The results are never good when leaders’ ambition for power wed their egos to ideology. I don’t know how many historical records are needed to make that clear but apparently we’re not there yet.
The current crop of small government–low taxes ideologues seem to think their way will produce a paradise free of government interference in which everyone, provided they work for it, will live an abundant life. If not, the consequences are their own fault and of little concern to the nation. History says that every attempt at the small government–low taxes plan has resulted in three outcomes: rule by the wealthy few, a low standard of living for the greater number, and eventual economic collapse.
With all of that in plain sight, the current GOP leadership intends to do it again and is doing a sterling job of selling it to the very people who will be most hurt. In the meantime, they have accused Democrats and non-aligned voters of being socialists who would use government to take over everything. I don’t know why that’s so easily believed since there is no evidence of it anywhere in the center right-left areas where most are located. Is it that easy to scare the voting public with McCarthy like (Joe and Kevin) fear mongering about old time communism? I guess so. Maybe it works well because they stoke the fire by appealing to white supremacy, fearful distrust of immigrants, tales of rampant street crime, wokeness (whatever that is), and things that go bump in the night.
None of those boogymen frighten everyone but each frightens some voting subgroup that can be motivated to vote their fears rather than their interests. After all, fears promote anxiety about imminent danger. What is in the best interest for the nation and its people depends on implementing long term plans for new infrastructure, greater job opportunities for more people, and more equitable justice extended without prejudice, especially to the marginalized. If the monster under the bed can be made to appear dangerous to life today, it can make laying the foundation for sustained growth and prosperity seem unimportant.
When the United States has gone down this path in the past, it’s been led by oligarchs who made such a mess of things it took years to recover. The Civil war, late 19th century panics, and the Great Depression are the most obvious examples of how bad things could get. At a more subtle level has been the decades long aftermath of the Reagan Revolution that resulted in enormous transfers of wealth from working people to investors, low wage growth, and unfunded national debts. The same path in other countries has ended in dictatorships by someone ambitious for power who had no interest in ideology, just raw, vengeful power. Trump gave it a shot but was too incompetent to pull it off, thank goodness.
The current GOP denies they ever did what they did to make a mess of the economy and to promote conditions of injustice affecting mostly “non-white” Americans.
I imagine some readers might complain that inflation is too high, the Democrats haven’t been able to fix it, and maybe the GOP should be given a chance to do better. When the GOP has been dominated by small government-low tax ideologues, they have tried the same thing again and again, only to create a national economic disaster. What on earth makes anyone think doing the same thing again will work this time? The loudest voices know only what they are against, not what they are for. Those keeping quiet do know; they want to preserve power and wealth in the hands of a few. It’s partly out of greed and partly out of a self aggrandizing fantasy that they, the few, are the only ones truly qualified to run the country.
© Steven E. Woolley
Thanks for the clarity and wisdom.
Excellent piece, Steve. Thanks for writing it!