Saturday, August 25, 2018

Do the "interpreters" hold the upper hand?

Ben Voth writes in American Thinker,
America is experiencing a major culture war between its interpreters and the people.

...There is a growing cultural reckoning between notions of America as a constitutional republic or America as a democratic socialist utopia. The polarity is profound, and the interpreters believe they hold the upper hand with regard to education, the media, the government, the church, and the press. These epistemological agents control the story dispensed to the people, and though they failed miserably in 2016, they believe they will in 2018 rise again to dictate outcomes for the people.

...The interpreters decide what things mean. Is something offensive? Is something racist? Is something sexist? Is something homophobic or transphobic? These decisions destroy the people's access to the public sphere and public legitimacy.

Housing
When the interpreters regained control of the House in 2006 – much as they seek it now – they immediately deregulated the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, under the guidance of House leader Barney Frank. The lack of oversight over these massive federal government loan operators caused the massive economic collapse robbing the people of more than six trillion dollars in home values. Home values in Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas did not drop. To this day, the suburbs of D.C. remain among the ten wealthiest counties in America. There was no great recession in Washington, D.C. The housing crisis and recession were strapped by the interpreters to the political corpse of President Bush, and the super-populist interpreter President Barack Obama was ushered into power. Attempts to criticize or limit his political actions were regularly interpreted as racist.

Health care.
President Obama substantially changed the American health care system against the wishes of the American people. ...Chief interpreter for the ACA Jonathan Gruber said lying to the public was necessary and justifiable to get the massive overhaul to health care passed.

The Free Press. Interpreters among our journalist class bemoan President Trump's attacks on them. Journalistic coverage of President Trump is more than 90 percent negative.

Immigration remains one of the most dominant flashpoints of this war.
Justice Peter Strzok exudes the temperament of the interpretive classes. He can "smell Trump supporters at Walmart." The public is generally intrigued and surprised that someone like Strzok might go to a Walmart. Strzok's leadership of the Hillary Clinton server investigation and more recently the Russian collusion case causes the public to believe that justice is a rigged game in Washington.

The public does have a clue. It is not ignorant. It has not sold its soul to the KKK, the neo-Nazis, or Vladimir Putin. The engines of credible public debate must be reignited, and the temptations toward propaganda through these various interpretive outlets must be rejected.
Read more here.

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