Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Big government in action

Once upon a time, pre Great Depression era, there were sections of this country that were prone to flooding and did not have electricity. So big government stepped in and did something about it.

Big government built a series of dams that stopped the flooding and that produced hydro electricity. The people who built those dams and who strung wire and put up poles so that the electricity that those dams produced could flow to houses and farms that had previously been in the dark were paid a living wage. With that living wage and benefits, which were very generous for the time, the people who built the dams and strung the wire and erected the poles bought clothes, cars, trucks, land, tractors, houses, and they sent their kids to college so that they could have a better life. Most of the businesses the people who built the dams and strung the wire and erected the poles patronized were locally owned which meant that the whole community benefited from the wages that big government paid them. And those businesses that were patronized by the people who worked for the big government who built the dams that stopped the flooding and that brought electricity became successful and they then employed others in the community and they paid their fair share of taxes which helped community serve it's people.

That's the kind of thing that big government used to do, before it got perverted by lobbyists, corporate cash, incumbents, anti progress conservatives, and libertarians. As others have said before, our government is of the people, by the people, for the people, so when Republicans, conservatives, conserva-Dems, incumbents, and libertarians attack and mock big government, they are attacking and mocking you, me, and all the rest of our fellow citizens. And when they say they want to stop the reach big government, then what they are saying is that the kind of government sponsored public works projects that lifted whole communities up during the Great Depression will never happen again. What they propose then is killing all that made our country great and that lifted millions out of poverty, up from servitude, and away from hunger.

This country doesn't need more tax cuts or a balanced budget, or even to get the deficit under control. It needs to rid itself of the corporate cash and influence in our electoral system and it needs to invest in it's people and in the infrastructure once again. We need big sweeping projects along the lines of those that were set up by FDR and we need to mandate that those projects employ as many out of work Americans as possible, and that those people should be paid a living wage and offered the same package of benefits that members of Congress enjoy. And all products, tools, and equipment used in whatever projects we come up with need to be made in America.

I'm a liberal progressive socialist who wants to see America working again. And I want it to work for all Americans, not just the wealthy and privileged ruling class.

If all that I just wrote sounds like class warfare to some, then so be it. I'm all for the working class and what used to be the middle class rising up and fighting back against the rich and powerful. They've been waging a class war on us since 1980, it's time we fought back.

4 comments:

Professor Chaos said...

It's only considered class warfare when we fight back.

DrGoat said...

Well, good luck to us. I read an article this morning about a report basically saying that the firms who fired the most people had the highest paid CEOs. Their pay and bonuses went up in the last year. I read it an hour ago, and I went back to find it to get my info straight for my comment here, and lo and behold, I could not find it anymore. Even though it was on my homepage CNN banner on top stories. I even went to CNN homepage and it had vanished from there too.

Hoosier Progressive said...

This is America today. So many of the Children and Grandchildren of the folks in the Tennessee valley who benefitted from the TVA now are the people who rail against "big Gub'ment". Same with Union workers of the '30's thru today: Their Descendants (who were very often put through College by Union wages) are very often the ones who are railing the most vehemently against Unions and their members. Instead of aspiring to earn what Union members do, they want everyone brought down to some lowest common denominator. This mindset really started to take hold when we all became "Retirement Fund Managers" of our own 401k portfolio. Suddenly we all have a vested interest in the f*cking stock market and therefore a vested interest in Corporations doing well... Even if it means shipping good jobs offshore to make this quarter's numbers look good, the future earning power of those workers be damned. Evil brilliance.

Megan said...

One of my friends works for a company that makes things. Like, he assembles things, and shit. We were in the car with my dad last weekend and pops almost drove off the road, hearing that. "Wait, you actually MAKE something?"

I guess you had to be there...