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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"We cheer for cruelty ..."
I just finished reading this piece by Charlie Pierce from Esquire Politics Blog. It really pulled me up short and got me to thinking, which is why I wanted to share it with you all. First, some excerpts ...
We have politicians, most of whom will never have to work another day in their lives, making the argument seriously that there is no role in self-government for the protection and welfare of the political commonwealth as that term applies to the poorest among us. We have politicians, most of whom have gilt-edged health care plans, making the argument seriously that an insurance-friendly system of health-care reform is in some way bad for the people whom it is helping the most, and we have politicians seriously arguing that those without health-care somehow are more free than the people who have turned to their government, their self-government, for help in this area. ....
We cheer for cruelty and say that we are asking for personal responsibility among those people who are not us, because the people who are not us do not deserve the same benefits of the political commonwealth that we have. In our politics, we have become masters of camouflage. We practice fiscal cruelty and call it an economy. We practice legal cruelty and call it justice. We practice environmental cruelty and call it opportunity. We practice vicarious cruelty and call it entertainment. We practice rhetorical cruelty and call it debate.
We cheer for cruelty and say that we are asking for personal responsibility among those people who are not us, because the people who are not us do not deserve the same benefits of the political commonwealth that we have. In our politics, we have become masters of camouflage. We practice fiscal cruelty and call it an economy. We practice legal cruelty and call it justice. We practice environmental cruelty and call it opportunity. We practice vicarious cruelty and call it entertainment. We practice rhetorical cruelty and call it debate.
Full essay (well worth reading): http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/24448-the-united-states-of-cruelty
He argues that we need to DO better and BE better.
"Cruelty is cruelty. It should be recognized as a fundamental heresy against the political commonwealth and wrung out of all its institutions." Amen, amen, amen.
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"We cheer for cruelty ..." (Original Post)
ladym55
Jun 2014
OP
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)1. unfortunately this IS representative government
The poorest states have the most reactionary congressional delegations. So, many of the people who need help don't want anything to do with it. Meanwhile people like me will again vote for democrats, even though the ACA cost me personally a lot, I dislike voting for republican policies at ANY time, and I know that it won't help millions of those who need it most. So I guess I can't really complain either.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)2. du rec.