A real "cultural" (and religious?) war - right here, "on our own soil!"

[checks-n-balances]

War on the middle class and the poor, that is. For years, many of the wealthy have been projecting onto "welfare queens" (or, of late, labor unions) their OWN feelings of entitlement to more wealth -i.e., a perpetual gift in the form of tax cuts, which now includes eliminating the estate tax (the "death tax").

An often unspoken "belief" underlies this sense of entitlement (with no apparent feelings of guilt for depriving those less fortunate) is the rationalization that "they work so much harder" than the poor/middle class. They're even less likely to vocalize the (perhaps subconscious) belief that poor people are really that way because they're just "lazy." I've even heard a few people say they think that those who are homeless actually WANT to be - as though they're choosing "the homeless lifestyle"!

I'm willing to bet that this core belief - for many of those who support the immoral GOP fiscal policies - is actually more important to them than any of the religious beliefs they profess to have. In other words, "Mammon" - not "God" - is really their god. Even if they vehemently denied this, their actions say otherwise.

(I apologize for using such a"we vs. they" generalization, which I can't seem to express any other way).

This was written by a cousin and posted on a private bulletin board online several years ago. It's short and to the point:

"I used to be a huge Rush fan and felt much the same about welfare queens and government dependents. But it seems to me quite obvious that the same trump card is being played decade after decade to divide and conquer all those below the "very rich."

"Throughout the history of this country the "have not" groups (and this includes anyone who is not upperclass/White) have bickered more amongst themselves for the crumbs that fell from the top than uniting and demanding better treatment. It happened with poor whites and blacks during reconstuction, laborers/farmers/and blacks at the turn of the century, and it has continued in the same manner right through the 20th century with middle class Americans caught up in admiring the rich instead of stooping down to unite with the rest of the "have nots."

It's nearly comical that the mere idea of being associated with those who depend on the government and require aid abhors the middle class. Always just barely missing the coattails of the upper-class, the middle class stomps on the lower in the hopes of an upward boost, while the upper-class chuckles at our idiocy. On the entrepreneurial note, there is no such thing as the self-made man - yet another tactic to induce admiration of the wealthy."

Right-wingers call this kind of discussion "class envy," but they are really the ones who declared "class warfare" on their fellow Americans years ago.

Of course, there are many other parallels with other issues and myths that the GOP has been especially good lately at twisting and propagandizing to the American public.

My questions:
1) How do we go about helping the "aristocratic" class (including the wannabees) to realize that their feeling of entitlement is both un-American and definitely un-Christian (and just plain inhumane)? I.e., how can this myth be debunked?

2)Is part of the answer contained in the last line about the myth of the "self-made man", which should be replaced with a sense of community, and policies based on that idea?

3) Isn't it necessary for Democrats to point out the Big Lies behind these myths, and also to find out where the DLC really stands on these false assumptions? If we don't make this an issue in the next election, nobody else will, and we're no different from our opposition.

4) Do any similar parallels come to your mind concerning other important, contemporary political issues?

(On edit: misspelling in title)

[Jim Sagle]

1. You said "aristocratic", heh heh, heh heh.

;)

Seriously, this is dead on. I used to be a Rush fan myself. I wised up about a decade ago.

[beam me up scottie]

5. I'm a huge Rush fan.

The band though, not fatboy.

[bliss_eternal]

2. Interesting questions...w/no easy answers, I'm afraid.

While I agree, as democrats and those that believe in equality for all--it is a responsibility for us to stand up for the little guys and those that can't stand up for themselves. It is also important (imo) to point out these Big Lies behind these myths.

BUT the hard part is that most people that are affluent,part of the 'elite' don't care, don't want to know and are quite content to believe in their innate entitlement.

I've read on other boards statements from the right where they are saying things like 'minorities should join the military because otherwise they are doomed to lives of poverty, crime, etc.' It's difficult to argue with people that have such blanketed, widespread ideas about entire cultures of people.

For them there are no minorities, women, etc. that are middle class or even upper middle class, yet they do indeed exist. People like this are usually surprised that a person of color can even string together a grammatically correct sentence.

My point being, how does one convince a group of people that their ideas are flawed and in a lot of cases downright wrong, when they aren't even open to the information?

Anyone that spends the better part of their time looking at Fox news and listening to Rush, isn't going to be open to the truth--they've already written it off as liberal lies, that we are spinning to instill social programs to take away their precious dollars.

:shrug:

I don't mean to be a voice of doom or gloom. I try to be optimistic. I just don't put a great deal of effort anymore in trying to convert those that aren't open. Big waste of energy... If someone asks my ideas--or if something is true, that's one thing. But I don't get a sense that many of them get that they've been fed a bunch of rhetoric, lies and exaggerations to instill hate and intolerance toward the lower classes, poor, minorities, etc.

