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Barack Obama  |
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Rob Kailey is a working schmuck with no ties or affiliations to any governmental or political organizations, save those of sympathy.
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Wed Dec 15, 2010 at 19:22:31 PM MST
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A friend of mine -- one of Montana's harder working organizers -- sent me these thoughts on the tea party. I thought others might find them interesting and I have permission to post them here, anonymously:I'm sick and tired of people referring to the Tea Party as a movement. The Tea Party is not a movement, and I'll give you three reasons why not.
- A movement is about sacrifice. Social movements are built on the equation of individual short-term sacrifice for long term community gain. The labor movement of the 19th century, women's suffrage, and American Revolution all involved individuals risking their lives, reputation and property to secure a greater vision for themselves and their countrymen. The Tea Party requires nothing of its adherents other than to voice their unfocused barely intelligible outrage, preferably when there is a camera in the room. In return it offers nothing of real value to America, unless you happen to be in the top 2% of income earners. Their message is not about solving a great problem, or meeting the needs of their fellow Americans. It's about greed, pure and simple.
- A real movement is beyond politics. It may use the voting booth as a means to achieve its goal, but its real agenda is always about something more fundamentally important to peoples lives. The Tea Party on the other hand from what we've seen thus far is only concerned with returning a certain political party to power. Since Nov 4th what have we seen of the Tea Party, or their nonsensical tirade against government spending? Where are the throngs of supporters they claimed last summer? Have the problems that brought them out dissipated in any way since the election? No. People's lives have remained relatively the same, and for that reason one would assume their rage to still be palpable. But no, they've done their job; now it's time for the common man to step aside and let the big boys run the show.
- A real movement addresses real problems. Most disgracefully the Tea Party perpetuates a lie that a scaled-back, inefficient, immobilized government will benefit working class families. Despite the fact that most American families have depended on some form of welfare in the last 10 years. Despite the fact, that a student's access to higher education is paramount to his future success. And despite the overwhelming contradiction that the same Tea Party candidates who 6 months ago were railing against the national debt are now steadfast against letting the Bush tax cuts expire for billionaires. Even though at least on paper there is broad bipartisan support for extending tax relief to the middle class, they are willing to throw it all away to fight for today's uber-rich.
The Tea Party is nothing more than corporate money funneled to astroturf front groups, and clever marketing that really isn't that clever. The "rage" that their "supporters" voiced a year ago does not stem from Government, but from the powerlessness that every man feels in the age of economic crisis that he did not cause, and does not understand. Ironically, shrinking the role and power of government will only make matters worse. If the GOP succeeds in gutting the ability of the EPA and FDA to regulate consumer goods, who is going to stand up to the mining conglomerate the next time they find lead in the water? Or what will happen when the Republicans finally succeed in defunding Medicare and Social Security, and grandma can't afford her hip replacement surgery?
The real richness of this country was built by the working class on the simple notion that if we each give a little, we all gain a lot. But in the current fervor of rampant narcisistic individualism soon we will have nothing to give and nothing to gain. I'm not sure I agree with my friend's analysis here, but I've been in some interesting conversations lately about just what constitutes a movement. I'm not even sure it is a super-helpful concept. But thought this could offer some food for thought. |
| Matt Singer :: Weak Tea, Not a Movement |
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| Purely Hypothetical, of course, but - The best candidate for the Republicans for US Senate is: |
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