It's not often I write about politics myself...usually I'm content with linking to and cribbing from others, but the completely unjustifiable shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in Tucson on Saturday got me thinking about why political discourse has seemingly taken a turn towards the violent, the angry, and the unhinged of late.
Lemme explain: we live in a pretty diverse and pluralistic society. America has a number of sub-cultures, sub-genres, niche everything. What floats your boat isn't necessarily my cup of (herbal) tea, and for a long time, that has been just fine. Country music and hip-hop can co-exist. Rich and poor can co-exist. Catholics and Protestants can co-exist. For the most part, Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians can co-exist. Vampires and werewolves can, apparently, co-exist. America is big enough and free enough to simultaneously provide a bunch of different groups with a bunch of different choices and tastes.
So, what happens when you try ending plurality by imposing one way of thinking, one way of doing things, or one solution to a problem (with very costly alternatives)? I submit to you that such attempts will produce anger, resentment, and sometimes violent opposition.
Can you see where I'm going with this? So much of the political vitriol in America today comes from a source that is attempting to end plurality in America. That source is an ever-encroaching federal government supported and nourished by both Republicans and Democrats.
Why did the Left hate Dubya and the neo-cons? They used taxpayer funds (and a bunch of shaky intelligence) to pay for and justify two undeclared and pretty unpopular wars. They expanded the federal government's power to spy on its own citizens and deny them due process if anyone got out of line. They used taxpayer funds to bail out Wall Street when crooked banks made idiotic investments and got themselves into trouble. The list goes on.
Why does the Right hate Obama and his Democrats? The president and his party imposed a national health care system on millions of Americans who don't want it. They borrowed trillions of dollars that you and I (or our children and grandchildren) will have to repay for dubious "stimulus" projects and schemes that haven't done much to help. The president seems to think government has or is the answer to every problem we face, which angers those who wouldn't mind choosing for themselves how to spend their earnings. The list goes on.
In the past, when the federal government didn't do as much, if people didn't like the laws or customs or practices of a particular state, they were able to influence politics on a state level with greater ease. Or, they moved. We used to have 50 options to suit our political tastes. Now we have two. You're either red or blue, baby, and some even argue that our dear Democrats and Republicans are, in fact, two sides of the same coin.
This lack of options, this lack of plurality thanks to a bloated, overreaching federal government is what drives the venom and hate and violence in American politics today. What recourse do we have to maintain our freedom and our plurality? Besides emigrating, we don't have many options. The kind of violence we witnessed on Saturday is not one of them. If we were able to reverse the path that government has been on the last 20 years or so, we'd see a lot less animosity in politics. Unfortunately, trying to kill your representative is a good way to ensure we speed towards even more totalitarianism.
Hi Brent,
ReplyDeleteFrom time to time I read Janette's blogs that pop up in Google Reader. I enjoy reading your thoughts. For this particular article I agree with 90% of what you have to say. I would love to see the fed tell the states that the new tax rate will be 5%, they are only going to provide X & Y and it is up to the State's to adjust their tax rates and pay for the rest (whatever that is). I also believe people are too angry too often. However, I think/ hope that the shooter you refer to didn't have "anger issues" but rather was mentally ill. Check out his Youtube channel "Classitup10" to see what I mean. He wanted to add a new currency backed by gold & silver (not a bad idea) but he also wanted to add a new letter and number. His main complaint with the government is they were trying to control "grammar structure."
I really feel bad for Ms. Giffords, the other victims, the victims' families, the shooter's family and if the shooter really is mentally ill, I feel bad for him as well. To live a life where you don't understand what is real and what isn't would be something I wouldn't wish on anybody. These are my two cents. Thanks for the opportunity to get on a soap box.
Brian
I so agree with you dear cousin. I think as we travel the world we learn that we do indeed live in the most free, individual, wealthy, open society on the planet. There are some who'd like it "righter" or :lefter" but those societies already exist adn I think you should move to one of those places if it's that important to you. The most important principle America lives by is freedom--freedom to live our own lives the way we want. Don't worry so much about what your neighbor is doing if he is happy, healthy, and not invading your space, can't we just let it be? Isn't that why we exist as a nation? There are so many other places you can go live if you want to see your ideals institutionalized in government. But there is nowhere--NOT A SINGLE OTHER COUNTRY--where you can go and believe what you want to believe, live as you want to live, earn and spend your money as you see fit, raise your family, worship, not worship, etc...without government interference. It's the government interference that's causing the fear and anger. People are resigned to thinking, "Well, if the government is going to be telling me what to do then I want MY people running the government."
ReplyDeleteThis is really rambly, but it's what's been rolling around in my brain. Thanks for putting it all so succinctly! Miss you!