Context and the 2016 Presidential Electionhttp://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/08/context_and_the_2016_presidential_election.htmlJim Forbes
August 26, 2016
A common translation of a Latin inscription on William Bradford's grave marker is "What our fathers with so much difficulty attained do not basely relinquish." Conceptualizing "fathers" in this case as "fathers and mothers" is appropriate – not to contest masculinity or for political correctness, but to also recognize the contributions and sacrifices of the founding women.
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What is the larger context? What is at stake in this presidential battle? In what terms should the issues be defined? What principles should be considered? What are the consequences of continuing present-day liberal progressivism? A short list comes to mind.
•Individual liberty vs. statism
•Nationalism vs. globalism
•Freedom of speech vs. enforced political correctness
•American Western culture vs. dominance by foreign cultures
•Right to bear arms vs. limitation or prohibition of private gun ownership and carry
•Personal property and wealth vs. transfer of wealth
•Capitalism vs. socialism
•Rule of law vs. corruption and rule by force, coercion, mob rule, authoritarianism
•Democracy vs. oligarchy
•Constitutionalism vs. judicial activism
•Federalism vs. centralized government
•Socially determined morals vs. facilitated moral decline
•Freedom of religion vs. religious persecution, dominance by religious sects
•Personal safety vs. increased personal vulnerability and jeopardy
•The Constitution as supreme law of the land vs. rule by international law
•Equal opportunity vs. economic equity
•Right to life vs. increased acceptance of euthanasia, unrestricted abortion
•Traditional values vs. relative values, with each person deciding his own reality
•Support of Israel vs. allowing or contributing to Israel's demise or destruction
•Respect for police and other public servants vs. increasing denigration and assassinations
•All lives matter vs. only some matter
•United States as a superpower vs. submission to other powerful nations
•Return to national solvency vs. increasing massive national debt
These are poles of continuums. The United States presently rests at different points along each, with regional and local differences. It is left to the reader to determine the relative positions of the 2016 presidential candidates on them. In doing so, great care is necessary to obtain accurate information. The 2016 election is all about issues in spite of the attempts to define it only in terms of personalities.
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