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

[calizen.livejournal.com]

I find it astonishing that in the Baby Boomer Generation, according to American Association for Retired People, a great number of us voted for the TeaPartyers. Now when I was i the 60s, I was sure we were going to make this a more liberal place. Perhaps I had too much marijuana at the time. Perhaps I forgot that college liberalism infected only 10% of the population and of the 90% left a good deal of us were longing for the 50s. Rebellion was a thing to want if you were young in the 60s and I suppose in its own way is what these folks want in the 21st century. A telling point is that there are folks in several other countries, Israel I know, but I think maybe even your lovely Isle, that want to have a Tea Party of their own.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There are elements of the Tea Party philosophy (if you can call it that) that chime very well with that of the 60s counter-culture. Both are/were anti-establishment, libertarian, individualistic, Utopian, revolutionary.

Were the hippies on the left? On reflection I'm not so sure they were. Opposition to the Vietnam War may have had less to do with pacifism than with a desire not to be drafted.

[calizen.livejournal.com]

Good question. A lot of us felt we were liberals, but maybe even greater numbers were along for the ride. Still I thought we would be different. Silly me.