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It's depressing to see the normally insightful Blum buy the
Democratic party's mendacious construction of the tea-party.<br>
<br>
Blum seems not to notice that the tea partiers are quite right to
blame the president and his policies because those policies are in
support of the "the recklessness and greed of Wall Street, the
banks, and other financial corporations."<br>
<br>
Here's a far better account:<br>
<br>
"...the Tea Party movement itself is maybe 15, 20 percent of the
electorate. It’s relatively affluent, white, nativist. You know, it
has rather traditional nativist streaks to it. But what is much more
important, I think, is its outrage. I mean, over half the population
says they more or less support it or support its message. And what
people are thinking is extremely interesting. I mean,
overwhelmingly, polls reveal that people are extremely bitter,
angry, hostile, opposed to everything.<br>
"The primary cause undoubtedly is the economic disaster. It’s
not just a financial catastrophe, it’s an economic disaster. I mean,
in manufacturing industry, for example, unemployment levels are at
the level of the Great Depression. And unlike the Great Depression,
those jobs are not coming back. U.S. owners and managers have long
ago made the decision that they can make more profit with
complicated financial deals than by production. So, finance—this
goes back to the '70s, mainly Reagan escalated it, and
onward—Clinton, too. The economy has been financialized. Financial
institutions have grown enormously in their share of corporate
profits. It may be something like a third or something like that
today. At the same time, correspondingly, production has been
exported. So you buy some electronic device from China. China is an
assembly plant for a Northeast Asian production center. The parts
and components come from the more advanced countries, and from the
United States, and the technology. So, yes, that’s a cheap place to
assemble things, sell them back here. And it's, you know, rather
similar in Mexico, Vietnam and so on. That’s the way to make
profits.<br>
"It destroys the society here, but that’s not the concern of the
ownership class and the managerial class. Their concern is profit.
That’s what drives the economy. And the rest of it is a fallout.
People are extremely bitter about it but don’t seem to understand
it. So, the same people who are a majority, who say that Wall Street
is to blame for the current crisis, are voting Republican. Both
parties are deep in the pockets of Wall Street, but the Republicans
much more so than the Democrats. And the same is true on issue after
issue. So the antagonism to everyone is extremely high. Actually,
antagonism—they don’t like—population doesn’t like Democrats, but
they hate Republicans even more. They’re against big business.
They’re against government. They’re against Congress. They’re
against science."<br>
<br>
On 12/2/10 11:32 PM, Brussel Morton K. wrote:<br>
<span style="white-space: pre;">> To Libertarians and their
defenders:<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> Some questions to ask our quaint little Teaparty friends<br>
> <br>
> The Teaparty folks never tire of calling for "smaller
government".<br>
> How sweet. Most other Republicans repeat the same mantra /ad
nauseam/<br>
> as well, as do many liberals (not to be confused with
progressives).<br>
> So for all these individuals I have some questions:<br>
> <br>
> * When there's a plane crash the government sends
investigators to<br>
> the crash site to try to determine the cause of the accident;
this is<br>
> information that can be used to make air travel safer. But
it's<br>
> really BIG GOVERNMENT, forcing the airlines to fully
cooperate,<br>
> provide all relevant information, secrecy is not permitted,
and make<br>
> changes or face severe penalties. Do you think the government
should<br>
> stop doing this? * Following this year's BP oil spill do you
think<br>
> the government was right to bully and threaten the company
for an<br>
> explanation and solution for the catastrophe, or should it
have been<br>
> "hands off" for the sake of small government? * Following a
major<br>
> earthquake there's usually a cry from many quarters: Stores
should<br>
> not be raising prices for basic necessities like water,
generators,<br>
> batteries, tree-removal services, diapers, etc. More
grievances soon<br>
> arise because landlords raise rents on vacant apartments
after many<br>
> dwellings in the city have been rendered uninhabitable. How
dare they<br>
> do that? people wail. Following the 1994 earthquake in Los
Angeles<br>
> the California Assembly proceeded to make it a crime for
merchants to<br>
> increase prices for vital goods and services by more than ten
percent<br>
> after a natural disaster.^11<br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-11"><http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-11></a>
Following the<br>
> destruction caused by Hurricane Isabel in September 2003, the<br>
> governor and attorney general of Virginia called on the
legislature<br>
> to pass the state's first anti-price-gouging law after
receiving<br>
> about 100 complaints from residents. North Carolina had
enacted an<br>
> anti-gouging law just shortly before.^12<br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-12"><http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-12></a> Does
such blatant<br>
> big-government interference in our God-given
Supply-and-Demand system<br>
> bother you? Do you think that our legislators should simply
allow<br>
