Paul BoudreauOn the Tea Party Part 1 of... many
November 30th 2010 20:04
:
When Reactionaries Become Populists
Hullo Dear Readers,
I'd like to talk about the Tea Party. Which Tea Party you ask? Well, we could talk about the drinking of hot beverages. Or white Bostonians dressed as native Americans throwing the loose-leaf version of this beverage into the harbor (waste of good tea that). But, as this is a blog about American Politics, I think we'll stick to the currently rampant political movement in the United States named, of all things, the Tea Party. This is not the first time I've written about the Tea Party on this blog, nor will it be the last. This movement represents a confluence of several trends in conservative thought that have been gaining momentum over the course of the last few years, and bears examination over an extended period of time. Though personified by the Tea Party and affiliated groups (although with its anarchic/anti-institutionalist tendencies, these groups are themselves anomalies and more alliances of convenience, as described in this excellent Washington Post canvas of Tea Party affiliated groups and individuals), the overarching philosophies of this movement have long been nipping at the edges of American culture and political and economic thought. I intend to look, over a protracted period, at the confluence of these ideas and how they have come to coalesce into something resembling a cogent movement.
So let's begin. The natural starting point, to my mind, is to look at the current incarnation of this movement and what they say they represent and believe, and then break it down to find the genesis of the ideas and their origins. Work backwards as it were.
What the Tea Party (seems to, basically) Believe In
1. Low (or no) Taxes- In case you, dear reader, have somehow managed to forget (It's ok Sarah Palin did too), this is what puts the Tea in the Tea Party both literally and figuratively. Literally because it is actually an acronym standing for Taxed Enough Already (although that is highly debatable, but that will certainly be discussed in a future post, I promise). Figuratively because the movement has been stylized as a continuation of the American Revolution fighting for the principles of the original revolutionaries (making the name an allusion to the aforementioned waste of tea), several of which appear below in revamped modern form...
2. ...including a distrust of centralized government. Americans, since the Revolution (and probably for a long while before that, as several of those rebel colonies were mainly settled and populated by people who didn't care for the social and/or religious constraints of the mother country) and through numerous incidents of disagreement (see American Civil War, the) have long asserted that governance, rights and freedoms should be approached in a bottom-up fashion (i.e. individual then family then block then city then county then state then country then world then solar system... you get the point). This has translated into a distinct distrust, especially in certain regions of the country whose concerns and cultural values are either in the minority or run contrary to current interpretations of law, of the federal center of power in Washington DC, and those who work out of it.
3. A firm belief in American Exceptionalism- Now, to be fair, this is hardly an original Tea Party (or even right-wing) hang up (although how many of them have been so far... originality is NOT a theme in this movement). What is remarkable is the pervasive, religious extent to which the movement deifies their country and its associated mythology. The Constitution is transformed into a new bible to be carried by all good patriots close to the heart, patriotic cranks (see Beck, Glenn or this kindly colgate spokes-grizzly) are transformed into revivalist preachers and demagogues of the highest order. The President is derided as an apologist and anti-American traitor for alluding to the fact that other nations might in fact believe that they're pretty exceptional as well (mentioning two historical empires, one a traditional ally and the other the supposed grand-daddy of American Democracy), even as in the same breath he went on to proclaim his personal belief that America is the biggest and best kid on the block.
4. Fiscal Conservatism- Stemming from both the anti-tax beliefs (or perhaps vice-versa) and the anti-government attitude, the movement has an abhorrence of deficits, debt, and government program related spending in general (except where the military or national security are concerned). Philosophically based in the Friedman/Hayek school of free-market economic thought, Tea Partiers show a tendency towards a Libertarian approach to governance (read minimalist) and an overt hostility towards federal programs as both wastes of money and annoying attempts by the corrupt liberal elite ruling class to tell them how to live their lives. There is a definitive belief in a market based solution to all problems and that free-market and private industry should be the driving forces in determining the course of action in terms of social and economic policy, without regulation, taxation or other unnecessary government interference.
5. Anti-Elitism (sort of)- This one is kind of ephemeral. The movement makes a constant practice of slamming their critics for being elitist snobs who "don't get" something that they call "real America". They do this while being funded, advised, directed and led by a collection of big business leaders, lobbyists, media personalities and Republican Party operatives (like This Guy). An interesting dichotomy... I'll come back to this later, in much greater detail.
As far as I can tell, these are the basics. I'll be delving into them in more detail in future posts, and attempting to explain why I personally believe that they are, by and large, inherently wrong.
One of the reasons I started this blog is that I believe that the current shift in mainstream political thought and speech to the right, especially in the United States, is detrimental to the world at large. I'll elaborate on my personal beliefs as we go on, but the basic purpose for this blog is to attempt to do my part to enunciate a counter-narrative to the free-market first, society second one that has been the focus of the globalist political discourse since the Washington Consensus was adopted as gospel in the 1970s and '80s. The current state of the global economy and the growing trend towards extremism and fundamentalism are, in my view and those of numerous commentators, linked results of an irresponsible attitude towards governance in many (if not most) democratic nations that must be fundamentally adjusted if we are to prevent vast growth in areas such as unemployment, income inequality, resource based conflicts, and fundamentalist violence. It is my belief that the attitudes espoused by the Tea Party represent a dangerous symptom of a much larger social disease that must be dealt with before the consequences are too grave.
And that's enough for today.
To read what they believe in their own words, you can find the unofficial Tea Party manifesto (the Contract from America) here.
