Before the election of 2008 I went on the Muskogee, Oklahoma web site and began
to talk to people about these things. I published articles disagreeing with
all of the assumptions made by these groups and drew parallels between their
stories and the stories of the ultra Liberal Hippies and Liberations movements
of the 1960s. I wrote as a Native son of the state of Oklahoma and a
relative of the past City Manager. I stated that the Tea Party exhibited the
same attitudes toward government, same paranoia and predicted the same support
by Hollywood for the purpose of selling "entertainment." (Anyone watching
NCIS lately?) In spite of the overwhelming number of liberal Actors in
Hollywood the products are generally neither liberal or conservative but venal
and exploitive of whatever the current fad happens to be. There's nothing to
put a check on their exploitation. The religious institutions long ago
abandoned their compassion and monetary relativity for the new political power.
So we have trash art and religious sell out when what we need is morals.
It's almost a historical heritage in Anglo society given the Puritans and
Cromwell. Not much hope of a balanced sensibility and a liberal morality.
"Liberal" in the real meaning of the word. Anyway, I wrote on the
Muskogee website for several months under my real name. When the tea party
events started, the website was shut down. The Tea Party Town Meetings
would not tolerate disagreement and they said so in the most disagreeable
manner. Their idea of good government was electing a mayor who had just
graduated high school to govern a city of 38,000 people. The son of the local
banker.
REH
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Weick
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 3:07 PM
To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION; dissenters
Subject: Re: [Futurework] The old man still thinks.
The old man still does think. Well said indeed. What he said reminded me of
something on the American scene I put together a few years ago, so I thought
I'd include it below.
Ed
_____
From: Ray Harrell <[email protected]>
To: "RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 1:31:42 PM
Subject: [Futurework] The old man still thinks.
Well said, REH
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/is-the-n-r-a-un-american/?hp
Whither the City on the Hill?
Thursday, Apr 22, 2010
An item in yesterday’s paper said that the Republican Governor of Florida’s
chance of being re-elected are rapidly waning because he gave Obama a hug when
the President visited the state to help sell the stimulus package that was to
bail out the banks. While the Governor’s fate is a relatively minor event in
American politics, bigger things seem to be going on.
Tea Partiers, large crowds of people waving flags and holding signs frequently
gather to let the government know that it is becoming too dominant in their
lives and isn’t living up to the Constitution. Recently, pictures of Tea
Partiers have included stout, well to do middle-aged men with guns strapped to
them.
While that is scary enough, there are far scarier things going on. Find Hutaree
on the web and watch men in camouflage fatigues running through the woods with
guns in their hands, men who believe that acts of violence can bring about the
final judgment prophesied in the Bible — and therefore have been arming
themselves to go to war with the Antichrist, "evil Jews," and Muslims. Go to
the Oath Keepers website and find that young men, many in military service,
have sworn to defend the Constitution and pretend that the American Revolution
of 1775 continues today. Go to the Michigan Militia website and learn that "A
well-armed citizenry is the best form of Homeland Security and can better deter
crime, invasion, terrorism, and tyranny." All such things may make you recall
Timothy McVeigh, who in 1995 killed 168 people in Oklahoma City because he
hated what government was doing.
One has to wonder what’s bothering these people so? It would seem that their
concerns arise out of things both ancient and modern. One of the most important
concerns is the changes that America has experienced during the past century.
There was a time when populist movements focused on political and economic
issues made government sit up and pay attention. It forced things that people
didn’t like to change. Populist movements can still make a difference, but far
less so because the American polity and society has become far more complex
than it was a century ago. Yet many people still look back longingly at the
times when marching about with guns in hand made all the difference.
Whether they march about or not, Americans are facing a changing world, one
that is not changing in their favour. As a recent article in Harper’s points
out, much of America’s industrial base has been bundled up and shipped
overseas— "a policy that shut down the working-class escalator to a better
life, gutted the unions, and deprived liberals of their main source of
political power." ("The Vanishing Liberal", Kevin Baker, Harper’s, April 2010)
While it is an exaggeration to say that Americans no longer make the things
they buy, there is considerable truth to it, as a visit to Walmart and the cars
being driven on Main Street show. Moreover, as was demonstrated by the fallout
from the sub-prime mortgage debacle, there has been a marked shift of power
from the manufacturing to financial sectors during recent decades. It’s not how
much stuff is made in factories that determines the state of the economy, it’s
what’s happening on Wall Street. And while some great cities like New York are
still thriving, others like Detroit and Cleveland are in freefall decline.
It’s no wonder that Americans are confused and angry. Because of globalization,
increasing complexity and shifts in economic power, the once fabulous city on
the hill is tumbling down the cliffs piece by piece. Someone has to be blamed.
Why, government of course! So march about or run through the woods with guns in
hand and blow a few things up if you have to. That’ll fix things! That’ll
show’em!
Ed Weick
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