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A Simple Primer for American Politics [1]

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Date: 2022-08-27

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This is a simple, broad-brush description of American politics. I’m omitting ifs, ands, and buts, of course, to keep the description simple and broad. Nonetheless, it’s disturbing how much politics it accurately describes.

We’re going to talk about classes. That type of discourse, you may be saying, is not proper, not allowed. Hm. Why? Too rough? Too low-brow? Too racist? Hm, again. Such discourse has been flooding America since before Trump, but he certainly helped put it on steroids. Maybe the real reason is that using the idea of classes, we can explain too much. It’s like there’s an 80-20 rule of American politics and our description explains the 80%.

So, let’s jump into it.

The WG class of the Wealthy/Greedy – this class doesn’t include all the wealthy; just the selfish, who care more about profits than about the rest of society. If it increases their profits, then it’s good. And if they have to be “Climate Assassins” to keep profits steady, then so be it. How else to pay for my yacht? What? A few million people will starve or be displaced from their homes? Too bad.

The MC class of the Middle Class –educated, caring people that want the good things of life for themselves and others. They work, raise a family, wish the world was a better place, and sometimes actively work to make it so.

The GP class of the Gullible/Poor – the gullible “cognitively challenged” who think with their emotions rather than their mind. If religious, they are gullible enough to believe stories such as Adam and Eve, and the Great Flood actually happened.

WG MC GP Wealthy/Greedy Middle Class Gullible/Poor

In a democracy, the WG have a problem: how to have government work for their interests rather than the common welfare of all people. The WG are few. How can they have politicians elected who vote for their interests rather vote for the general welfare? By persuading the GP to vote, not for their own benefit, but rather for the benefit of the WG.

Example: who lacks adequately health care? Often, the GP. So, who is often against universal health care? The GP.

Example: who would pay less tax if the WG paid their fair share? The GP (and MC). So, who supports tax cuts for the rich? The GP.

And where do the opinions of the GP come from? From media (TV, news shows, the Internet). And who controls much media content? The WG. In fact, one popular “news” outlet in particular is, in all but name, the WG’s official Ministry of Truth

The GP are taught to accept what the Ministry of Truth tells them. They think of themselves as wiser than the average MC person, even though they usually have less education. The GP are in general less educated than the MC, and the WG would like to keep them that way. Thus, education (and the educated) are depreciated, schools are under-funded, and books are removed that might cause children to think for themselves, rather than swallow what their politicians and clergy say. The GP often doubt or reject qualified scientists and medical professionals, but swallow what clergy, movie stars, and charismatic con-men say without a burp.

Gullibility leads many of the GP to fundamentalist religion where the Bible is taken to be the literal Word of God. Nonetheless, they allow clergy tell them what the Bible “really” says. Matthew 5:33-37 has Jesus clearly saying “Don’t take oaths!” By which he meant it’s OK to take oaths, says clergy. OK, say the gullible. It’s tough believing my own eyes and thinking for myself. So, I’ll accept what I’m told. Besides, clergy say, if I doubt, that a God who loves me will watch me tortured forever. Yikes!

Because the MC is generally more educated, they can often see both sides of a complex issue. They can rationally weigh the pros and cons of a question. In contrast, the GP are usually less educated and ruled by emotion, which means appealing to emotion often wins votes. “If he’s pro-gun, then he’s got my vote.” “I could never vote for a liberal; they kill BABIES.” Etc.

Here’s a list of things that would increase the general welfare. The GP are most in need of such an increase. Yet, the list is of things that MC generally vote for; but politicians who the GP helped elect voted against.

Better health care and more affordable prescription drugs

The right to vote for women and Blacks.

Saner gun-control laws. For instance, outlawing automatic weapons specifically designed for warfare, i.e., specifically designed for killing human beings.

40-hour workweek; minimum wage; paid vacation, sick leave

Protecting the environment, including improving the quality of inner-city air

Legal contraception, abortion

Having the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, which would help relieve the tax burden on the rest of us

Affordable education, so that people can better themselves and better the world

The more these policies are implemented, the more the MC and GP gain. So, say the WG, let’s pick out a hot button issue (gun control, abortion) and make emotional appeals to the GP so that they vote in our interests rather than their own. Easy peasy.

The WG push other hot-button issues worse than the two mentioned. A concern about gun control can be from a legitimate desire for self-protection, while opposition to abortion can be about a legitimate concern for the life of the fetus/baby. But the WG also foster mindless hatred of the “other”, all evoking threat and fear, all framed in terms of self-protection. “The migrants are coming to take your jobs!” “The White Race is being replaced!” “That ex prisoner will kill your child!”

The worldview of the WG—from the slant on the everyday news story to the overarching narratives about freedom, prosperity, and security—is carefully crafted in “think” tanks which the WC fund. The WG’s think tanks do the intellectual heavy-lifting of finding the best slant of a potential damaging news story. Example: Insurance denies crippled boy expensive wheelchair so local high school robotics club build him one! How uplifting. It just brightens our day—IF we forget about all the other crippled boys who are not so fortunate. A story that is in fact an indictment of the poor state of healthcare in the U.S. is spun into a heart-warming about local high-schoolers helping a disabled child.

Recently, the WG have been courting violent domestic extremists who tried to violently overturn the results of an election. A sign of desperation? A last gasp before the MC take over and run the country for the benefit of all? We can dream.

I could go on, but I want to keep this short and simple. In short: the WG use emotional hooks in media to gain the GP vote. And so politicians are elected who run the country for the benefit of the WG, often to the detriment of everyone else, in the U.S., and in the world.

How much of American politics does that explain? Far too much, in my view.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/27/2119234/-A-Simple-Primer-for-American-Politics

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