I always find it ironic how leftists see tea party types & anarchists as the same.. i guess if you're a big govt worshipper, any limits on govt is seen as 'no govt'. Anarchists are the same, & see traditional americans as 'statists'.
In the spanish revolution of the last century, resisting monarchism & their fascist supporters was the only thing that united the anarchists & the communists. They fought together against the 'system' there, to bring it down. I see a similar pattern in the US. The one thing anarchists & leftists have in common is their hatred of traditional america. They both want the american dream to be over, they just have different goals afterward. The anarchist/libertarians want 'no govt' to take its place, while the progressives have a collective, socialist utopia in mind, where govt provides all, & is actively involved in every aspect of our lives.
The limited govt, traditional american is caught in the middle. The leftists call them anarchists, & claim they have no respect for law or any govt. The anarchists call them statists, & claim they want total govt domination. But their common goal of overloading & destroying the american system of limited, citizen run govt will likely bring it to pass. Those are seen as 'new' or 'hip' ideals, & are more exciting than the boring old notion of a govt of, by & for the people, & the slow, inefficient process of representative democracy. The loudest voices now are either the more radical libertarian anarchists, or the progressive left socialists. Just like in spain, they might work together for a while to defeat a common foe, but they have nothing in common, otherwise.
To a limited govt, citizen based proponent of the american experiment, both of these ideals seem very short sighted, & have NO historical basis of working as a system of governance. How can people be deluded into thinking these are valid options? The only thing that anarchists & collectivists are good at is tearing down. Neither of these ideologies has any track record of building, but only destroying. They attack the status quo, & tear apart the culture & power structure, but have nothing to replace it with, except tyranny. The left has been tirelessly working at overloading the system in america.. ..the safety net, the budget, foreign policy, domestic policy & programs have burdened the taxpaying citizens to the point of collapse. The currency is unstable, the confidence in govt is at an all time low, prison populations are booming, the debt is insurmountable, the nanny state growing.. Anarchists applaud this as a sign of impending collapse. Collectivists say we need to spend more, & hasten the collapse, as corruption rises to third world levels.
But they have a new ally in the quest for america's destruction! The muslim caliphate! Now, the euro socialists, the academic constitution haters, the anti ALL govt anarchists, & the muslim empire builders have something in common to fight against: American liberty. Together, they will bring it down, & then they can fight among themselves to see who gets the spoils. The great irony is that just like in spain, neither extreme was organized or competent enough to manage a real revolution, so it fell to the aggressive tyrants to gain control. That is the usual pattern of revolutions. Promises are made. Utopias are dreamed about. But despotism is the typical result. Both the anarchists & the collectivists are mere useful idiots for the caliphate empire builders.. they are more realistic about their goals, & will kill & die for them. The faculty lounge anarchists & progressives will aid them in their goal.
It was a good run. It proved that citizen representatives & limited govt COULD work, but it is easily corrupted. Without the constant care & attention from the citizens, unscrupulous scoundrels interject themselves into positions of power, & corrupt the system from within. We were victims of our own success, as opportunity, freedom, & equality brought unprecedented prosperity. But promises & lies have deceived the people into believing the extremes, that either govt is a god, or it is the devil. There is no room for a balanced view of limited, citizen run govt, so it will fade into the dustbin of history.
It is a sad time to live in, & watch the slow destruction of such a grand experiment in human freedom. Hope against hope, i wish for a turnaround, but that would require a devoted, altruistic citizenry, which you both have noted we do not have, anymore. Daniel webster's prophetic warning is very sobering, even though the anarchists will celebrate that event, if it happens.
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world." ~Daniel Webster
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." ~Alexis de Tocqueville
“I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such: because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing to the People if well-administred; and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administred for a Course of Years and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.” ~Benjamin Franklin
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." ~Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler
