It’s the weekend before the mid-term elections in 2018 and some desperate Democrats (and even a few Republicans) are experiencing enough anxiety to compare Republicans to Nazis. However, conservative pundit Ross Douthat tries to stay objective by seeing both strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the political divide in America.
“In the leftward reaches of my Twitter feed the hour is late, the end of democracy nigh, the Senate and the Supreme Court illegitimate, every Trump provocation a potential Reichstag fire. But on the campaign trail, with some variations, Democrats are being upbeat and talking about health care and taxes and other policy ideas, as though this is still a normal time and not Weimar in America.” (1)
Trump and his minions running under the GOP banner, trying to retain control of the Senate and the House have opted for a simpler strategy—FEAR. Which approach is more likely to capture the imagination of the American voter, the upbeat style or the paranoid style?
Ross Douthat, in his column in the New York Times (October 2018), is trying to grasp differences between the two dominant American political parties or factions within the parties that in reality are not there. To distinguish between the truth and political hot-air one must learn the difference between the Absolute and the Relative—not a skill taught in our universities or anywhere else for that matter. Luckily for you, simply clicking on the link below will introduce you to some of the most perceptive thinkers throughout human history who have thought long and hard about precisely that distinction.
Insight # 61: With the wisdom of knowing who we truly are, absolute and relative will manifest naturally toward all sentient beings and benefit them extensively. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Link:
- Absolute and Relative in The ABC’s of Simple Reality, The Encyclopedia of Self-Transformation, Vol I (2018), by Roy Charles Henry.
References:
- Douthat, Ross. “The Luck of the Democrats.” The New York Times Sunday. November 4, 2018, page 9.
