A political conundrum, won by no one
What is discussed here is nothing new. How are political divides created in which people of all stripes vote against their own best interests.
The most obvious example is the tea party insurgence, however dispersed it is, and its antipathy toward the recently passed health care legislation, higher but not overly punitive taxation of the really wealthy, and any consumer protection rules.
There are parts of each of these laws or proposals that are overreaching, but the net benefit to many tea party supporters far outweighs the negatives.
It is a documented fact that many tea party and dedicated right leaning voters feel completely entitled to all benefits from the government, some that are under attack, from disability insurance, to pension guarantee benefits, to medicare without higher premiums, and medicaid with no investigation of transferred wealth to other family members. They believe it's their right.
On the so-called liberal side of the big divide, voters go with their vendetta against the big businesses that make our economy work and can lead us out of this all too slowly improving economic stagnation. We will never get through this unemployment catastrophe without some embrace of the power of big business. It's sort of odd. Everyone can cheer on Apple and Google, cool titans of market cap and almost monopoly capitalism, but sneer at Exxon, JPMorgan Chase, GM, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, and others that are also mainstays of our economy that buoy employment and invest in new enterprises and research.
Where this leads us is into the clutches of the political operatives, whose goal is to polarize our country. They are exploiting primal fears that overide any sane examination of the facts. This is no mystery. There is a loss of optimism in this country. We can't repair roads, build bridges, have presentable airports, and come up with enough jobs to seed potential broadly in the younger generation.
Voter decisions are being influenced by observations and biases unrelated to even their own self interest. Some would say it's a revival of spirituality on one side. Others would say it's a new wave of anti-capitalism on the other.
"Here comes old flat top
He comes groovin' up slowly
He got joo joo eyeballs
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker
He just do what he please...
One thing I can tell you is
you got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me...
Come together right now
Over me..."
Lennon and McCartney
Eyes Not Sold - free of the politicos, free to come together, free of the ideologues, free to work out, and it will be work, a path that recreates the potential of this unique, inclusive, and creative country.
Sort of an idealistic comment I know.
The most obvious example is the tea party insurgence, however dispersed it is, and its antipathy toward the recently passed health care legislation, higher but not overly punitive taxation of the really wealthy, and any consumer protection rules.
There are parts of each of these laws or proposals that are overreaching, but the net benefit to many tea party supporters far outweighs the negatives.
It is a documented fact that many tea party and dedicated right leaning voters feel completely entitled to all benefits from the government, some that are under attack, from disability insurance, to pension guarantee benefits, to medicare without higher premiums, and medicaid with no investigation of transferred wealth to other family members. They believe it's their right.
On the so-called liberal side of the big divide, voters go with their vendetta against the big businesses that make our economy work and can lead us out of this all too slowly improving economic stagnation. We will never get through this unemployment catastrophe without some embrace of the power of big business. It's sort of odd. Everyone can cheer on Apple and Google, cool titans of market cap and almost monopoly capitalism, but sneer at Exxon, JPMorgan Chase, GM, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, and others that are also mainstays of our economy that buoy employment and invest in new enterprises and research.
Where this leads us is into the clutches of the political operatives, whose goal is to polarize our country. They are exploiting primal fears that overide any sane examination of the facts. This is no mystery. There is a loss of optimism in this country. We can't repair roads, build bridges, have presentable airports, and come up with enough jobs to seed potential broadly in the younger generation.
Voter decisions are being influenced by observations and biases unrelated to even their own self interest. Some would say it's a revival of spirituality on one side. Others would say it's a new wave of anti-capitalism on the other.
"Here comes old flat top
He comes groovin' up slowly
He got joo joo eyeballs
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker
He just do what he please...
One thing I can tell you is
you got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me...
Come together right now
Over me..."
Lennon and McCartney
Eyes Not Sold - free of the politicos, free to come together, free of the ideologues, free to work out, and it will be work, a path that recreates the potential of this unique, inclusive, and creative country.
Sort of an idealistic comment I know.
posted by John Borden at 6:19 PM
1 Comments:
"Sort of" idealistic???
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