Hey you. You there in the Glenn Beck T-shirt headed off to the Tea Party Patriot rally.
Stop shouting for a moment, please, I want to explain to you why you're so very angry.
You should be angry. You're getting screwed.
I think you know that. But you don't seem to know that it doesn't have to be that way. You can stop it. You can stop it easily because the system that's screwing you over can only keep screwing you over if you keep demanding that it do so.
So stop demanding that. Stop helping the system screw you over.
I urge you to read the entire post at Slactivist, but I quote from points No. 12 and 15:
12. The only hope you have of ever seeing another pay raise is if Congress passes health care reform. Without health care reform, the increasing cost of your health insurance will swallow this year's raise. And next year's raise. And pretty soon it won't stop with just your raise. Without health care reform, the increasing cost of your health insurance will start making your pay go down.
....
15. Do you see the point here? You are angrily, loudly demanding that Congress make sure that you never, ever get another pay raise as long as you live. Because of you and because of your angry demands, you and your family and your kids are going to have to get by with less this year than last year. And next year you're going to have to get by with even less. And if you keep angrily demanding that no one must ever fix this problem, then you're going to have to figure out how to get by on less and less every year for the rest of your life.
Sounds about right to me. I'll never figure out why people vote and advocate against policies that promote their own self interest. If their positions were conscience positions about helping those who are worse off than they are, I might understand. But the tea-baggers advocate for and vote for the interests of the corporate fat cats who are screwing them over.
Amazing!
Thanks to Cathy for sending the link.
"I'll never figure out why people vote and advocate against policies that promote their own self interest."
ReplyDeleteIn a word, tribe. It's about Our Tribe versus Your Tribe. I don't think sense or conscience really has anything to do with it, or ever did.
It's a great post though, and probably will reach a few people through all the shouting and paranoia.
If the tea-bagger's genuinely hated socialism and truly wanted free unfettered capitalism (like they're told they want), then they'd demand that Medicare be eliminated and that the government should shut down the Veteran's Administration.
ReplyDeleteDamn shiftless freeloading old people and veterans! Get a job you lazy parasites!
They would also demand the elimination of Social Security (the fondest dream of Wall Street for more than 70 years).
Counterlight, I suppose that I'll never get over expecting a degree of logic and rational thinking from my fellow Amurikans.
ReplyDeleteDon't touch my socialist programs, but don't implement socialist programs for anyone else.
Slactivist is dealing with a an alternate reality more bizarre than any that could be dreamed up by your imagination of what is in the mind of a "tea bagger" (who is, of course, ignorant, filled with bigotry and anger and not driven by intellectual substance. . .sure). Anyway, proposals before Congress are not "reform" since they will not, as Slactivist implies, lower the rising costs of medical treatment or insurance premiums. Under the current Senate plan both are slated to rise. Reality time. Reform is needed first. . . .cost containment. . .the tea baggers aren't as stupid as some self-imagined sophisticated libs think they are. They are responding and reacting intuitively to what is unacceptable.
ReplyDelete"reacting intuitively" = "stupid", no?
ReplyDeleteYes.
ReplyDeleteMindless, thoughtless mob.