While the Political Far-Right and many of the rich (The Constipated Rich) publicly decry Big Government, the cry is a decoy.
These are the people who call at every turn for deregulation.
Well, another group of people also call for deregulation: infants and adolescents. They want out from under the control of their parents. They want freedom -- and they want it without responsibility. So, also, do the self-indulgent, the lazy, and the criminal, liars, hypocrites, and a certain class of politicians, lobbyists, and news commentators and editors.
That much they have in common with the Political Far-Right and The Constipated Rich. All want to do as they please without obligation to or regulation by others -- or the self-regulation that characterizes morality or even ordinary maturity.
The difference is that infants and adolescents make no pretense about whose good they are seeking -- their own -- whereas the Political Far-Right and The Constipated Rich want us to believe that it is for everyone's good that they seek deregulation.
More than that, there seems to be an even more immoral trait about them: the belief, acted upon commonly in political campaigns, for example, that "anything goes" -- lying, distortion/disinformation, selective recounting of history, mischaracterization -- victory at any cost. They consider fairness quaint or naive -- and so degrade public discourse. And the public, in their (either) naivete or self-dishonesty, believe that they are immune to the same strategies being employed against them.
Let's take an honest and sober look at the pros, cons, and the safe conditions of deregulation and reduction of government.
The pros: government regulations impose bureaucracy, and all of the time-wasting paperwork and hoop-jumping that goes with it, upon society. Deregulation and reduction of government promise to reduce the bureaucratic overload and attendant costs, both in dollars and in humanpower.
The cons: unregulated, the principals of certain, well-recognized Big Business corporations -- many of whom are The Constipated Rich -- act in their self interest, not in the interest of society at large. Their mentality is that of children raiding the forbidden "cookie jar", hoping never to get noticed or caught. They are quick to label altruism as socialism -- a problem because Socialism suffered the same onus as our degraded Capitalism suffers: the onus earned by abuse.
Though some Capitalists may not admit it, Capitalism and Socialism suffer similar degradation, and the consequence shows up as a sluggish economy and growing class stratification.
The thing is, the Political Right and the Constipated Rich want class stratification because they think (wrongly) that it benefits them. It's as if the leaves of a tree, the branches and the fruit, detested the tree's roots.
They regulate themselves badly and it is for that very reason that Big Government and regulation become necessary.
The safe condition for an Economized Government and deregulation would be if people, including and especially the Political Far-Right and the Constipated Rich, exercised their intelligence and saw that they depend upon those whom they strip bare (impoverish) and uproot (disenfranchise) -- and acted accordingly. Cause the economic waters of society-at-large to rise, and all boats rise.
Instead, they foolishly and dishonestly lay out the decoys of "taxes and government regulation" as the culprits, or socialism, or terrorists, or drugs, or government-mandated health insurance coverage, or The Left.
Such people's behavior creates unnecessary and avoidable strain within the body-politic and pain for the general population -- and for that reason, they should be expelled from the political commons, and would be by a wise electorate. Perhaps we could afford them in earlier times, but today's problems require broad cooperation among many public and private sectors. Cooperation requires, at its base, trust, and trust (to be sound) requires honesty and integrity among those whose cooperation is needed.
It is all too obvious to cursory intelligence that many of the problems that beset us, today, stem from socio-economic imbalances and disparities that disturb and weaken not just societies, but also international relations -- imbalances that can and must be redressed by a balancing of the economic flow of all societies. By fostering conditions that reduce the overall class-stratification of our societies (not merely economically, but also in terms of education and health care -- the primary means and requirements of all productivity) -- we can thereby reduce the need for government bureaucracy and regulation.
To protect their positions, the Far-Right and the Constipated Rich build houses of brick -- legislation and preferential treatment (through lobbyists) -- so that they may be safe from the storms of fate that beset those not so well-off and who live in houses of sticks (mortgage borrowers) or of straw (renters).
And the electorate (voting public) lets them get away with it. Thus, the saying, "The People get the government they deserve."
Now, let me ask, "Who's Afraid of Big Bad Government"?
Not the top 1%, the Political Right, the CEOs; they own the Big, Bad Government through lobbyists (should be banned) and unlimited political contributions ("Citizens United").
The Supreme Court: Unfit to Rule
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We start down-to-Earth. Just send for and listen for free to a beautifully articulated and nuanced reading, in nearly its entirety (divided by chapter sections) and in the moods of its author, of the transcription of Thomas Hanna's fervently inspiring rant one afternoon in 1974 and into the evening. That rant became The End of Tyranny. Hear him describe what is happening today with such penetrating clarity that you'll be aroar with the fire of righteous intelligence as you recognize what you see and hear happening, today, with new understanding. Once you've started, you'll be drawn right in. It'll light a fire under your hiney, so take it a little at a time, in sections lasting ten minutes, or so. No need to rush through it.
MORE: The Constipated Rich and Trickle-Down Theory
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