9-11 vs. Katrina -- The Fatal Flaw in Right Wing logic

[Armstead]

Both 9-11 and Katrina were horrific events that ripped away detachment over issues like the role of government and exposed the powerful emotional and logical underpinnings of ideology.

One of those issues is the basic conflict between the conservative "Do it yourself" philosophy and the liberal "We're all in this together" approach.

It looks like the right-wing spin over Katrina is "The bungling of the rescue effort in Katrina only shows how ineffective government is to do anything. So it shows we have tyo rely on ourselves and the business sector."

However, they were singing (and still sing) a very different tune regarding 9-11. With that, they WANT a dominant government, and a strong Federal military. They are happy to sacrifice civil liberties if it will keep them "safe." Hence, they oppose things like the Patriot Act, freedom of speech and checks and balances.

What was the difference? In one case, 9-11 was caused by a tangible enemy -- the terrorists. In the other, Katrina was a natural disaster, made worse by the environmental short-sightedness and economic injustice of our own society.

In other words, right wingers only see a need for government when it is fighting something human they can blame and hate.

But when it comes to more neutral problems and positive solutions, they prefer chaos and Social Darwinism. Poverty? "Not our problem." Environmental degradation? "Not our problem." Improved infrastructure? "Not our problem." Mass transit? "Not our problem." Unaffordable necessities like fuel? "Not our problem."

But such distinctions can't be made in real life. You can't embrace or dismiss the government so selectively. A bad infrastructure also makes us more vulnerable to attacks. An impoverished population is contrary to "domestic security and safety."

If free market Social Darwinism leads the US down into the status of a Third World Oligarchy, with a small population of wealthy elites and a large population of poor and disenfranchised -- with the government limited to War and Crime Fighting -- it only makes the problems that the Freepers fear worse. And Corporatism only undermines the real rugged individualism and economic opportunities and traditional family values that right wingers claim to support.

So the right wing philosophy undermines itself.

Progressive liberalism, on the other hand, recognizes that everything is interrelated. Capitalism has to be regulated to protect the virtues of capitalism. Government has a role to play in improving the public services that make economic progress possible. Msintaining a rational balance between freedom and security makes it possible to have both.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. I said as much about "deliberate incompetence" in this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4642456

[Armstead]

2. Or....They got caught with their pants down

I checked that link. I think their "spin" is trying to do that, but I don't think the initial incompetance was deliberate.

Instead, IMO, the clumsy response to Katrina showed how incompetant and destructive the conservative philosophy really is when it is put into action. It doesn't work. That's the "fatal flaw" I was referring to.

My sense is that they simply screwed the pooch, because they are so disdainful of positive government, and so they have created an incompetant government. That's the point I was making above. The right-wing philosopohy undermines everything it supposedly stands for.

[Armstead]

3. From Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bree-johnston/drowning-new-orleans-in-t_b_6853.html

Bree Johnston

"....At some point this logic breaks down, and Katrina was our breaking point. Most Americans are decent people, and many felt a deep sense of shame as they saw the tragedy of New Orleans unfold last week. A tragedy that was at least partially due to a society that has bought the ideology of small government for years.

It's time to rethink our priorities. Nobody wants an excessive pork barrel government that invades our bedrooms and our privacy. But I think most Americans do want a government that can provide excellent education to everyone, health insurance to all families so that nobody has to lose their home over a child's illness, and an infrastructure sufficient to keep us reasonably safe. We have lived so long with the ideology of "government is bad" that we have forgotten that the government can do things well - if it has adequate funding....."

[applegrove]

4. Oh they are hypocrites. It is only about what benefits them. War benefits

defense contractors so of course they would be for Bush "perpetual war" policies.

Yup - and they do this all over the world. In Canada - they made a trade agreement but only comply when it suits them.

They are not for the free market. Only when it suits them.