Posts Tagged ‘labor’
Decoding American Politics
I decided to define terms of American politics for the layman and/or foreigner. These are not how terms are defined in political science and not how I utilize them, but how they are defined in American political parlance. (This is a rough draft!)
- Conservative: American Conservatives are Christians.* They believe that most social problems are caused by minorities and the underprivileged. The main theme in Conservative ideology is that those with less wealth are lazy (and that all minorities are lazy). If the Conservative is not wealthy, they believe the reason they are not wealthy is because other lazy people and minorities are the reason they are not wealthy.
- Moderate: A moderate is a person who is Conservative but also understands that Conservatives are racists, religious zealots and plutocrats. They do not wish to self-identify with these concepts, because they find racists and robber barons to be repugnant, even though they ideologically support them.
- Liberal: An American Liberal is a person who enjoys wealth, but dislikes racism and religious bigotry more than a moderate. They believe everything they do should make them look good, socially, as long as they do not have to make any major compromises in their personal lives. (more…)
Let Them Eat Cheese
“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.“ This is the French expression that translates into “Let them eat cake.”
I have been meaning to comment on the events in Wisconsin for quite some time. As well as Egypt and Libya.
“Right here, right now, watching the world wake up from history.”
I have had a problem figuring out where to begin with the situation in Wisconsin (that has, since, spread to several other states). A few nights ago, I was able to find a jumping off point.
I was discussing the massive disparities in wealth inequalities in America. Most especially, how the wealthy, top 2% are increasing in wealth, and the other 98% of the United States are depreciating in wealth. The comment that was returned to me was:
Here’s a revolutionary thought: How about people make their own money and then they can do with it as they see fit.
My response was: “Did Paris Hilton earn all of her wealth?“ The response to this was: “Her grandparents made that money and gave it to her, as they saw fit. They earned it. They can spend it on their granddaughter’s dogs and cats if they want.“
This is not a heinous attitude. It is not a terribly disturbing view. It is rather honest. If people earn their money, they should do whatever they want to do with it. That does seem fair. But is it really?
I have to be honest. I only picked Paris Hilton because she is probably the most famous American socialite. I have no problem with Ms. Hilton personally. She actually is not even relevant to the discussion. I also think she is not the best possible example… there are people who are many generations farther from the origin of their wealth, who have much larger amounts of wealth, that was obtained through much less acceptable means. But, the overall situation does not change much: Her grandfather generated the largest real estate deal in America and now she is exorbitantly wealthy. “She can spend that money on her dogs and cats if she wants.“
Really? So, children are homeless. People are losing their homes left and right. People are lacking basic health care. And she can spend millions of dollars on dog food? Meanwhile, the American economy is slumping and degrading… there are several issues at play here. I will try to break them down as best I can.
American Civil War Revisted 150 Years Later
March 4 marks the anniversary of the American Civil War. When the new President (Abraham Lincoln) took office, seven states declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America. Tensions continued to rise in an attempt to protect the Union. On April 12, 1861 the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. In about a year, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the end of slavery to be a goal of the American Civil War.
For the anniversary, I wanted to go over the real cause and goals of the Civil War from a perspective that is less heard then the humanitarian/abolitionist goals.
