Why do conservatives hate the ACLU?
I, personally am very liberal and very fond of the ACLU. I believe that they are a vital organization for freedom and that without them, the conservatives would continue to get away with some UN-american acts. 1) madatory prayer at naval acadamys ( this is a new one) 2) bush and the patriot act of spying on americans 3) gitmo ( I along with the aclu applaud congress for giving the detanies due process) 4) discrimatiton against gays the list goes on and on, we need the ACLU!
How do you react to the phrase, "The modern conservative is the modern racist"?
The US conservative movement was an alliance between those whose primary desire was to end New Deal programs such as Social Security and supporters of ‘states rights’. States rights in the US has always meant support of segregation or even slavery. The South always wanted states rights in their terms. So, when Northerners didn’t want to arrest escaped slaves the South pushed for a fugitive slave law. In the mid 1950’s William Buckley (the editor of the National Review) was successful in getting the most blatant racists to be shunned and that means people like Revilo Oliver (whose real enemy was Jews more than African Americans), but he only stopped supporting segregation himself long after the passage of civil rights legislation in the mid 1960s.There is no reason why conservatism must be racist in the way it has been in the US, but historically it has been. You see an emotional reaction to immigration that is far stronger than it would be if it was only about numbers. That reaction is based on bigotry and racism. You see appeals to the ideas the busloads of blacks are being bused to the polls, that appeal would have no value if not for racism.So, I don’t think the neo-cons were racist and I don’t see racism in the policies the Koch brothers push. The tax cut, for example, is just about money, but in order to motivate the base, they must appeal to bigotry.
Do black South Africans want white South Africans to leave the country?
Yes. Many do. There is a growing and disconcerting number of Black South Africans who believe that a nationalist point of view means their country belongs to "them". They believe in paying injustice with justice. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Mercy for no one. However, I have noticed that there is a new age of "conservatism" that is sweeping many countries across the world. Disillusioned people are very easy to manipulate and work into frenzies. Not to make excuses for the German, but the psyche of the common German after the first world war is what made it very easy for Hitler's regime to become widespread and indoctrinated in Germany at the time. They were very disillusioned. I've seen it today with Greek friends, French friends, and now with my South African friends as well. There is a rise of conservatism in Europe that has outrightly racist, islamophobic, anti-Roma, anti-immigration views etc. It brands itself "nationalism", and it feeds off of fears, disappointments and disillusionment. In South Africa now, there is a compounding of disillusionment with the economic progress of the country, the leadership of the country, the distribution of power in the country. A lot of the hope that was There in the struggle has turned into disappointment. There is also fear spread widely about immigration into the country. The country is ripe for racist propaganda being fronted as "nationalist agenda". So unfortunately, yes. Many South Africans want whites to leave. And these ideas are propagated even further by leaders who constantly ingrained them in the people. Leaders who are preying on the psyche of disillusioned South Africans. South African history is very complicated. I don't think I will ever be able to understand the nuances of it all. I live in South Africa right now, and I understand a little better due to immersion. However, even when I make observations, I am unable to visualise what a viable solution would be. Similar to how it's incomprehensible to try and solve the Israel-Palestine conflict. I sadly don't know what the possible solution would be.