OVER THESE THREE YEARS OR SO OF WRITING FOR THE HERALD, I have generally avoided responding to my critics. Most of their critiques have been short and dismissive versions of “another liberal-socialist harangue,” that almost invariably ignore the opportunity to deal with anything I actually write. However, someone has recently decided to, as it were, call me out, among other shortcomings, for the confused hypocrite I am. I quote:
“The one question I would ask of Mr. Page … is ‘Why are you still here?’ Would you not be less miserable in a Third World paradise somewhere in South America, or the Caribbean, or some African country where the populace struggles to survive under the thumb of a genocidal despot? Are there not myriad locations in this world providing the ‘Republican-free’ solace which you so obviously desire? Lord knows that there are more than enough environs where your idolatry of the ‘Democrat Party,’ and the ‘Liberal Social Utopia’ which you obviously believe they can provide, do genuinely flourish and prosper. One could ponder as to why a presumably wise, articulate and intelligent person would subject (himself) to the continuing horrors and unending oppression that is the existence of living in the USA. Dear Sir, save yourself and find a place where you can be happy! Presumably, a place where the institution of government is of the people, by the people and for the people and does not exist for its own sake.”
I am deeply appreciative of the graciousness of this gentleman’s concern about my welfare, happiness and the comfort of my future; but I fear that I must, at the risk of appearing ungrateful, reject the honor of his invitation to leave. I realize this leaves the question, “Why am I still here?” unanswered — but perhaps I can address that here.
A significant portion of my appreciation of the United States has been a long lifetime blessed with the opportunity to raise the kind of questions, the deep and abiding concerns, that I have, and to act upon the issues raised — to place my body alongside my words. For this moment, words will have to suffice.
I feel compelled to suggest that my view that the Republican Party has lost its moorings in its wars with both science and financial reality hardly implies an “idolatry of the Democratic Party.” Peculiar verbiage, that. Recently, approximately 65 million others joined me in rejecting Republican policy, some with considerably more vehemence, and all sans idolatry.
Let me clarify what it is that most distresses me in our current national situation. While I have a number of concerns, I will focus here on two: finances and global warming.
We are the richest and most powerful nation on the globe. We are also afflicted with a growing financial imbalance. This includes the reality that with wealth goes power, and that the Citizens United decision has increased that imbalance of interests and power in our society. Clearly I am not alone in my concerns. A great many economists regard that kind of imbalance with considerable foreboding.
Let’s see if I can sort out in a sentence the current Republican solution to our problem. With an ever-increasing pot of money going to the already obscenely wealthy, the GOP seems to believe that what is vital for the economy is to lower taxes on those rich folks so they will have more money to invest in “job creation.” I believe that captures the essence of it. It strikes me that it might be helpful in this analysis to understand that the $3.5 trillion “surplus” already resting in the bank accounts of those same folks isn’t being invested in “job creation” because there aren’t enough customers to buy the goods to be created by those potential jobs. Is it then faintly possible that our problem might appear to be the need for, and the creation of, a buyers’ market?
Consider some realities. How much food can one billionaire eat? How many pairs of shoes can he wear? How many suits? How many televisions can he watch? Now say we raise taxes on the folks accumulating all those funds — nothing that will do any more than relieve the headaches of some very rich fellows who are otherwise agonizing over whether to add another multi-million-dollar vacation home to their stockpile, trade up to a bigger yacht or add an expensive mistress (with all the grief that can create).
We take the money from raising their tax rates and hire several hundred thousand workers to repair those bloody bridges that keep falling down; repair the schools and build new ones; repair the roads (have you done any driving lately, man? Those jolts can be fierce) — you get the idea. With some wages coming in, those stressed people who have been just hanging on will be able to buy … well not yachts, but shirts and shoes, a jacket, dresses, coats, refrigerators, televisions, etc., all of which then need to be fashioned, constructed and put on the shelves. While there are other programs of merit, it would appear that this might be one central focus of a jobs recovery plan.
Alongside that financial problem and any such program to create jobs and demand, we have the even more crucial issue of climate change and extreme weather. The current Republican Party’s rejection of science and denial of the reality of global warming come with incredible potential costs. Coincidentally, we not only have this massive imbalance of wealth, but a very large chunk of that wealth is invested in fossil fuels. The sheer momentum of that mammoth investment dominates our energy policy. In short, at precisely that point in history when it has become absolutely imperative that new energy policy be developed, the financial weight and momentum of the past blocks the change.
While there is plenty of blame to go around, the Republican Party has clearly been complicit in what is a remarkable denial of the problem and in encouraging that blockage. That this complicity has been financially rewarded in campaign funding for those engaged in it is obvious. Meanwhile, the realities of a warming planet promise to create their own weight and momentum, with the clear and obvious potential to dwarf and overwhelm the petty commercial framing of our present policies.
Did Hurricane Sandy not give us a taste? The massive drought? What will it take to break the hold of wealth upon policy in a situation where the stakes are so enormous? Where the future of the race, never mind the nation, is at stake?
We are at that point where each dollar of profit in the fossil fuel industries promises in the not-all-that-distant future to be at the cost of not merely great multiples of that amount in governmental expenditures, but in an incalculable impact in the lives and welfare of a vast population. What we are talking about here is the reshaping of the lives of many hundreds of millions, of the major alteration of economies and ways of life.
In short, my view of this reality, which has not a bloody thing to do with some supposed “unending oppression distorting my peace of mind,” is directly impacted by the policies of our current version of the Republican Party — an internally conflicted version that is at some odds with its historical manifestations as a party capable in crisis of transcending politics in the national interest. I am able to exist alongside Republicans; my brother was a Republican mayor of a Michigan town. My case is directed at the current party apparatchiks flacking for wealth.
I do feel compelled to comment on the following: “One could ponder as to why a presumably wise, articulate and intelligent person would subject (himself) to the continuing horrors and unending oppression that is the existence of living in the USA.” From where — other than the writer’s passion for tortured hyperbole and his abiding faith in his own convictions — could he have drawn such a picture of my view of American existence and my own?
To my critic’s further query, “Why am I still here?” let me respond as politely and humbly as possible. It is not that I am ungrateful for the thoughtful and generous offer; certainly living with Republicans like my generously helpful tour planner often makes for a stressful existence. But then living here has become a habit, and if I can be allowed to stay I’d like that. Thanks.
Jerome Page is a Benicia resident.
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Amen. And by the way, no need to move. If you listen to the right wing these days, one realizes that it is they who are getting ready to flee this “nazi/socialist/communist/islamist/jewish dictatorship”. Lets just hope they take their guns and other “sporting” armaments with them. They might need them in their new homes.
Jerome: Well stated…”Great spirits have always been opposed by mediocre minds”…Maybe Einstein said it, maybe someone else, it’s still appropriate today…I may not have quoted it correctly, but it’s close enough. The Repubs have shown themselves to be the pawns of their own Fox Ersatz News and polls and Karl Rove’s “ill-advised mathematics”…It remains to be seen what futile machinations Boehner and McConnell can come up with now to further mislead their “non-science types” despite huge, idle bankrolls…Will they continue to be a part of this country’s non-progressive problems or part of its solutions? I’m afraid their vision is only 20-20 for petroleum and coal and patriarchal, retrograde motion…One evolves forward or self-extinguishes. I say they expire like tragic dragons and whale oil lamps…But I could be wrong…but mediocrity in leadership and human values says I’m right. We’ll see…Science prevails, the world is NOT flat, the sun does not revolve around us…PB
Odd that your critic should advise you to move to South America. As a reader of your column, it seems to me that Norway or Sweden or Canada would be a better fit for you, and a place where you could escape right wing extremists for the most part. The real question is: where would your critic go? Places with large wealth inequality, like the Congo or Singapore wouldn’t really fit, because they’re dictatorships. Or, there are places with small, irrelevant government and essentially no regulation, like Somalia or Antarctica. In Antarctica, denial of science won’t really work, but Somalia might be a good fit. Plus, they really like guns there. So, when the right-wing secessionist movement fails, perhaps they should be advised to move to Somalia, where they can enjoy the results of the policies they espouse for the US.
Good column Jerome, stick around, and as I decorate my Christmas tree, Merry Christmas to you and all who read this
Let me first state that I am honored and humbled by Mr. Page’s interest in my reply to his previous submission to the Benicia Herald. I would also like to thank him for rectifying my grammatical error, which should serve to please and edify Mr. Shelby who credited me as one who could manage English syntax.
May I further state that, via a mutual acquaintance of ours, I am minutely aware of your history of ‘placing your body alongside your words’ and for that I sincerely salute you Sir! Either as a result of timing or circumstance, I have not done what you have done. Thank you for your service to our country.
While I appreciate your recognition of my hyperbole I would disagree with your assertion that it is tortured. In fact, it seems to have delivered us to the point of conversation. I assume that my critique did not seem to you as a dismissive version of “another liberal-socialist harangue”.
However, I don’t believe that my words ‘called you out’ as either confused or hypocritical. I believe that they merely evince a healthy and thoughtful difference of opinion. Namely the fact that you have many arguments against Republican policy, but seem to have no negative perception of Democrat policy. If I may be so bold, ‘it takes two to tango’ and in this government it takes three. And in my opinion, they are all shirking their responsibilities to an alarming degree.
I would submit to you that your implication the “Republican Party has lost its moorings” is simply a reflection of how the Democrat Party has cemented its own, as sea coral will create reefs, ships will flounder upon the impenetrable wall. Please excuse the ‘Peculiar Verbiage’.
I must disagree with your view of the ‘Obscenely Wealthy’ as the miscreant’s who are responsible for all our ills. The wealthy, obscene or otherwise, are a byproduct of our capitalistic society. They are the ‘touchstone’ which demonstrates the success of our concern. We are who we are because of this distinction, be it good or bad. We are the lone super-power of the world as a result of our convictions.
One must remember that society has not changed since civilization began. The tribal mentality exists in all of us and continues to direct our evolution. Yet, for some reason, be it God or Capitalism or good people inspired to do good things, we as Americans continue to demonstrate the existence of the greatest, most accepting, most forward-thinking society that this world has ever seen. And if we don’t survive, then civilization is over. What a shame it would be for man-kind to cease existing due to something as stupid as politics.
Jerome, I am glad that you are still here, sharing you wisdom with the rest of us. It would be my pleasure to sit and talk with you someday, if that would be palatable to you.
Sincerely,
Steve Harley
Mr. Page everything you said is backwords. The Republican Party is here to stay. A much younger and forward looking group of men, women both with many minorities. Senators, Governors, House of Representative members. Even in California a Hispanic Republican was elected to the House of Representatives. All over this country with the exception of the usual suspect states the Republican Party is building a very strong group of very young folks. Even in the usual suspect state thing are starting to change. As many recently have called the Republican Party the group of old white males. Not true. Remember Mr. Page nothing has changed since 2008 except the terrible debt President Obama but this country in. Now blaming the Republicans for not giving him and his Liberal followers what they want. Talk about compromise there is no compromise in the Democrat/Liberal party. Think about this Mr. Page for a moment. If the country is following in your steps as you say 65 million Americans have. Then explain to me why there is sixty Republican Governors and over sixty percent of the ninety-nine upper and lower houses are Republican. Also why are there 234 Republican members in the House of Representatives and only 201 Democrats. As I said Mr. Page nothing has changed it just got worse for the Democrat/Liberal party not better. Sure the President won re-election. Just what did that accomplish. Nothing. Same Democratic failed leadership in the President, Senate and for sure Nancy in the house. You see Mr. Page the party in real trouble is not the Republican party it is the Liberals. Yes the Republican party did hit a low point with the minority voters. But if anyone has been following the very strong young leadership lately in the Republican Party that is already changing. This class war fare thing has been going on for much longer than most even care to remember. It is not new. It appears Mr. Page has no problem with union political donations only wants to control anyone who has an extra buck or two and wants to support the Republicans. Is this not America. The situation with Climate Change/Global Warming will and can be addressed if given the opportunity for the country to be economically stable again. Not stopping pipelines, Natural Gas ports and the investment in fossil fule to make it burn cleaner. Must have the money and long term plans to accomplish this. Not the present plan of stop everything in its tracts and deny employment to hard working Americans. We all know by past history when times become difficult the Democrat/Liberal story does carry some weight but only to a few. That group when things get better turn away from the Democrat/Liberals and either do not vote or vote Republican. As I said this past election was not a mandate for President Obama it was an election that the folks thought would provide leadership. It is now in the Presidents hands. Will he lead or be an obstructionist.
Mr. Page stated: “We take the money from raising their tax rates and hire several hundred thousand workers to repair those bloody bridges … repair the schools and build new ones; repair the roads…
It is nice to see fresh new ideas brought to the fore front. We will of course need a new department created to oversee the disbursement of the money taken away from those greedy good for nothing rich people, to make sure it goes to those deemed worthy, as well as to those who vote appropriately.
I might humbly suggest a couple of potential names for this department:
New Recover Administration or the Works Progress Administration.
We just call them the NRA or the WPA for short.
I wonder why no one has thought of this before?
I fear the preacher-plutocrat agenda will not soon disappear.
Mr. Page’s concerns about the financial meltdown and climate change are addressed in the article below.
I know Mr. Page has been trying to understand the strange rantings of some of our local punditry.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13099-schizophrenics-psychopaths-holding-america-hostage
Will I had no idea you are such a comic book fan. I have a very large collection of comic books from the thirty’s. Maybe you would like to borrow some and brush up on your ideals.
Thanks, Will…I read it all, I don’t disagree. Good luck to us all. We may not be the brightest species on the planet –pb
I can understand non believers in man caused climate change continuing to drive fossil fueled vehicles but for people that continue to drive cars, (even electric cars are charged from power plants that use over 50 percent fossil fuels) and truly believe we are destroying the atmosphere are hippocrits. They have had plenty of time to get jobs closer to home or move closer to work where they could ride a bicycle to work. How many of this majority do you see bicycling home from the grocery store, you don’t. Your worse than the non-believers If you truly believe in climate change then do something other than pointing fingers at those phychos on the right and get a human powered vehicle.
Where’s the edit button? psycho not phycho
So only people on bicycles are allowed to complain about climate change? Having trouble keeping up with your tortured logic here …
No RA, everyone can complain about everything if they want to, I am trying to say that people that complain about climate change and really want to make a difference will give up the auto when possible and find a human powered vehicle, bike, feet , skateboard. Read my opinion again and try to hold your knee down
“when possible” — gotcha. And when not possible? Must we still be labeled hypocrites because we have mortgages and bills and yet, somehow, find time to be concerned about the planet?
Don’t trouble yourselves about my knees. I may be a knee jerk liberal but that’s better any day than a kneepad conservative, genuflecting worshipfully before wealth and power.
I am not a liberal or conservative, every issue is different. I am just saying if people were more than just talk you would see more bicycles being used for shopping and getting around town and going to work. I have been a firm believer the last 20 years in buying a home close to work if possible or getting a job close to home.
So many people that talk of global climate change do not want to be inconvenienced by making a personal change. Yes that is a bit hypocritical
Wonderful piece, Will. Thanks so much for your reference. I think I’ll post it on the wall! Would that all above would read and absorb its message!
Jerry I read it. I found it to be very Liberal and selfish.
Well, I now feel much better. Imagine the comfort I have realized from the newly acquired knowledge that my confusion with much of what has been debated in this forum is simply a result of my schizophrenic and psychopathic tendencies. I can now enjoy the emancipation provided me by the understanding that any misapprehensions under which I may have suffered in the past are merely symptoms of my mental instabilities. It is an enormous relief to know that having my disease correctly diagnosed I may be cured at some future date. With any luck at all, Dr. Obama and his attendants in Congress will, with taxpayer funds, cover the costs of my rehabilitation. Thank you, Thank you…Thank you!
Steve very good comment. It will not make our Citizen Research Reporter Will happy at all.