Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ten Reasons Why I Am No Longer a Leftist
American Thinker ^ | July 20, 2014 | Danusha V. Goska

Posted on 07/20/2014 1:45:50 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

How far left was I? So far left my beloved uncle was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party in a Communist country. When I returned to his Slovak village to buy him a mass card, the priest refused to sell me one. So far left that a self-identified terrorist proposed marriage to me. So far left I was a two-time Peace Corps volunteer and I have a degree from UC Berkeley. So far left that my Teamster mother used to tell anyone who would listen that she voted for Gus Hall, Communist Party chairman, for president. I wore a button saying "Eat the Rich." To me it wasn't a metaphor.

I voted Republican in the last presidential election.

Below are the top ten reasons I am no longer a leftist. This is not a rigorous comparison of theories. This list is idiosyncratic, impressionistic, and intuitive. It's an accounting of the milestones on my herky-jerky journey.

10) Huffiness.

In the late 1990s I was reading Anatomy of the Spirit, a then recent bestseller by Caroline Myss.

Myss described having lunch with a woman named Mary. A man approached Mary and asked her if she were free to do a favor for him on June 8th. No, Mary replied, I absolutely cannot do anything on June 8th because June 8th is my incest survivors' meeting and we never let each other down! They have suffered so much already! I would never betray incest survivors!

Myss was flabbergasted. Mary could have simply said "Yes" or "No."(continued)

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: communists; dsj02; epiphany; fascism; g42; heterosexuals; islam; leftists; palin; poland; socialism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-123 next last
To: Mount Athos
So far left I was a two-time Peace Corps volunteer and I have a degree from UC Berkeley. So far left that my Teamster mother used to tell anyone who would listen that she voted for Gus Hall, Communist Party chairman, for president. I wore a button saying "Eat the Rich." To me it wasn't a metaphor.

OMG - THAT IS far left...

61 posted on 07/20/2014 8:41:55 AM PDT by GOPJ (To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize-Voltaire)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Bookmark.


62 posted on 07/20/2014 8:47:46 AM PDT by SunTzuWu
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: melsec; Liz; sickoflibs; SunkenCiv
I was an active leftist for decades. I never witnessed significant leftist outrage over clitoredectomy, child marriage, honor killing, sharia-inspired rape laws, stoning, or acid attacks. Nothing. Zip. Crickets. I'm not saying that that outrage does not exist. I'm saying I never saw it.

The left's selective outrage convinced me that much canonical, left-wing feminism is not so much support for women, as it is a protest against Western, heterosexual men. It's an "I hate" phenomenon, rather than an "I love" phenomenon.

ping... to a great read...

63 posted on 07/20/2014 8:48:38 AM PDT by GOPJ (To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize-Voltaire)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Gluteus Maximus

Really? I just can’t see how you took that away from the article.

Did you read it? You refer to the author as a man, but it is clear that it was written by a woman. Others on this thread made the same mistake, and I guess it could happen if the article was skimmed rather than read.

Her story strikes me as honest and credible.


64 posted on 07/20/2014 8:54:17 AM PDT by Semper911 (When you want to rob Peter to pay Paul, you'll always have the support of Paul.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Enterprise

I couldn’t write such an articulate article myself. I liked the entire thing.


65 posted on 07/20/2014 8:57:04 AM PDT by castlegreyskull
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: castlegreyskull
"I couldn’t write such an articulate article myself."

I night write a couple of good paragraphs occasionally, but the quality of such a long article is way beyond me too!

66 posted on 07/20/2014 8:58:42 AM PDT by Enterprise ("Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

the writer doesn’t explain how leftist become the way they are. Born that way? What is it that tips them over the edge into a life full of hatred and misery?
I can see here that there is no dealing with them, just defeat them.
No sense in trying to be friend them any more than you would a thief or a killer.
I’ll just do what I have been doing and that’s keeping a good distance from them and mine, but now I have a better understanding of who and what they are. Great article.


67 posted on 07/20/2014 9:07:14 AM PDT by reefdiver (Be the Best you can be Whatever you Dream to be)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Haters are aware enough of how uncool it would be to use a slur like "fag," so they sprinkle their discourse with terms indicating anal rape like "butt hurt." Leftists taunt right-wingers as "tea baggers." The implication is that the target of their slur is either a woman or a gay man being orally penetrated by a man, and is, therefore, inferior, and despicable.

great point, great article!

68 posted on 07/20/2014 9:18:05 AM PDT by uncitizen (Buckle up! We're on the Facism Fast Track!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Semper911
I read the article entirely. Her name is Danusha, which I took as the diminutive of "Daniel" in Polish.

We're fools for ever trusting "converted" leftists. One has to be a fundamentally dishonest person to ever have been a convinced leftist in the first place. We must assume that people like the author and the Neocons are lying poseurs and infiltrators. Note that none of them ever do anything like real penance for their crimes against our country. Not a single Neocon has done the honorable thing and left the country for good.

They are liars, and the children of Darkness.

69 posted on 07/20/2014 9:23:43 AM PDT by Gluteus Maximus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Gluteus Maximus

Did you read the section oand language and discourse?

I’m assuming not...

She, not he, speaks rather eloquently on how ideas are communicated, and how language matters.

Casting people into a box and covering them in vitriol, without listening to (or reading) their actual points, thoughts, and arguments is neither productive nor informative.


