2010/04/25
Socialism is to Obama what Sept. 11 was to Iraq – disconnected in reality, but fused to our collective consciousness by repetition on Fox News.
A rational discussion about revenues and expenditures is impossible when taxes are considered on par with George Carlin’s seven dirty words. Educated people are maligned, and public servants are demonized while shrieking ideologues spew fallacious arguments unfettered by an honest evaluation of supporting evidence or even a modicum of reality. People and the media respond to cacophony of shrillish voices instead of making decisions with the weight of reason and the power of our cumulative intellect.
How we got here is less important than the need to reflect on the utter failure of political and economic ideologies responsible for the near collapse of our economic system and the disfunction of our political system. Rational governance is failing under the weight of the perpetual election season and a misinformed public.
Much has been made of the recent health insurance bill. It is no doubt one of the most significant pieces of legislation in decades. It is not, however, facism, nazism, or a totalitarian aggregation of power; if you think it is, I have a modest proposal. Read the Constitution, Declaration and a basic constitutional law book. Read The Federalist Papers along with a basic textbook on political science. Before you hurl political ideologies as pejoratives, make an effort to learn what the words mean. These complex concepts are not reducible to a colorful tile on a scribbling madman’s blackboard.
Learn about the free market. It is not perfect. Understand how the tragedy of the commons affects the environment as well as creates congressional stalemates. Go beyond the hollow nationalism sold by sly foxes and learn what government is and why regulation of financial markets is necessary.
In Oregon, “government” is mostly teachers. On the local level, it is police, fire and road crews. It is not “some brooding omnipresence in the sky” but your neighbor working hard every day – the caseworker, DMV clerk or sheriff.
Attend a public meeting. If you have questions, ask someone rather than assume there is a liberal intelligentsia manipulating the media using mind control drugs in the secret spices of your KFC. Consider the far more likely scenario – a single channel is fearmongering and misleading to persuade the ignorant into voting against their own economic interests. It is an old trick, mastered by Reagan and perfected by Rove.
Why is it that government seems so incompetent? Perhaps it’s that what you see on television is the twisted misrepresentations of its poorer nature. You won’t see people risking their lives to rush your parent to the hospital or the cold toil of plowing Santiam Pass. Is government perfect? Of course not. What human enterprise is?
Rise above. Learn from experts rather than partisans. That is what a patriot owes his or her country.
