I have recently been nagged by the overwhelming feeling that our nation would be a very different place if ordinary people took a cue from the super-wealthy and voted in their own interests.
I rail against the wealthy Republicans for their unrelenting selfishness in electing officials and voting for laws that benefit them greatly at the detriment of the other 98% of our nation. I do not accept that the wealthy have a right to become wealthier at the expense of everyone else, and I do not accept that they do so both knowingly and unashamedly. Still, I realize that it is not the super-rich who need to change their voting habits. It is everyone else. There are, after all, more people in the latter group. And, as they teach you in Democracy 101 (and apply conditions to in Law 101), majority rules. So, come on, majority – start ruling!
When I see a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass on the highway with a “McCain/Palin” sticker plastered on the rusty bumper just above the dragging muffler, I cannot help but wonder what the hell that person could be thinking. Here is my thought process: unless you are truly an aficionado of early model power windows or a clinger to the vestiges of late eighties luxury, Mr. Cutlass, you are broke. So, why would you be voting Republican? Let’s be honest, they make no pretenses about their lack of interest in the fate of the low-income. Here are my guesses: (1) You are an avid church-goer and your beliefs require you to vote for the party that opposes abortion and gay marriage. (2) You are a Southerner by birth, and those Northerners just don’t get you. (3) Your hate the idea of taxes and people tell you the Democrats will get in their cars (not Cutlasses, mind you), drive to your home and shake you down for the change in your pocket.
Okay, I get that. Well, some of that. But here’s the thing – the benefit that you think you derive from voting Republican for the above-stated reasons doesn’t even begin to compare to what you lose when you check that box on the ballot. Yes, God (or at least your version of God) will give you a cosmic high-five for keeping babies from dying and men from holding hands. But, these social issues form only a teeny tiny portion what lawmakers do, and really, your elected officials are not likely to make the changes you want, anyway. Powerful anti-gay rhetoric gets them elected, but it doesn’t go much farther than that. Sure, they toss in a vote against the repeal of DADT, or make a powerful statement about repealing Roe v. Wade – which they can’t do, btw – but at the end of the day, the bulk of the work is on less sexy issues, like budgets and taxes. And those are the issues that impact your daily life. You may think they’re in Washington fighting off the gays with sticks, but they’re actually having $300 lunches on your dime and discussing how best to carve away your health benefits without you noticing. And you are so enamored of the rhetoric that you think they’re doing good work on your behalf. They’re not.
So, maybe it isn’t the God stuff. Maybe it is just the sense that these bourgeois a-holes don’t have any idea to live as an actual American does. To that, I say “amen.” But here’s the problem: no politician, Democrat or Republican, actually knows how Americans live. If they did know once, they’ve forgotten, no matter what they claim. That’s just the unfortunate truth. You can only be elected to public office in America if you have a whole lot of money. And, the only way you get a whole lot of money is by (A) being born with it (gag) (B) working for it or (C) schmoozing for it (double gag). Sure Mr. “B” sounds like someone who could get what the American working man is going through, but sadly, the second he makes enough money to buy a second home, he begins to lose touch. And, at that point, he has only a tiny fraction of the money that he needs to be a viable candidate for political office. Rest assured, it isn’t the Northerners who don’t get it; it’s all of ‘em.
Perhaps the most cunning of the lies told to the American public is the myth of the “Democrat-with-his-hand-in-your-pocket.” The DWHHIYP surely does exist in the wild, but much like the basking shark, it looks and sounds much more menacing than it actually is. The truth is, our country cannot survive without taxing its people. Sorry, Mr. Cutlass, them’s the facts. For those of you who like to cite the founding fathers (without fully knowing what they actually believed because – ugh – high school history was such a YAWN) let me put it to you like this: the prevailing view among the founding fathers as they railed against the British was not that Americans should never be taxed. It was that they shouldn’t be taxed without legislative representation. Sorry, Michelle Bachman, just because you and your ilk named yourselves after a historical event that you apparently failed to research doesn’t mean you get to revise history. With the exception of residents of the District of Columbia, taxation without representation just isn’t an issue these days. So, stop trying to make it sound like Sam Adams shouted “don’t tax me so that others can have healthcare” before tossing tea into the harbor and then settling into a pub for a lengthy discussion on the inconvenience of being forced to help poor people over a pint of his own Boston Lager.
Taxes may be an evil, but they are a necessary one and anyone who tells you otherwise wants something from you. Not a fan of taxes? I recommend that you take a drive on a road in a country that doesn’t use tax money to build bridges and roads. Or, wait until you’re retired and can no longer afford private insurance, then take a stab at getting your trick knee checked without Medicare (Oops, I just described Paul Ryan’s wet dream). Or, try to raise a kid who actually has a full and comprehensive understanding of math, science, reading, writing, social studies and the Boston Tea Party without sending him to a public school (sure, private schools are an option, but don’t expect a scholarship if the Repubs have anything to say about it). And, when the stress of living without tax-funded resources becomes too great, don’t call 911 for help after you have your heart attack. And if your house catches fire, well…sorry.
Accepting for a moment that taxes are necessary (humor me), wouldn’t it be in your best interest to vote for officials that consider the fact that you are, well, poor when they make their tax policies? Maybe a party that wants to tax the wealthy at a higher level than the poor? Or think of it this way: again, assuming that you are going to be taxed anyway, wouldn’t you rather have the party in office that is going to use the money collected for purposes that benefit ordinary Americans, rather than huge corporations? You know, like clean water in cities and rural areas, free parks and museums, public transit (the Cutlass can’t live forever), building code enforcement, police patrol, Medicare, food quality standards, public schools and trash and sewage services. Wouldn’t you rather that your children have improved access to art, music and education? Wouldn’t you rather schools be funded than corporations subsidized? Wouldn’t you rather your kids have a shot at going to college, both because they’re smart enough, and because the tuition bill is much smaller with public support?
The Democrats aren’t perfect, to be sure. But, unlike Republicans, they at least profess an interest in helping those who don’t include a yacht in their fleet of vehicles. And if we, as a people, rose up and forced them to stick to their platform, the condition of both the low and middle-class in this country would improve vastly.
No one wants the government reaching into their pocket. But, at least I know that if it is a Democrat with his hand on my money, he probably won’t be spending it on gold bricks and hookers.
So, Mr. Cutlass driver, I know you are smart guy and a hard worker. I know you are fighting an uphill battle just to maintain the status quo. But, please, stop voting Republican. It just isn’t in your interest. You may not like granola-eating, Birkenstock-wearing liberals who want to let the gays marry, but here’s a harsh truth: Republicans don’t like you. Your very existence is inconvenient to them, except during election season when they fire up the rhetoric just long enough to haul you (and your dead relatives) to the polls. Any other day of the year, they would ignore you if they saw you on the street. If you were distant cousins, they’d skip family events so as to avoid you. If your kids went to school together, they wouldn’t let little George come to your house to play. Wait, that’s crazy. They’d never send their kids to public schools.
So, next time you come across a hippie criticizing Sarah Palin, don’t drop what you’re doing to stand up for her. She wouldn’t do it for you.
