People are beginning to make the comparison. They see the obvious. Reactionary politics is the same whether it's Afghanistan or Texas. But this week, when the state of Texas passed a version of a law that would not only ban abortion but penalize any person or organization that would aid in helping a woman secure one, the concept was obvious.
The irony of the unevolved having much in common seems to be lost on very few. Yet, the optics are remarkable. Out of one side of the right-wing newscaster's mouth comes the barbarity of the Taliban, out of the other comes the same notion of control of women with the approval and belief in a barbaric law.
So what accounts for this paradoxical symmetry? At the bottom, as a common denominator is a belief in fundamentalism. Both the cowboy and the terrorist are unable to change with the times. They cling to archaic notions and are determined to hold their dwindling power until the end. But the end is near. People and cultures evolve with or without their majorities.
The numbers tell it all. If this rapidly warming planet survives, sanity and the common good will prevail. More will evolve and be willing to adapt so that survival and decency will guide the way.
It's often said that the political spectrum is not flat. That it bends around so that the far right and the far left almost touch each other. If Fascism and Communism are at opposite ends, at what point do they overlap like a Venn diagram? Is there any difference between thousands saluting Hitler and thousands raising little red books in front of Mao Tse Tung or marching to the orders of Kim Jong-un?
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