Have a wonderful day.
PSB
I'd like to talk about the Tea Party. Which Tea Party you ask? Well, we could talk about the drinking of hot beverages. Or white Bostonians dressed as native Americans throwing the loose-leaf version of this beverage into the harbor (waste of good tea that). But, as this is a blog about American Politics, I think we'll stick to the currently rampant political movement in the United States named, of all things, the Tea Party. This is not the first time I've written about the Tea Party on this blog, nor will it be the last. This movement represents a confluence of several trends in conservative thought that have been gaining momentum over the course of the last few years, and bears examination over an extended period of time. Though personified by the Tea Party and affiliated groups (although with its anarchic/anti-institutionalist tendencies, these groups are themselves anomalies and more alliances of convenience, as described in this excellent Washington Post canvas of Tea Party affiliated groups and individuals), the overarching philosophies of this movement have long been nipping at the edges of American culture and political and economic thought. I intend to look, over a protracted period, at the confluence of these ideas and how they have come to coalesce into something resembling a cogent movement.
So let's begin. The natural starting point, to my mind, is to look at the current incarnation of this movement and what they say they represent and believe, and then break it down to find the genesis of the ideas and their origins. Work backwards as it were.
What the Tea Party (seems to, basically) Believe In
1. Low (or no) Taxes- In case you, dear reader, have somehow managed to forget (It's ok Sarah Palin did too), this is what puts the Tea in the Tea Party both literally and figuratively. Literally because it is actually an acronym standing for Taxed Enough Already (although that is highly debatable, but that will certainly be discussed in a future post, I promise). Figuratively because the movement has been stylized as a continuation of the American Revolution fighting for the principles of the original revolutionaries (making the name an allusion to the aforementioned waste of tea), several of which appear below in revamped modern form...
2. ...including a distrust of centralized government. Americans, since the Revolution (and probably for a long while before that, as several of those rebel colonies were mainly settled and populated by people who didn't care for the social and/or religious constraints of the mother country) and through numerous incidents of disagreement (see American Civil War, the) have long asserted that governance, rights and freedoms should be approached in a bottom-up fashion (i.e. individual then family then block then city then county then state then country then world then solar system... you get the point). This has translated into a distinct distrust, especially in certain regions of the country whose concerns and cultural values are either in the minority or run contrary to current interpretations of law, of the federal center of power in Washington DC, and those who work out of it.
3. A firm belief in American Exceptionalism- Now, to be fair, this is hardly an original Tea Party (or even right-wing) hang up (although how many of them have been so far... originality is NOT a theme in this movement). What is remarkable is the pervasive, religious extent to which the movement deifies their country and its associated mythology. The Constitution is transformed into a new bible to be carried by all good patriots close to the heart, patriotic cranks (see Beck, Glenn or this kindly colgate spokes-grizzly) are transformed into revivalist preachers and demagogues of the highest order. The President is derided as an apologist and anti-American traitor for alluding to the fact that other nations might in fact believe that they're pretty exceptional as well (mentioning two historical empires, one a traditional ally and the other the supposed grand-daddy of American Democracy), even as in the same breath he went on to proclaim his personal belief that America is the biggest and best kid on the block.
4. Fiscal Conservatism- Stemming from both the anti-tax beliefs (or perhaps vice-versa) and the anti-government attitude, the movement has an abhorrence of deficits, debt, and government program related spending in general (except where the military or national security are concerned). Philosophically based in the Friedman/Hayek school of free-market economic thought, Tea Partiers show a tendency towards a Libertarian approach to governance (read minimalist) and an overt hostility towards federal programs as both wastes of money and annoying attempts by the corrupt liberal elite ruling class to tell them how to live their lives. There is a definitive belief in a market based solution to all problems and that free-market and private industry should be the driving forces in determining the course of action in terms of social and economic policy, without regulation, taxation or other unnecessary government interference.
5. Anti-Elitism (sort of)- This one is kind of ephemeral. The movement makes a constant practice of slamming their critics for being elitist snobs who "don't get" something that they call "real America". They do this while being funded, advised, directed and led by a collection of big business leaders, lobbyists, media personalities and Republican Party operatives (like This Guy). An interesting dichotomy... I'll come back to this later, in much greater detail.
As far as I can tell, these are the basics. I'll be delving into them in more detail in future posts, and attempting to explain why I personally believe that they are, by and large, inherently wrong.
One of the reasons I started this blog is that I believe that the current shift in mainstream political thought and speech to the right, especially in the United States, is detrimental to the world at large. I'll elaborate on my personal beliefs as we go on, but the basic purpose for this blog is to attempt to do my part to enunciate a counter-narrative to the free-market first, society second one that has been the focus of the globalist political discourse since the Washington Consensus was adopted as gospel in the 1970s and '80s. The current state of the global economy and the growing trend towards extremism and fundamentalism are, in my view and those of numerous commentators, linked results of an irresponsible attitude towards governance in many (if not most) democratic nations that must be fundamentally adjusted if we are to prevent vast growth in areas such as unemployment, income inequality, resource based conflicts, and fundamentalist violence. It is my belief that the attitudes espoused by the Tea Party represent a dangerous symptom of a much larger social disease that must be dealt with before the consequences are too grave.
And that's enough for today.
To read what they believe in their own words, you can find the unofficial Tea Party manifesto (the Contract from America) here.
Have a wonderful day.
PSB
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