The Tea Party

[poliphilo]

We all hate government, right? Except the North Koreans. And maybe even they hate government deep down inside, where nobody can see. Government is always corrupt and stupid and disgusting. However, if you want to have a society of any degree of complexity you can't manage without it.  The bigger, more complex the society, the bigger, more complex its government has to be. 

The Tea Party dream is a dream of log cabins and coonskin hats and long-barrelled flintlock rifles. It's the dream Daniel Boone carried around with him, but which faded whenever he paused to set up a fort- which needs soldiers, administrators, law officers, decision makers- ie: government. It's a lovely dream if you fancy living way out on the edge- as a rugged 18th century individualist- and I can see why people buy into it- but there's no way you can make a 21st century nation conform to it without returning that nation to the wilderness. 

Comments

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

Here's another take.

Most things said about the Tea Party are true, just not quite true enough.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Interesting article.

It's indicative of the lack of focus that while it may have spokespeople- and people behind the scenes pulling strings- it doesn't have a single, identifiable leader.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

The Republican party does not have functioning, ostensible leadership, either, yet that does not mean that they are leaderless or a genuine expression of grass-roots populism. Former Republican Rep Dick Armey is one of the slime balls behind the 'movement'. Murdock's Fox News and the editorial page of the WSJ are busily feeding it and fanning the flames. When polled, self-identifying Teabaggers are demographically and ideologically indistinguishable from main-stream so-called conservatives, these days. In other words, they are merely Republicans ashamed of identifying as Republicans, after 2008.

Glenn Beck is a leader. Rush Limbaugh is a leader. Sarah Palin is a leader. That half-witted harridan Michelle Bachman is a leader. The list is very, very long. The fact that there is no official leader of the 'movement' is a feature, not a bug. The whole silly business is just an attempt to deflect attention from the massive cock-up that was eight years of the Cheney-Bush administration and the millions of ignorant people that went to the poles, at Mr Murdoch's behests, and made it all happen.

[calizen.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear.