Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.
-Hubert H. Humphrey
I think it’s safe to say that the resolution of the (wholly and completely manufactured) debt ceiling controversy has revealed a new American reality. The role of government, and by extension all of us, is no longer to look after the “least” among us- the sick, the elderly, the poor. Now that the Tea Party has evolved from a vocal, knuckle-dragging minority into a vocal, knuckle-dragging minority ruling class, America’s new reality is the New Austerity. This means that America is broke and simply unable to keep the promises once made. America is no longer a great country capable of great things. America is now a country defined by its limitations and what it doesn’t have the resources to do. America is now a country that can fight wars it cannot afford…and because of this cannot afford to take care of crushing priorities here at home.
This has always been a country that has valued the interests of the individual over that of the collective, but now it seems that our collective sense of community has, at least at the national political level, become a quaint, outdated concept of no use in the new Social Darwinist ethic. “I got mine. You can damned well get your own” has become the rallying cry of those with the willingness and ability to place to their own interests (and those of their wealthy benefactors) over those of Americans lacking money, power, and influence.
Time was when we reached out to those less fortunate. We recognized the validity and the meaningfulness of the Social Contract. We understood that sometimes good people need assistance when life deals them a hand they can’t play. Now that the New Austerity has become an established reality, it’s become clear that Republicans- particularly those with ties to the Tea Party- have little interest in anything that doesn’t directly benefit GOP electoral prospects and their wealthy benefactors who write them large checks. Republicans have no real interest in deficit reduction, though they’ll spout the appropriate talking points as if they fervently mean them. No, what they’re primarily interesting in is dismantling, perhaps even destroying government. There’s no expectation on the Far Right that millionaires be expected to contribute anything in order to right the ship, and so the effort continues to increase the burden on the poor and the middle class as taxes continue to fall for the wealthiest among us.
For today’s Republicans, compassion IS weakness, and concern for he unfortunate IS socialism. Greed is good, and every man for himself.
I got mine. You can damn well get your own. And so it goes, as we become an ever more disconnected and hard-hearted people. Welcome to the New Austerity, created by the new American ruling class that’s forgotten that this country used to be great, and that we used to care about and for one another.
