{"id":50044,"date":"2020-10-21T05:20:53","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T09:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=50044"},"modified":"2020-10-23T07:55:20","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T11:55:20","slug":"the-republicans-are-the-party-of-social-control-not-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2020\/10\/the-republicans-are-the-party-of-social-control-not-freedom.html","title":{"rendered":"The Republicans Are the Party of Social Control, Not Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I was perusing patriarchal blogger Lori Alexander\u2019s recent posts, and found this<\/a>\u00a0line in a piece endorsing Donald Trump:<\/p>\n

We are voting for liberty, freedom, and the Constitution; everything the Democrat party seems to be trying hard to get rid of and replace with socialism, radicalism, and free wheeling judges instead of the rule of law.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Notice the contrast Lori presents: liberty, freedom, and the Constitution, versus socialism, radicalism, and free wheeling judges. Let\u2019s take a moment zero in on the bizarre idea that conservatism<\/em> is the party of liberty and freedom.\u00a0But first, I\u2019m reminded of a conservative cartoon I came upon after the vice presidential debate.<\/p>\n

Have a look at the words on each candidate\u2019s plexiglass shield:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I realize that, to a certain extent, we\u00a0all\u00a0<\/em>live in echo chambers. But this is some\u00a0extreme\u00a0<\/em>echo chamber.<\/p>\n

The Republican Party is working to ban abortion and tell women what they can do with their own bodies. Is that freedom? They worked hard to prevent same-sex couples from being allowed to marry. Freedom, really? The Republican Party wants to require voter IDs, works to keep polling places out of low income areas and college campuses, and wants throw out ballots that are postmarked by election day if they arrive after election day. Is that freedom? Really?<\/p>\n

The Republican Party isn\u2019t the party of freedom. They\u2019re the party of\u00a0social control.\u00a0<\/em>They want to tell you what you\u2019re allowed to do with your body. Heck, the Republicans supported a 1980s Supreme Court decision that allowed states to ban couples from engaging in consensual anal sex\u00a0in private in their own homes.\u00a0<\/em>The Republican Party is the party of the war on drugs<\/a>, the party that champions police use of force. None of these things are compatible with\u00a0freedom.\u00a0<\/em>What they are<\/em> compatible with is\u00a0social control.\u00a0<\/em>The Republican Party wants to tell you what you can and cannot do.<\/p>\n

It is\u00a0maddening\u00a0<\/em>that conservatives have been able to so successfully shape our political narrative by claiming the word \u201cfreedom\u201d and placing it in opposition to \u201csocialism.\u201d This is utter nonsense. Is going bankrupt because you can\u2019t afford medical procedures \u201cfreedom\u201d? Is avoiding doctor\u2019s visits because you can\u2019t afford health insurance \u201cfreedom\u201d? No! No it isn\u2019t! Nor is going tens of thousands of dollars into debt to get a college degree that, in some cases, is mandatory in order to work in your chosen field (such as teaching or nursing). None of this is\u00a0freedom.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Republican Party wants you free to starve, free to be evicted, free to have your car repossessed, and free to go bankrupt.<\/p>\n

Look, it should be clear and obvious that having our health insurance\u00a0tied to our employer\u00a0<\/em>makes us less free. In the old times, before the Affordable Care Act\u2014in the old times\u00a0the Republican Party\u00a0<\/em>wants to return us to\u2014many people stayed with jobs they hated because, if they got a new job, they would have to change health insurance,\u00a0and a health issue they need treatment for would then be a preexisting condition\u00a0and would not be covered.\u00a0<\/i>This is not freedom.<\/p>\n

I recently spoke with a man who told me he had decided not to run for a local elected office again because the position no longer comes with health insurance, and he needs health coverage for his family. This is\u00a0freedom?<\/em><\/p>\n

I dearly hope political messaging strategists are working on this problem, because the extent to which conservatives have been able to claim the label \u201cfreedom\u201d\u2014and to portray it in opposition to \u201csocialism\u201d\u2014is frankly\u00a0dangerous.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

My husband has sometimes talked about starting his own business someday. I tend to be fiscally conservative in terms of my approach to family finances, so this makes me nervous. But I would be\u00a0far\u00a0<\/em>more likely to throw in with this idea if I didn\u2019t have to worry about where we would get health insurance. And it goes beyond that! The more college debt a person has, the more they need a job that will allow them to pay it off\u2014and the less likely they are to try starting their own business, or to take a job in a field that pays less but is incredibly important to society, like teaching.<\/p>\n

You want the truth? People in \u201csocialist\u201d Europe are more free than we Americans are<\/em>. It\u2019s not just that many nations in western Europe are more entrepreneurial<\/a> because people know that they have a social safety net that will catch them if they fail, which makes them more free to take risks to do the things they love. There\u2019s also the fact that the U.S. imprisons its population at over\u00a0six times\u00a0<\/em>the rate western European countries do.<\/p>\n

So no, the Republican Party is\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>the party of freedom. That\u2019s a nonsense lie and it needs to stop. They are the party of social control. And while we\u2019re at it, socialism and freedom are\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>antonyms. It\u2019s hard to change the narrative when everyone is in their own echo chamber\u2014and many conservatives only watch Fox News. But perhaps changing the narrative starts with understanding how badly we\u2019ve lost control of it. Freedom is not their<\/em> word. It\u2019s ours<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(Note: conservatives frequently try to equate \u201csocialism\u201d with the USSR, and either completely erase or ignore the \u201cdemocratic socialism\u201d that is practiced in much of western Europe. Democratic socialism is not about state control of industry; instead, it is about<\/a> ensuring that every individual has access to a social safety net, such as a national system of healthcare or a national system of welfare and workers compensation to help those who are on the down and out.)<\/p>\n

I have a <\/b>Patreon<\/b><\/a>! Please support my writing!\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So no, the Republican Party is\u00a0not\u00a0the party of freedom. That’s a nonsense lie and it needs to stop. They are the party of social control. And while we’re at it, socialism and freedom are\u00a0not\u00a0antonyms. It’s hard to change the narrative when everyone is in their own echo chamber—and many conservatives only watch Fox News. But perhaps changing the narrative starts with understanding how badly we’ve lost control of it. Freedom is not their word. It’s ours.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":50047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[777,320,1160],"class_list":["post-50044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-channel-politics-blue","tag-conservatism","tag-socialism"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Republicans Are the Party of Social Control, Not Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So no, the Republican Party is\u00a0not\u00a0the party of freedom. That's a nonsense lie and it needs to stop. They are the party of social control. And while we're at it, socialism and freedom are\u00a0not\u00a0antonyms. It's hard to change the narrative when everyone is in their own echo chamber---and many conservatives only watch Fox News. 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