Harbison: Denigration is Not Productive

Jim Harbison

The Occupy Wall Street protests are just another example of the divisions that plague our nation. We have a segment of society that is unwilling to accept any responsibility for their personal lack of success. They find it necessary and convenient to blame others, demand social justice, and engage in the political denigration of the “greedy capitalists”. I find it very interesting that many are students and graduates that went to college so they could get better jobs and achieve greater economic success. Jobs from the very greedy capitalist corporations they are now protesting.

We are again involved in an election campaign cycle at National and local levels to change our society. Unfortunately, political groups are using these protests as an opportunity to continue the constant bitter political, social and economic mudslinging to divide, rather than unite, our nation. As soon as someone learns that they do not have economic, social or political equality, the volley of nasty bitter partisan attacks begin. They start using terms such as racist, tea-bagger, socialist, Christian zealot, greedy capitalist, or some other term intended to divide society. We continue to see examples of these derogatory and slanderous character assassinations with an ever increasing volume and viciousness.

Seldom is a contemporary political race without negative campaigning. Negative attacks are normally launched by some political action group that has no direct or traceable link to the candidate or their organization. This is a deliberate opposition tactic to derail the candidate’s campaign strategy, cast doubt on their character or integrity, and avoid any meaningful discussions on the actual issues that separate them from their opponent. Read rest of column here: News New Mexico

Harbison: Denigration is Not Productive