70 posted on 07/20/2014 9:32:10 AM PDT by BlueNgold (Have we crossed the line from Govt. in righteous fear of the People - to a People in fear of Govt??)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’ve cut ties with most of my family because of behavior she describes.


71 posted on 07/20/2014 9:44:29 AM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gluteus Maximus

The insistence on ideological purity among many here is, in my less than humble opinion, symptomatic of a broader problem that conservatives are facing nationwide.

Use President Reagan as an example. He won, and was able to effect positive change from a position of political power, because he had a broad base.

Many among us vilify any who do not agree wholeheartedly on litmus test matters. It’s all or nothing. Those who agree 80% of the time need not apply.

Rather than cultivate those who lean right, rather than bringing converts into the fold, we insult and demonize them.

Would it be better to have them with us, even it means a leader with whom we only agree 75% of the time? Or would it be better to continue to insist on absolutism and as a result be left with leaders who despise all that we stand for and seek to destroy the foundations of freedom?

I cannot poll my house, much less my neighborhood or my office, and find 100% agreement. But my house is probably at 98%, my neighborhood at 75, and my office maybe 85 or 90. And they are all pretty happy places most of the time.

Food for thought...


72 posted on 07/20/2014 9:53:00 AM PDT by BlueNgold (Have we crossed the line from Govt. in righteous fear of the People - to a People in fear of Govt??)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Did anyone know this story before now? I did not. Great article,

Quoted from the article:
“Back in 1975, after Hillary Rodham had followed Bill Clinton to Arkansas, she helped create the state’s first rape crisis hotline. She had her eye on the big picture. What was Hillary like in her one-on-one encounters?

“Hillary served as the attorney to a 41-year-old, one of two men accused of raping a 12-year-old girl. The girl, a virgin before the assault, was in a coma for five days afterward. She was injured so badly she was told she’d never have children. In 2014, she is 52 years old, and she has never had children, nor has she married. She reports that she was afraid of men after the rape.

“A taped interview with Clinton has recently emerged; on it Clinton makes clear that she thought her client was guilty, and she chuckles when reporting that she was able to set him free. In a recent interview, the victim said that Hillary Clinton “took me through Hell” and “lied like a dog.” “I think she wants to be a role model… but I don’t think she’s a role model at all,” the woman said. “If she had have been, she would have helped me at the time, being a 12-year-old girl who was raped by two guys.”

“Hillary had her eye on the all-caps resume bullet point: FOUNDS RAPE HOTLINE.

“Hillary’s chuckles when reminiscing about her legal victory suggest that, in her assessment, her contribution to the ruination of the life of a rape victim is of relatively negligible import.”


73 posted on 07/20/2014 9:53:06 AM PDT by Yaelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

bfl8r


74 posted on 07/20/2014 9:57:23 AM PDT by VRW Conspirator (Global Warming is caused by illegal immigrants!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gluteus Maximus

FYI, Danusz is the male diminutive for Daniel; Danusza the female diminutive.

Danusha is an Anglicized spelling of the female diminutive.


75 posted on 07/20/2014 9:57:41 AM PDT by MikeNJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: Gluteus Maximus

I think she accurately described you.


76 posted on 07/20/2014 10:06:13 AM PDT by Starstruck (If my reply offends, you probably don't understand sarcasm or criticism...or do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

This article is brilliant. To bad lefties are too full of hate to recognize themselves in it.

Here’s a good one, which I never consolidated into concrete thought like he’s done:

“Haters are aware enough of how uncool it would be to use a slur like “fag,” so they sprinkle their discourse with terms indicating anal rape like “butt hurt.” Leftists taunt right-wingers as “tea baggers.” The implication is that the target of their slur is either a woman or a gay man being orally penetrated by a man, and is, therefore, inferior, and despicable.”


77 posted on 07/20/2014 10:06:37 AM PDT by Yaelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
That's a good article, especially the last part about hatred and misogyny. I will say one warning, however: men on both the left and the right will turn immediately sexist if a woman disagrees with them. The left uses nastier language (I routinely infuriate young liberals over on reddit, and they go straight for the C-word.) But even conservative men here on Free Republic, if I disagree with them over anything, will often go straight for female-specific insults, comments on how ugly I must be, names that a grown man shouldn't use and sometimes have to be deleted.

As I say, the Left is far worse about it, although it may be because their forums are not so well-moderated as FR. But I do wish conservative men would not do that knee-jerk misogyny too, the minute a woman disagrees with them.

78 posted on 07/20/2014 10:08:15 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

This was so excellent I didn’t want it to end.


79 posted on 07/20/2014 10:13:35 AM PDT by dforest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Balding_Eagle

More than one Freeper has fallen under the spell of the Leftist movement, buying into the ‘I hate Monsanto’ bit.


I do think you can be a deep conservative filled with love and reverence and still hate what Monsanto is doing, trying to “own” (patent) “plants and seeds” — and mess with our food. Can businesses exist that we don’t always agree with? Yes, legally, sure. But should we try to become aware of businesses’ products that are meant for us to ingest and become part of our bodies, while we are attempting to remain healthy? Also, yes.

And if you don’t agree with me about Monsanto’s practices, that’s fine, but there might be a company with whom you’d disagree — say, a vodka company marketing a drink for children. Or a toy that mocks your religion. Conservatives believe in business, big or small, but we are free to be angry at specific businesses!


80 posted on 07/20/2014 10:13:37 AM PDT by Yaelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-123 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson