive, but that’s probably why they don’t believe in evolution.
