The Too Silent Majority Has Produced The Rule Of The Minority
The Too Silent Majority Has Produced The Rule Of The Minority
By
Ken Eliasberg
The recent reaction — violent protests - of the losers on the Proposition
8 measure bear fatal witness to significant developments in America’s evolution: (1) loss of civility in our public discourse, and (2) the complete imbalance in this loss. That is, when Republicans lose, you don’t see violent protests, let alone rioting in the streets; on the other hand when the Dems lose, all hell breaks loose. And, once again, it’s our fault! Why?? We put up with this crap! Our response should be that if you want to riot, your behavior will be met with a prompt response sufficient to both teach you a lesson and restore an appropriate measure of civil “obedience.” Ever since the ‘60s, civil disobedience has been construed to mean that, if you feel violated in any way (no matter how inappropriate your feeling may be), it is perfectly okay for you to run amuck. No it’s not!! This is a product of the “it’s-all-about-me” generation, whose attitude is “if it feels good, do it,” and, if it feels bad, it is perfectly all right for you to act out your bad feelings..
And this adolescent response to being told no is very much a byproduct of, and mirrored in, a deterioration of family values. When I was a youth, you didn’t talk back to your parents, your teachers, or any other authority figure. You were free to question the manner in which authority was exercised (in many instances), but you didn’t throw a temper tantrum if you didn’t get your way. That’s the way it was in the home I grew up in, and that’s the way it was in the home over which I presided. If I brought home a bad report card, my father didn’t run to the teacher and say what are you doing to my little darling. He automatically — and, in my opinion (now, not then), correctly — sided with the teacher. Why? Because he didn’t like me? No, because he was teaching me 2 very valuable lessons. The first is that authority does exist, and that it is essential to the free flow of a democratic society that it does exist. Second, that, for it to exist, discipline had to be maintained in order to encourage respect for, and compliance with, authority, i.e. authority could not operate without some consequences flowing from a failure to respond to it in an appropriate manner. Also, that this was his (and my mother’s) house, and, while I resided in it, I would obey the rules (and, to his credit, even at an early age, I could discern that the rules were being created and enforced to encourage my development, not to hold me hostage).
The ‘60s changed all that; children took over the home because the prevailing ethic dictated that it was necessary to do nothing to damage the little darling’s “self esteem.” My father understood that you didn’t give children self esteem; rather you created an environment that was conducive to their achieving success (first, academically and thereafter professionally) so that they could thus develop self esteem, i.e. you earn self esteem; no one can give it to you. The ‘60s resulted in a situation in which the inmates took over, and now run, the institution, and this covers everything from many of our families to many — indeed, most - of our academic institutions (witness the Larry Summers debacle at Harvard a couple of years back).
How does that relate to the disgraceful reaction by those opposed to Prop. 8’s defeat. These are not just spoiled children throwing a tantrum at not getting their way. These are thugs, bullies, hooligans, and, quite frankly, a form of domestic terrorist who are trying to intimidate those who offered financial or other support to Proposition 8. Now I don’t mind someone who is unhappy about losing in any effort; indeed, I would be disappointed in someone who didn’t have that reaction to a loss. That’s what fervor (passion) is all about, and there is much too little of it on the right. That said, it is one thing to express disappointment in an orderly way — one compatible with the ethos of the democratic society in which we reside — it is quite another to engage in the kind of militant conduct we are witnessing today. If you want to take your loss to the courts, fine — do it! But striking people on the other side, or, equally despicable, threatening to black list and/or boycott those who offered financial support to Proposition 8 is simply beyond the pale.
I love these nasty phonies on the left; for years — no decades — they have been up in arms over the black list that was imposed on certain Hollywood types (types, by the way, many of whom were actually seeking the demise of our way of life), yet, when it’s their ox that’s being gored they don’t hesitate to not only impose black lists, but to suggest boycotts and physically assault people who entertain a different view. This is not merely civil disobedience; it is a form of very uncivil disobedience.
What to do? Anything and everything that you can to counteract this disgusting demonstration. What might that be? For openers, I strongly recommend a very concrete effort to support the Mormon Church — in the form of letters of support and/or monetary contributions. They stood up for their beliefs, and those beliefs happen to comport with those entertained by the majority of folks in this country. It is interesting that the protestors attack on Black Churches has been much more muted and restrained. Why is it interesting? First of all because Blacks supported Proposition 8 by a margin of 40% (i..e. 70% of Blacks voted for Proposition 8). Secondly, many blacks are very unhappy with gays trying to bootstrap their argument for comparable marital treatment by invoking a civil rights argument; they do not believe — nor do I — that the situations are comparable. While we’re on the subject of harassing churches, I note that the protestors steered a wide birth around Mosques, yet I suspect that close to 100% of Muslims are opposed to the concept of gay marriage.
What else to do? Patronize the establishments that gays have targeted for their boycott. For example, I have every intention of patronizing the El Coyote Mexican Caf