There is an old Russian proverb about a dirt-poor peasant, pulling his cart along a muddy road, who comes upon a shiny urn. Upon opening the urn, a genie appears and grants the peasant a wish. The peasant, a rather dim bulb, thinks for a long time and finally says: ” My neighbor, Ivan, has ten goats, and I have none. I wish for the death of my neighbor’s goats”. This pithy tale perfectly encapsulates the current state of the GOP: having nothing to offer to voters, conservatives can only wish/strive/hope for the death of Obama’s – and America’s – goats.
In truth the GOP has become the “Party of Afraid”: afraid to acknowledge the desperate need to solve the healthcare crisis in this country, afraid to acknowledge the reality of global warming and commit to a forward-looking, “Manhattan Project”- like initiative to take the global lead in alternative energy, afraid to stand up to the screeching (and diminishing) “base” that will never again be able to send a “traditional” Republican candidate to the White House, afraid to confront entrenched corporate interests that have the GOP in their collective back pockets, afraid to repudiate willfully ignorant demagogues in the party (Sarah Palin top of the list, many more below her) and craft a platform that has broad appeal to the citizens of this country, etc., etc. ad nauseum.
This country was not built by people who were afraid, but by people who had the courage and foresight to cast off old, discredited ideas and focus on new directions, new ways of doing things in a changing environment. The GOP of today is embedded in concrete, unable to offer any compelling vision to the public. It is the party of afraid, and nobody, but nobody follows leaders who are afraid.
Hi Rantcaster,
Some thoughts to offer you on your post:
America was historically founded on individual rights (vs. collectivism or dictatorships), a free market, small central govt, and the rule of law. These are principles I embrace as well as a citizen, (former) soldier, husband, father, and businessman.
Today, the political ideology that most closely matches this worldview/philosophy is conservatism. The political party that most embraced this philosophy around the time of the Bush/Obama switch over was neither party. There was the the liberal/collectivists (Democrat party) and the liberal/collectivists-lite (Repubs). My point here is that GOP and the conservative philosophy are not always synonymous. That is what I think was the major reason for their failure in the last election. Leftists will vote for the Democrat party collectivism and conservatives will not significantly vote for collectivism-lite.
I agree that no one is putting forward a workable solution for healthcare. I do disagree that a bad, unworkable solution of collectivized govt-health care would be better. It wouldn’t. I lived under it in Canada:
Aside from that, I think the solution is pretty easy- the free market. It’s the implementation of it that would take most effort to realign this sector:
Finally, on ‘Global Warming’. The only ones pushing fear in this area are the political and social activists looking for power, social control, and financial benefit. As someone with a bachelor’s of science in environmental science, the idea that the science is ‘settled’ here is farcical. This is evident even to lay people by the our inability to predict even short term weather correctly or the contrary evidence of this second cooling period we are experiencing in the past 100 years alone. It borders on criminal for a political leadership to inflict real economic hardship on families and society in general for an unproven, and increasingly disproven, climatic theory. I have blogged on one such example here:
Don’t know if you’ll publish this, but I enjoy engaging in debate with other folks like yourself on these topics.
Best regards.
Hello, Philosopher
Thanks for your very nicely-penned observations. I am always pleased to publish thoughtful, articulate challenges to my postings. I think you make an excellent point about the current GOP not being representative of classic conservatism. Frankly, I don’t know what it represents, but the party has become consumed with fear-mongering, and much-diminished by letting posers and intellectual lightweights (e.g, Palin, McConnell, Boehner, Cantor et al) carry its banner, such that it is easy to mock. I have been a life-long independent, voted for Reagan twice, and only last year registered for the first time as a Democrat (in a very red part of Oregon). Like you, I am a businessman (ex-banker and serial start-up company CEO), husband, father and former GI. I have lived and worked for more than 20 years outside the US, in countries that range from the high end of state-owned enterprise/government intervention (France, China) to the low end (Hong Kong), and thus have a reasonably global perspective on what effective government looks like. If only every place could be like Hong Kong, the world’s monument to free-enterprise capitalism, but alas this is not to be!
Back to the point: I see no one on the current political landscape who can carry a true conservative banner, someone articulate, charismatic and not deeply corrupted by corporate interests. Point me to one you think is worth hearing, and I would be more than happy to listen to what he/she has to say!
