There is no Right or Left, there’s only Up and Down

Many people throughout the years have attempted to get Bob Dylan to reveal his political affiliations. The historically important songs he has written throughout his career, along with his cultural reputation as the voice of a generation, have made both Republicans and Democrats eager to claim him as their own. Both sides proudly point to specific lyrics in his songs that they say proves Dylan is either a right-leaning Conservative or a left-leaning Liberal.

A Democrat could point to this verse from Dylan’s 1975 song “Hurricane” to argue that Bob Dylan is a liberal because he thinks systemic racism is built into American society and that the criminal justice system is corrupt and needs to be reformed.

"Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin’ around
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that
In Paterson that’s just the way things go
If you’re black you might as well not show up on the street
’Less you wanna draw the heat"

Likewise, a staunch Republican could argue that Dylan’s 1983 song, “Neighborhood Bully” indicates that Dylan is a conservative because he is a strong supporter of Israel’s right to use force to protect themselves from their hostile Arab neighbors.

"The neighborhood bully just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully"

The truth is that Bob Dylan has always been an independent spirit and he has always managed to keep his specific political leanings a mystery. When pressed on his positions after President Kennedy’s assassination Dylan declined to reveal any loyalties to political parties, saying only to the reporter that to him “There is no Right or Left, there’s only Up and Down“.

I admire Bob for his discipline to remain above the fray when it comes to the petty politics of the day. It is a strategy that has allowed him to freely practice his art and speak his mind, unencumbered from the demands of party line expectations. Dylan admitted in his 1964 song “My Back Pages” that he feared becoming his own enemy “in the instant that I preach“.

The fact that both parties can point to past statements uttered by Dylan to back up one or more of their political positions is a good indication that Bob does not base his opinions on whether an issue is supported by the left or right; but instead he considers each issue independently and makes up his mind based on a position’s moral merits – in other words, whether the position is good (Up) or bad (Down).

The country would be better off if more people looked at issues, not as Right or Left, but as good or bad. Too many people today blindly follow the positions of their party’s leaders, keeping a closed mind to the arguments of their opponents and failing to objectively examine political issues so as to determine what they ought to believe. If more people did this, then there would be less debate about whether a policy proposal originated from a conservative or liberal playbook and more discussion about whether a policy is right or wrong.

Throughout history, America has benefitted from good ideas and policies that have originated from both Republican and Democratic leaders. It is a shame that politics today are so partisan that politicians refuse to support legislation that is good for the country, simply because the idea originated from the other side. It is an even greater shame that politicians will rubber stamp legislation that is bad for the country simply because their party leaders and corporate donors support it.

I consider myself a political moderate; conservative on most fiscal issues and liberal on most social issues. Based on this, you would think I would fit into the the category of an Independent voter; however my distaste for the increasingly far-right policies of the Republican party over the last few decades have led me to vote almost exclusively for Democratic candidates.

In order to win elections, Republicans have turned to populist techniques. They try to whip up the passions of the “common people” by presenting overly simplistic and emotional answers to complex questions – using tactics like blaming minority groups for the country’s problems, exaggerating dangers to scare people, lying to drown out reasoned deliberation and insulting anyone who disagrees with them.

Donald Trump is only the latest and best example of a long line of political leaders who fit the definition of demagogue as described by the historian Reinhard Luthin:

“A demagogue is a politician skilled in oratory, flattery and invective; evasive in discussing vital issues; promising everything to everybody; appealing to the passions rather than the reason of the public; and arousing racial, religious, and class prejudices – a self-professed ‘man of the people’ whose lust for power without recourse to principle leads him to seek to become a master of the masses.”

Historian Reinhard Luthin

Demagogues exploit a weakness inherent in most democracies which is the greater numbers of lower class and less-educated voters. These are the people most prone to be whipped up into a fury and led to reckless actions by a politician who is skilled at fanning the flame of resentment.

Democracies are instituted to ensure freedom for all as well as popular control over government authority. Demagogues can however, turn power deriving from popular support into an authoritarian force that undermines the very freedoms and rule of law that democracies are made to protect.

For centuries, political leaders in the U.S. have used racial prejudice as a tactic to shore up support from white Americans, particularly those white Americans who feared they were losing social status as Black Americans made civil rights gains. In the 1960’s Richard Nixon used the infamous Southern strategy to persuade white southerners to vote for him by stirring up fear of Black empowerment.

Bob Dylan recognized in his 1963 song “Only a Pawn in their Game” how southern politicians (both Democrat and Republican) used the poor white working class as pawns to protect their political power:

A South politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than the blacks, don't complain
You're better than them, you been born with white skin, " they explain
And the Negro's name
Is used, it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game

Sadly, Donald Trump has continued and perfected the tactics of the demagogue to whip up the passions of the lower class and less educated segments of the American population; and to punish any politicians within his party who dare to express an opinion which he does not support. His influence has turned the Republican party into the Party of Mean People by pushing a xenophobic platform that is anti-immigrant, anti-regulation, anti-civil rights, anti-science, and anti-gun control.

The followers of Donald Trump do not make an effort to weigh the moral implications behind the “conservative” policies they blindly support – as long as Trump supports it, they support it – even if the policy is bad for the country and works against their self interests.

The fact that Donald Trump lost his re-election bid is a sign of hope, but it remains to be seen if he will keep his hold on power or whether some Republicans will be courageous enough to break with the conservative party line and start thinking independently about what is best for the country.

As a way to encourage that break from party line thinking, I hereby offer up this list of virtuous political principles that I hope would be adopted by all citizens of good faith after careful consideration. I don’t consider these political principles liberal or conservative – I advocate support for them simply because I believe they would be good for our democracy and make our country stronger:

• Voter Access: It is good for the country when there are fair and open election laws that make it easy for citizens to participate in our democracy; and bad when state and federal authorities set up roadblocks that make it difficult to vote or when they enact legislation that suppresses the vote.
• Quality Education: It is good for the country when every child has access to a quality education and bad when poorly performing schools prevent students from achieving their full potential. Parents of students attending failing schools should be given the ability to move their children to a better school.
• Quality Health Care: It is bad for society when its citizens do not have access to quality health care and it would be good to pass legislation that works towards making Universal Health Care a right and not a privilege.
• Environmental Protection: It is bad when governments ignore climate change science and good when they undertake meaningful steps that will preserve and protect the environment for future generations.
• Civil rights: It is bad for the country when citizens are treated unfairly because of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability; and good when individual civil rights are protected and citizens trust the criminal justice system.
• Compassionate Immigration: It is good for the future of our country to have a robust and compassionate immigration policy that respects the dignity of all applicants; and bad to have an isolationist policy that keeps out skilled workers and those who are being severely persecuted in their homelands.
• Living Wage: It is bad for the fabric of society when families earning minimum wage live below the poverty line and good when working families are provided a living wage.
• Economic Inequality: It is bad for society when greater than 70% of the country’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of 10% of its citizens and good when corporations and governments enact policies that lessen economic inequalities.
• Food Security: It is good when policies are put in place to protect citizens who live in poverty from hunger. It is bad that 1 in 10 households live with food insecurity and 16% of children do not know where there next meal is coming from.
• Fiscal Restraint: It is bad for the country’s future and the future of our children for the government to continually run up such large national deficits – and good for the government to cut unnecessary programs which allows the country to live within its means.

I hope the next time you asked to form your opinion on a political issue, you will ignore what the political parties are telling you to think, and instead, like Bob Dylan, choose the position that you think will best lift the country up, not bring her down.