Sorry for the length. I enjoyed reading your thoughts and ideas. :hi:

edited to correct typos and spelling errors

[checks-n-balances]

4. Agreed; actually, the task is for those we support publicly to do the job

of debunking. In other words, instead of letting the opposition make statements during a debate, like (with Social Security), "It's YOUR money!" and getting away with it. It would be great to hear a Dem actually get into a debate about our respective core beliefs, or at least to point out where their beliefs are faulty. After all, they've successfully been perpetuating their myths and we haven't replaced them with the truth, at least not in the collective public mindset.

I wasn't even sure where to post this thread, and wondered if perhaps it belongs in the "framing the issues" forum.

Anyway, just a few core beliefs that I think they have and that need to be challenged:

1) That individuals are basically evil, and they need to be "ruled" and disciplined. (The unstated assumption being that "rulers" are basically goo, I guess!)

2) That the USA is entitled to have more power than any other country in the world, because it's special and blessed by God.

3) That U.S. corporations are entitled to the rest of the world's resources (because we're the "biggest and the best," maybe?)

I think it's important to pinpoint the basic/core beliefs/principles of our own party AND of the opposition party. At least in knowing theirs, we can try not to adopt them and reframe/provide our own (better) solutions.

BTW, I JUSY found this VERY a propos article at a humor website:

"George Bush Releases Revised Republican Bible"
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i8791&rating=5

The final paragraph from his version of the creation story:

"Then God decided to make some Rich People that he would call Republicans made in his very own image and he would give them all of this wonderful real estate and the riches and bounty of the Earth because they really deserved it because they were Republicans just like him! So he made the Republicans and off-shore banks and gave them lots and lots of money and oil and servants and slaves and lesser people to serve their many needs…”

Hilarious and sadly true - in some peoples' minds!

[getmeouttahere]

3. IMO, there is no point in trying to convince the rich....

that what they do is un-christian or inhumane. The rest of us must band together and hit 'em where it hurts. They've been riding the backs of the poor, lower middle class and now middle class for far too long. And BushCo emboldens them!

The only power we have left is mass boycotts/buy-cotts. We shift the balance of power by shifting the source of the power...money. What other option do we have?

[AndyTiedye]

6. Some of the Rich Are On Our Side

The problem is not "the rich", or even capitalism.

The problem is ROBBER BARONS who BUY the government
and use that to make themselves even richer.

It's not capitalism anymore after robber barons buy the government.

Some of the rich are on our side.

[checks-n-balances]

8. That's true, and if you take Bushco policies & plans

to their logical conclusion, this country will consist of no middle class - just the Robber Barons & the poor.

And that's true - some of the rich ARE on our side - the ones with consciences.

I knew I was generalizing when I originally posted my thoughts, and I didn't think I had time to clarify some of what I was saying. Thanks for pinpointing the real problem.

It's just sad and shocking that so many people either can't see that we're living in "The Gilded Age, Part II," or maybe they don't know their history, or maybe they've deluded themselves into thinking they're going to be a part of "the robber baron class" themselves someday.

The"Robber Baron" label doesn't seem to convey the full demonic nature of this group, and neither does "War Criminals." "Thugs" and "liars" belong in there too, but I guess words cannot really describe how corrupt and selfish (and sociopathic) they are.

(Edited to say thanks, fellow DUers, for letting me ramble tonight!)

[wli]

9. look up I.G. Farben for the full demonic nature of robber barons

[checks-n-balances]

7. You're right, actually, but there are lots of middle class people who

really do believe these things - partly because they want their lives to be identified with the Haves instead of the Have-nots. When they find out they themselves are also on the way to being Have-nots, they will need some core beliefs that are meaningful and that build up humanity. As the cousin that I quoted talked about how the upper classes have divided and conquered those under them ON PURPOSE (to keep them from uniting and turning against the upper class, I assume).

Of course you're right about boycotts, etc. I'm just suggesting that the PUBLIC DISCOURSE should be about exposing these myths and these cynical GAMES that have been played on us all, at our expense. I'm suggesting that these naked power grabs and the stealing out of our treasury by those in power should be pointed out in as many ways as possible. "We the People" don't realize how much we've been jerked around and manipulated by a privileged few who think they're entitled to calling all the shots, both here and abroad. And people who REALLY do feel entitled - not gays, minorities, or liberals - are the ones who have been tearing up the foundations of our society by eroding the spirit of community that we once had.

The neocons running our foreign policy couldn't care less about having a sense of "community". After they've pretty much wreaked havoc on the world and destroyed parts of it (including our own country), I guess they're planning to just barricade themselves behind huge gated estates or cities of their own, or in their own castles with huge moats to keep out the "little people" that they have conned out of the quality of life they used to have. There's no way our society can survive as it has when more people on the bottome are allowed to go bankrupt while those on the top are the true "owners" of society. Without any businesses left here, how do they think they're going to deal with the rest of us? Where will their food come from - do they plan to take up farming, or will we be their indentured servants?

Sorry, I'm full of questions that none of us can answer. I wish they would think through this mess they're getting everybody into.