There has always been a Left and a Right, a Liberal and a Conservative end to the political spectrum. Its not just in American politics, but everywhere, and throughout history. These are not locations on the spectrum, they are directions. If you pick any politician or political position, anywhere on the political continuum, there will always be people to the Left and Right of that person or philosophy.

In America, these terms have been usually connected with economic considerations. As a rule (and at the risk of oversimplifying a very complex and constantly evolving social landscape) Conservatives have been traditionally associated with favoring business and commercial constituencies, they are the party of capitalism. Liberals, on the other hand, have favored a stronger government, one that is more likely to intervene on the behalf of the people and their social welfare. Yes, I’m over-simplifying, and I realize the line is very blurry, and tends to shift back and forth over time, and there is no hard and fast litmus test that can be applied to every person or position. But that is how I, and I believe most other folks, would characterize our partisanship.

However, there are many issues which are not economic in nature, such as the Law, the voting franchise, national defense, religious issues, fiscal, monetary and economic policy, labor and environmental regulations, consumer affairs and so on that have come to be identified (at least in the USA) with either the Left or Right. In many cases, how these issues relate to purely economic considerations is not always clear, and in many cases, is often totally obscure. Both sides claim strict adherence to the Constitution, but as we (and the founding fathers) understood, this is a totally subjective decision. Both sides on any issue will self-righteously see their position as being the constitutional and patriotic choice, and their opponents as tyrannical villains.

For example, at one time in America there was a virulent opposition to Communism, which was not only adopted and encouraged by Conservatives, but immediately extended to Socialism, and eventually to any legislation or philosophy they considered a threat to the Rightist constituency. This attitude is fading fast, considering that Communism, except for a few third-world throwbacks, has disappeared from the world economic scene for decades, and the former Communist empires are now unabashed mercantilistic and imperialist regimes not all that far removed from the Gilded Age plutocracies and oligarchies the Right is now so nostalgic about.

Still, we can see from history how this paranoia about Communism (a paranoia which in many cases was perfectly justified!) was conflated with other issues, some of which had absolutely nothing to do with who owns and controls the means of production. It was just convenient.

And of course, it goes without saying that THE American issue, race, was seized as a rallying flag to mobilize political power in areas that had nothing to do with racial equality, or the lack of it. The Conservative side of American politics, The Republicans, traditionally the party of Lincoln and Emancipation, ceded its moral high ground in order to increase their voter base in the Democratic, ex-Confederate South. With the growth of Civil Rights legislation in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, the South was persuaded to change its vote en masse by the racist Nixon GOP Southern Strategy.

It can be argued that the Northern Democratic political strategists were equally cynical by promoting integration in the urban North in order to secure African-American votes. I’m talking trends and tactics, here, not morality. The point I’m trying to make is that a divisive social issue can be commandeered for other purposes. And if these issues are artfully conflated, the manipulated masses may not even realize how they are being played. You don’t need to be a racist yourself to join a racist party, or otherwise make excuses for them, if you feel they represent your opinions and interests on other issues. Most Republicans today sincerely consider themselves non-racist, they are Conservative for other reasons. Yeah, right.

The switch in the Democratic and Republican positions on race
(and the related immigration issues) is one of the most remarkable transformations in American politics, but it takes advantage of one of the deepest and most paralyzing fears in America, going all the way back to colonial days: the fear the slaves will revolt and come for their revenge. It used to dominate the post-Civil war South, but now the rising populations of blacks in the urban North, not to mention the
native Mexican populations of the West (they were there for centuries before the Gringos moved in) has made this paranoia nationwide. Since most Americans live with and hang out with people just like themselves, this consciousness has been slow in growing, but the election of a black President (twice!) brought it to the forefront suddenly, and the white President that followed has exploited that fear to his benefit. The white majority learned, almost overnight, what it has subconsciously sensed for over a century. This is not going to be a white country in another generation, the fact that this demographic shift seemed to coincide with an impending economic malaise suddenly got their attention. We can’t all grow up up to be coders and entrepreneurs.

The Republican party, which once welcomed immigration as a limitless source of cheap labor for the Satanic mills of the Gilded Age, and later the factory plantations of post-WWII agriculture, now finds that their middle class constituency is in decline economically, and they are being outnumbered by people of color. Not all white people share this paranoia, not even all Republicans, but the correlation of racism with other Conservative concerns is now undeniable. And the Liberals are not blameless either, they have bought the black vote, and now they are investing heavily in the brown vote (along with the women’s, gay and Millennial vote). Is it any wonder they are losing the old straight male white vote?

My cousin Bolshie Bob is right, I do tend to over-analyze political and social trends as cultural and historical phenomena. I resist the the temptation to see history as a conspiracy of evil masterminds manipulating the rest of us for their own malicious ends. Oh yeah, there is no shortage of villains, but I don’t see them as making these things happen, I see them as trying to take advantage of these currents in order to further their own fortunes. And they have little incentive to try and make things better since its so much easier to take advantage of and prosper from the chaos.

Same as it ever was.