Us versus Them

I’m tired of us “liberals” being referred to by them there “conservatives” as being engaged in “class warfare.” Of course we are. But warfare by one side is not unlike the sound of one hand clapping.  By my calculations the current war started about thirty years ago largely at the instigation of a president who made us feel good about ourselves, a mixed blessing, if a blessing at all. There’s also been a parallel “redistribution of wealth,” that the other guys are always complaining about. What they don’t tell you is that both have been moving unmistakably in their favor.

Class warfare, as old as recorded history, is now taking place in the Middle East. The weapons used there by the establishments are lethal while we use only paper documents, properly signed by the leaders of the three branches of government. Still ours are equally profound in their ultimate effect.

At the federal legislative level Congress, through the efforts of a vocal, obdurate and unified minority, has all but issued a declaration of war against those who aren’t “in the chips.” In raising the debt ceiling any minimal tax increase on the top income of the hoity toity is “off the table” while cuts in benefits from prepaid entitlements that benefit the hoi polloi are mandatory. I’ve heard that efforts are underway to ban class action law suits. To prevent the nation’s recovery under a president of the other party they have voted against measures they once advocated, a reversal well articulated by their plans to cause this president, and hence the nation, to fail. 

At the state level, where a presidential veto isn’t a consideration, some of the most outrageous legislative sins have been committed. Unions are being forbidden the right to organize and strike, cities alleged to be in distress have become subject to state takeover and voting is being made difficult for you know who.  

No matter how outlandish the law, there’s always the likelihood that five of the Supremes will approve it with a minimum of precedent and reason. The two most consequential recent judicial rulings have been Bush v Gore and Citizens United. The former etched in stone a partisan line on the bench which made the latter possible. For the Court majority, partisanship outweighs ideology. In Bush v Gore its declared reverence of states’ rights was secondary to precluding a Florida recount. Citizens United extended free speech to include unlimited anonymous corporate spending, possibly financed by people other than Americans. This is a far more liberal interpretation of free speech than the one that covered flag burning. 

Class warfare is raging and the sooner we recognize and respond to it  the better. Excuse the hyperbole, but I see it in large part as a fight between preservation and ownership. We represent preserving what is still left of this country while they are working for its ownership by corporations and the interests that finance them. In this context I consider our side decidedly the more conservative.