My final post for Turn Left (on Facebook)

I saw an approving post of this image:

Nader supposedly said'"The only difference between the Rep Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That's the only difference."'4

MY COMMENT:

I returned to this site several minutes ago to check if I’d been removed from this group as I requested yesterday. Like most other posts I’ve offered, apparently my request has been denied. Go figure.

In the process of learning that I apparently will be eternally punished by never being removed from this group, I happened to notice this post, a vivid reminder of why I want no longer to be here. Normally, I’d reply in a gentle, collegial way, but I’m hoping this rude approach,* supposedly banned in this group even though numerous posts are approved without regard to those guidelines, will be enough to get me thrown into the briar patch of group non-membership.

  1. Did Nader actually say this? No source or date is cited. (I could get anyone’s photo, type a statement with quotation marks, and encourage uncritical people to think it’s real–and fall all over themselves to praise the fiction.)
  2. If Nader did say this and hasn’t repented it, I now kick myself for voting for him 20 years ago. This kind of sweeping, reductionist thinking is destructive to meaningful thought that sifts through nuances and makes plausible arguments. (Why not just say that everyone who disagrees with you on anything, regardless of the reasons or alternative ideas on which you might happen to agree, isn’t worthy of being on this planet?)
  3. If this quotation is fabricated, then it reinforces my concern that this allegedly progressive site is really a shill for those wishing to sow dissension among leftists. Or perhaps an old-left residue that vilifies any leftist who doesn’t stick to a particular party line.
  4. I fear for the training of teachers if this site represents the kind of uncritical, knee-jerk thinking that is coming out of our schools. Apparently such limitations aren’t the exclusive property of tea-party types. (I leave aside the occasional incoherent ramblings, sometimes even with lack of basic English grammar [I’m not talking about mere typos], that pose as mature thought.

Only if curiosity overwhelms my good sense will I return to this site. In the meantime, I’ve removed myself from its facebook feed so that I’m not tempted to make just one more itty-bitty critique.

To those (apparently few) in this group who do valiantly try to wrestle with meaningful discussion, I wish you my best but also suggest that you find a more receptive (truly progressive) location to share your interesting thinking.

____________

*If, as I sometimes have wondered, the bulk of what I’m criticizing comes from teen-agers and folk in their early 20s who are groping their way to nuanced leftist positions, I apologize to you. At that age, I was probably just as flamboyant and intolerant and simplistic in political matters, though I like to think I already knew (for by 22 I was teaching it) how to put together a thoughtful, even if imperfect, argument.

Leave a Reply