Cycles

Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln

I recently saw Spielberg's film Lincoln. I don't get out much, so I'm behind the Oscar curve on this one. But my appreciation of the film goes beyond its impressive acting and excellent staging. 

In Lincoln, a kernel group of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives who represented slavery interests against the initiation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is well portrayed. They were a minority group within a minority party of the time. Sound somewhat familiar? These men threatened their opponents within their own party. They were ruthless representatives of the interests of the Confederates, while screaming their loyalty to the Union. They were playing both sides of the political street. 

Today we have the Tea Party contingent of the Republican Party. These are the same people, interestingly enough many are also from the same parts of the country. These people represent the interests of those who profit from inequality, while waving a flag of entrepreneurial patriotism. They might say, "Freedom means making it on your own. Anyone can make it in America. Government just gets in the way."

Yes, government got in the way of human slavery in the U.S.. Government got in the way of meat-packing factories in the early 20th century when they did nothing to guarantee worker safety and consumer safety. Government got in the way of stripping the West of what are now vast national parks. Government got in the way of factories pouring toxic waste into streams and rivers. I could go on for many more paragraphs about government getting in the way of greed and evil. I could also write paragraphs about greed and evil within government. 

These self-centered Libertarians plead narcissism as a defense. "I made it...why can't you?" Well, most of these self-promotions are outright lies! Michele Bachmann, one of the stellar big-mouths of this movement, profits from "corporate welfare" with her various business activities. She and her husband run a counseling service based in religious ideology, including belief in converting homosexuals to heterosexuals. They collect money from state and federal agencies. The Koch brothers, the major financiers of the Tea Party, have sucked from the public tit to make huge fortunes in the petrochemical industry with subsidies and tax breaks. 

Knowing history brings perspective and can lead to wisdom through scientific analysis of it. This is a far cry from bowing to statues of Jesus or The Founding Fathers. Scoundrels are always trying to twist history, their own and that of the species, to justify what has been proven over and over again by analyzed history to be unjust. Denying affordable health care to all people is simply unjust. Diminishing Social Security for the working people of the country is unjust. Withdrawing government oversight from corporations which have demonstrated disregard for public welfare is unjust. Maintaining that all taxes are evil is socially unjust and just plain stupid.