What Is Wrong With Republican Policy?

By: J.G. Schwam

"Freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power vested in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things, when the rule prescribes not, and not to be subject to the inconstant, unknown, arbitrary will of another man."

- John Lock (1632-1704), British philosopher, Second Treatise on Civil Government (1690)

Some time ago those that entered politics had a sense of altruism or they would not bother. There wasn't much money in it. Nobody outside of your home district knew or cared much who you were or what you thought. Powerful positions were only for the few and the outspoken. If you wanted to get elected you'd have travel from one end of the country or your district to the other to get elected. The bottom line was you would have to care about something. There was no means to an end. God or religion had nothing to do with it. No one even thought much about the separation of church and state. No one worried about the freedom to say what you wanted to. These were the absolutes of American life. No one worried about the freedom of the press. It was part of life. If you didn't like "The Times" you read "The Post" or "The Journal". You could make up your own mind. The government did not see it as its place to tell you what is right and what is wrong. Nowadays if you don't buy what the government tells you, you are a traitor. You are aiding the enemy. You are the enemy. Lavrent Beria, Joseph Stalin's head of secret police said, "If the peasants knew anything of the world they would know they are fools. We must protect the state from the influence of fools".

John Ashcroft knows a fool when he sees one. It is I. I am a fool. I know nothing of the world. He is right. I was only in Missouri once. I know nothing of his world and he knows nothing of mine. The truth is, in America it is not his job to understand what is important to me. It is not his job to tell me I am wrong to believe what I believe or that I am a criminal or am aiding criminals if I do not agree with him. It is not his right to prosecute me for what I may say against him or the administration he represents. This was Lavrent Beria's job. The KGB was not a law enforcement agency, it was what they said they were, a secret police. It was his job to stop dissent. And do that they did, very well in fact. But this is not the Soviet Union and the FBI is not the KGB. The FBI is a law enforcement agency. Their job is to protect me from those that seek to do me harm, rob my money from my bank, kidnap my children or burn down my place of worship or bomb my city. It is not their job to investigate me if the Attorney General thinks my e-mails undermine the policy of the President.

In America this really all very simple. The President gets his chance to prove to the people during his campaign that he represents their concerns and their beliefs. Then, if he does that he has our support and we elect him. If we feel he doesn't do as we expected, we kick him out and give someone else the chance.

Why then should the Attorney General care who supports or does not support the President? To tell you the truth, I don't know. I can however at least tell you what I think, at least for now. While this may seem like a conspiracy theory I see it to simply be the policy of the right wing inside supporters of the Bush administration.

The Bush policy is simple. The current right wing Republican policy is simple. Preserve and polarize wealth and power. There is no doubt that money in America is the be all and end all. I may have more than many and vastly less than some but if I had a billion dollars I would surely see no reason to seek more. Why would I need more? There is a wealthy conservative faction in this country that believes that their wealth and their power must be perpetuated at all costs and that plight of the so-called working classes means nothing to them. They are fodder for their mills, factories, super stores and chains. The battle was for decent wages, working conditions and the right to petition for the redress of grievances in the workplace was fought and won once in this country already. What is the benefit of creating and preserving a permanent underclass other than greed? Why would we want to move American jobs to third world countries under the banner globalization and do nothing to raise wages or improve the standard of living in those counties or our own for that matter? How does this benefit us? They will never be able to buy our cars, refrigerators, music, movies or clothes. Why would we support dictatorships such as those the Reagan administration sought to? Why would the Bush administration be so hell bent on fast tracking trade policies for China? They are after all a communist nation with an abysmal human rights record. Is that no longer important? Why would we want to increase the wealth of a communist nation? Once again it is simple. If we have to pay Americans six dollars an hour to suffer as wage slaves in manufacturing why bother? We can do it in China for less than that for single day and the Chinese people don't know about health care or pensions or of safe working conditions. Sadly, many of the new lions of industry no longer seek to teach that education, appreciation for and patronage of the arts, the enlightenment of humanity, the betterment of the human condition - as they did for brief period of time in American history - is in fact a worthwhile pursuit. Why, because education, enlightenment and art opens peoples eyes. It makes them think. When one begins to think he begins to see what is not right. He begins to question authority. There were once a great many people in this country that were not afraid to stand and speak their minds. There were once a great many people who were not content to suffer under poverty and governmental policies they saw as unjust or un-American. Where are they now? They have passed on. They see their dreams as achieved. They have grown up. They have houses in the suburbs they are no longer hungry for truth. They have stopped reading and stopped caring. And when they do care they send money. They do not speak up. And what about the many millions who have been left out of the American dream? And oh yes do not kid yourself there are there, millions of them. Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the world. Approximately 70% of their employees make no more than 50% over minimum wage. That comes out to about $16,500.00 per year for a 40 hour week. I think it is a disgrace that we elect officials that expect many millions of Americans to raise a family on wages that are barely 17% above the federal poverty line. And yet we turn a blind eye. They are not us.

