This is not an opinion. It's a fact. Progressives or liberals or whatever you want to call collectivists this week, often employ the tactic of totally smearing an adversary in the media, regardless of any factual basis for the negativity. Free Market Capitalists almost never engage in this particular tactic, at least not without evidence.
Why is that? First you must understand that the philosophical tug-o-war going on in this country is not simply about different means to a common goal. The goals are very different. The Progressives would like to bring about a top-down society. One in which the government directs the flow of resources, human and material. They decide what kind of jobs people ought to have, what they should make, how they should spend their time, etc. It's all for the greater good of society as a whole. The individual is insignificant compared to the whole.
Free Market Capitalism is about free people engaging in free trade in the absence of force. The individual is the center of the free market universe. Society is the cumulative result of billions of individual decisions. It is not above the individual because it is not an entity unto itself. It would be meaningless without the individual.
The two models obviously cannot exist in the same place at the same time. They are polar opposites. We are nearing a point in history where one or the other is going to win out. People need to choose sides. The political arena has never been uglier and it's going to get worse.
But back to the smear campaign element. Herman Cain has been accused of sexual harrassment and essentially assualt, by women (at least the one's who's names have been revealed) with a history of making such claims against employers. The harrassment claims were investigated and found baseless. The ridiculous Gloria Allred stunt doesn't even merit analysis. Yet NBC, MSNBC, CNN and others can't stop repeating the charges and commenting on them as if they actually happened. Why? Because they are in the Progressive camp. Remember, the individual doesn't matter. They are working for the greater good. So what if Herman Cain and his family are destroyed? The important thing is that Progressives retain power, for the good of us all.
No doubt the Free Market Capitalist crowd will be fighting passionately as well, and they may very well employ some dirty tricks, but they generally will not destroy someone personally with information they know to be false. This is simply because it's a different mindset. The individual does matter. The individual is essential. The individual is not disposable.
Don't take my word for it. Watch and evaluate yourself. Keep in mind, the fact that a lie has been repeated a million times does not constitute proof (they will be repeated at least that many times. This is not a new tactic.) Use logic and objectivity. Evaluate facts, not emotions. Use common sense. Use a variety of information sources.
Why do I think it's important to point out the brutal tactics of the Progressives? Because they appear to be working and awareness is the only countermeasure.