> "the magic of the marketplace" to do its magic? * Do you
think that<br>
> the government should continue waging war against what they
call<br>
> "terrorists" abroad, since there's no bigger or more
expensive<br>
> big-government action than this? * Do you think the
government should<br>
> continue with its electronic strip searches and body feel-ups
at<br>
> airports or should we allow the risk of bombs being brought
on board<br>
> airplanes? (Or — as an alternative to either — do you think
the<br>
> government should cease its bombing, invading, occupying,<br>
> overthrowing, killing and torturing around the world so as to
put an<br>
> end to its creating anti-American terrorists?) * If your bank
fails —<br>
> and hundreds have done so in recent years — are you willing
to accept<br>
> the loss of your life's savings? Or are you thankful that
big, big<br>
> government steps in, takes over the bank, and protects every
penny of<br>
> your savings? * Do you think that big government — federal,
state or<br>
> local — should stop haranguing the citizenry about the
environment:<br>
> recycling, air pollution, water pollution, soil runoff, etc.,
etc.,<br>
> or that people should simply be allowed to do what is most
convenient<br>
> for them, their families, and their businesses? * Do you
think that<br>
> manufacturers should have the right to run their factories à
la a<br>
> sweatshop in a Bangkok alley 50 years ago or that big
government<br>
> should throw its weight around to assure modern working
conditions,<br>
> with worker health and safety standards? * When a
prescription drug<br>
> starts to kill or harm more and more people, who should
decide when<br>
> to pull it off the market: Big Government or the drug's<br>
> manufacturer? * Are you glad that food packages list the
details of<br>
> ingredients and nutrition? Who do you think is responsible
for that? <br>
> * A huge number of Americans would be facing serious hunger
if not<br>
> for their food stamps; more than 40 million receive them.
Where do<br>
> you think food stamps come from? No, not from Sarah Palin. *
And<br>
> where, pray tell, do you think unemployment insurance,
housing<br>
> subsidies, and Medicare come from? (There were of course,
lord help<br>
> us, the Teaparty signs: "Keep your government hands off my<br>
> Medicare,"^13
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-13"><http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-13></a><br>
> while simultaneously ridiculing Obama's push for "socialized<br>
> medicine".) Some of you would probably rather see widespread
hunger,<br>
> poverty, homelessness, and illness in America than have
people<br>
> dependent upon the BigGovernmentMonster. * Do you think that
big<br>
> government is no match for the private sector in efficiently
getting<br>
> large and important projects done? Big government in the
United<br>
> States has created great dams, marvelous national parks, an<br>
> interstate highway system, the peace corps, social security,
the<br>
> National Institutes of Health, and the Smithsonian
Institution; it's<br>
> also landed men on the moon, wiped out polio, and built up an<br>
> incredible military machine (ignoring for the moment what
it's used<br>
> for), and much more. * Do you know that twice in recent years
the<br>
> federal government undertook major studies of many thousands
of<br>
> federal jobs to determine whether they could be done more
efficiently<br>
> by private contractors? On one occasion the federal employees
won<br>
> more than 80% of the time; on the other occasion 91%. Both
studies<br>
> took place under the Bush administration, which was hoping
for<br>
> different results. ^14<br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-14"><http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-14></a><br>
> <br>
> We have to remind the American people of what they once knew
but seem<br>
> to have forgotten: that they don't want BIG government, or
SMALL<br>
> government; they don't want MORE government, or LESS
government; they<br>
> want government ON THEIR SIDE.<br>
> <br>
> I think the Teapartyers are motivated primarily by two
factors: 1)<br>
> they don't have the intellectual competence or ideological<br>
> independence to place the blame for the sick economy where it<br>
> belongs: the recklessness and greed of Wall Street, the
banks, and<br>
> other financial corporations; and so they blame the president
and his<br>
> "socialist" policies; 2) the president is black.<br>
> <br>
> *Mark Brzezinski, son of Zbigniew, was a post-Cold War
Fulbright<br>
> Scholar in Poland: "I asked my students to define democracy.<br>
> Expecting a discussion on individual liberties and
authentically<br>
> elected institutions, I was surprised to hear my students
respond<br>
> that to them, democracy means a government obligation to
maintain a<br>
> certain standard of living and to provide health care,
education and<br>
> housing for all. In other words, socialism." *^*15*<br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-15"><http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html#note-15></a><br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html">http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer88.html</a><br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss
mailing<br>
> list <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net">Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a> <br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss">http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss</a></span><br>
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