Why would anyone with any degree of altruism or compassion in his bones seek to perpetuate this condition? Need I say it again? Greed. The CEO of a many a Fortune 100 company and his board of directors knows that if they had to pay everyone of his workers anything approaching a living wage he'd have to reduce profits. This would mean less wealth for himself and his shareholders. Would this be disastrous? No, not all. What the result might be is a more stabile economy, more predictable growth and increased buying power by more people. In many ways America is still the same is it was a hundred years ago. Immigrants with little education and skills still come. They work hard for little money in the shadows of American life. They scrimp, they save and hope to be able to send their children to good schools and hope they can have a better standard of living than they had.

So why should the blessings of liberty not be bestowed on all Americans of every stripe? Why do we have a government that does not understand that engaging in policies geared toward enabling a better standard of life for all Americans will benefit us all? Greed and the belief that some are entitled to more than others, that's why. I am aware that many will say that in America anyone can scrape himself or herself up from the bottom and rise to the top. This is true and there are some companies where those that have done that seek to enable their employees to be able to do this for themselves. It is also true that there are many that do not have the ambition or the capacity to seek real wealth. They simply seek to have enough to have food to eat, to clothe their families, be able to afford healthcare for themselves and their families and every once in awhile see a movie or take a trip to the beach or mountains.

If everyone in America owned their own companies or were CEO's then who would weld the steel, wash the cars, or run the machines that allow us to be the wealthiest most productive country in the world? Why do we have a government that does not honor or respect those who do the daily work of keeping America strong, powerful and resolute? It is greed. Perhaps it is also fear and insecurity that some of these laborers or clerks are smarter than those in positions of power and can dethrone or expose them in some way. Perhaps it is some form of arrogance that creates the belief somehow they are more deserving than others are. But I believe it is a belief by some that it is alright to achieve wealth and power by any means necessary and the fear that if some of those means were exposed the world would see them for the greedy evil fools that they are.

So what is wrong with Republican policy? It seeks to preserve the power and wealth of a club of small minded, arrogant newly wealthy individuals that for so many years were angry that they were excluded from the clubs and bastions of old money and power. It seeks to use religion and wage subjugation to perpetuate this wealth and power. It seeks to manipulate the law and true goals, dreams and meanings of the Constitution of the United States to serve their personal ends.

And what about all of the working Republicans and conservatives that think their interests and beliefs are being served or upheld by the current Republican Party? The are simply buying into the narrow smoke screens the Republicans hold up to give the appearance they are virtuous and righteous. Among these are pro-life policies, school prayer, the bad joke they call tax relief and the absurd policy called trickle down economics. Many of these issues the virtue of which has no business being decided right or wrong in Washington. We can decide for ourselves and practice them as we see fit in our homes, our schools and communities. Washington does not have to tell us it is ok for us to pray where we choose. Religious and secular schools have existed in this country since it's beginnings. Why does the Republican Party want us to think they should decide these kinds of issues for us? I frankly don't think they really care. I believe that they think they are cagey enough to think that if they appeal to those that for instance think a pro-life stance is a policy that will seek to eliminate what some see as this scourge from our land that, that alone is enough for us to vote for them. I do not however believe that the majority of Americans believe that this issue is more important, than the ability to be able to afford to buy house, a new car, retire without fear of destitution or send our children to college for example. This is what should be the business of government. Whether they do it through taxes, incentives to business or trade policies or other economic policy mechanisms is not what I seek to point out here. I am simply saying that the current policy of the Republican Party is one that takes us for fools. They seek to placate us their with their moralistic stand on with issues that have little do with our lives and the our pursuit of the American dream. They seek to enrich themselves and those that support them with the funds and policies that keep them in power at the expense of us all. That is what is wrong with Republican policy.