We disagree on the need for drastic healthcare reform, specifically a public option. We are in our current mess, with an enormous drain on savings/economic growth, because of the “crowding out” that extraordinarily high healthcare costs (read: private insurance) imposes on all of us – private individuals and corporations. The business model that private insurers now espouse, and which they obviously don’t want to change, is the “perfect, free-enterprise” one: charge as much as you can get away with in premiums, and minimize payouts as much as possible through exclusions, denials of coverage, rescission of coverage for “pre-existing conditions”, etc. Add to that the virtual monopoly/duopoly the insurers enjoy in most markets, and the result is nearly 20% of GDP “vacuumed-up” by the healthcare industry – a share that is vastly greater than any other OECD country with demonstrably no better health outcomes for US citizens as compared to the citizens of, say, France, Australia, UK, Norway and others that enjoy inexpensive, universal healthcare coverage. Not to mention the incalculable benefit of being free of the terror of financial ruin due to astronomically high healthcare costs. Healthcare, like basic K-12 education, is not something that should be dominated/monopolized by “free market” players. There needs to be an inexpensive, basic public option for those individuals and small companies that don’t want to shovel their savings into the insatiable maw of Aetna, United, Blue Cross et al. Those who like the coverage they have now, or want “Cadillac” coverage and can pay for it, are not prevented from doing so under any of the plans now working their way through Congress. The screeching on the right about a public OPTION destroying the for-profit insurance industry is simply absurd.
Last but not least, on global warming. If one excludes scientists and economists on the payroll of, or in institutions funded by the oil industry, there is, as far as I have explored the issue, a general consensus that human activity is having a cumulative, tangible, negative impact on the environment, and will cost much more to “fix” in 20 years than if we start taking appropriate action now. Even if there is disagreement on the “fact” of global warming, there is no doubt that major initiatives in alternative energy will enable us to tell the King of Saudi Arabia to have a nice life in the sand. How much is that worth? Our competitors in China, Japan, Europe, India, etc. are clearly moving quickly to develop the cutting-edge technologies (batteries, solar, wind, thermal, etc) that will be the major industries of the 21st century. The US is way, way behind the curve on this.
Look forward to further discussion/debate on these issues!
Best regards
Hey Rancaster,
I listened to some of your songs and read some of your posts. I think that you have quite a bit of anger in you, but it seems somewhat misdirected. Based on your background I would guess that you would seek a balanced approach to government solutions.
I am listening to your Sarah Palin song right now. Why is the GOP the only one at fault here? Neither political party has done us proud in the last decade, each of them hurting us in different ways. If the way of reversing GOP mistakes is to increase government control while the liberals are on top, I think you might be disappointed when the power is switched back to the right.
The growth of government is the swan song of democracy. I still hold out hope that someday in my lifetime, the government role will be reduced to just two functions: to keep us safe from our enemies (DOD) and from ourselves (DOJ). In this country of George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, and the other founding fathers, the rest could be left to the people.
I am bitter too. I supported George Bush for his lack of fear – which is a trait that I see you support as well – and for his determination. Eventually I was disappointed by his breaking of promises re: the size of government. But that pales in comparison to my fear of what Pres. Obama is doing to the foundation of this country. Nonetheless, I don’t think that he will get very far in his remaining 3 years.
And furthermore, what is happening right now might in fact lead to the right thing. Bush’s and Obama’s mistakes may just give enough support to an independent candidate in the next election. It would be an unique position for a president to serve the country without a party agenda to follow.
Your songs make it appear that we disagree in our opinions, but I think that at some level we are actually in sync. I think that at some level all Americans who care are in sync. And, most of all, I am enjoying your songs and the passion of their lyrics, and wish that every citizen of this country would have as much sentiment about “being American” as you do.
Cheers!
Hi, Sati
Thanks for your thoughtful post, and I am flattered that you like my tunes!
I’ve done a song – “Politician Blues / Homo Electus” – that I haven’t posted on YouTube, that takes a swipe at politicians of all stripes for their idiocy, hypocrisy, medacity, etc. So, I try to be non-partisan in my rants. That said, the past year or so has seen some of the most outrageous actions/statements in my memory, all from denizens of the right. Sarah Palin has, in my opinion, set herself up for ridicule, with her absurd, fact-free comments (e.g., “death panels”) and a demeanor that I can only describe as “celebrating ignorance”. How on earth could we ever let someone like that become a leader – either of a state, a political party, or – god forbid – a country. Dick Cheney has also gone over the edge; tough talk from a man who couldn’t summon the personal courage to serve his country in uniform during the war of his generation.
I think Obama is doing a reasonable job with the mess he inherited. He deserves a chance to implement the reforms that an overwhelming majority of voters wanted him to undertake in the last election.
I would love to see a viable, third party emerge from the wreckage of Congress – a completely dysfunctional institution that needs to be dismissed and re-started. Not optimistic that this will happen in my lifetime, but worth pursuing. And maybe I will write the party theme song!!!
Happy New Year to you. 2010 can hardly be worse than 2009.