Post by voxprojectus on Jun 9, 2010 17:02:50 GMT -5
An Open Letter to the Tea Parties of America
This letter is aimed all of you who in recent months have taken to the streets, the internet, and the airwaves to register your support of or alignment with the Tea Party movement here in the states.
Introduction
I wish to begin this letter with an apology on behalf of those of us make light of or mock this effort. I think at times while we have very strong reasons to disagree with you when it comes to the vision of our country you are trying to make reality, we are too quick to assume those reasons are obvious, implicit, and do not require elaboration or outreach. So, honestly, sorry. While you may not agree with what you are about to read, I hope you will acknowledge that it is written in a spirit of civility and with only the intention of making a perspective very different than your own crystal clear.
I
Firstly, I'd like to address some dualities the Right and Left wings of the political spectrum have that in some ways mean that we have more in common then opposition.
The first thing we have in common is Fear. If what I've read and heard is true, there is a great deal of fear amongst you that our country is going to turn into some sort of communist dictatorship, or at the very least, transform into an effete European socialist state, either of which you would gladly lay down your lives to prevent happening. You fear that government involvement will clamp down on your rights, and systematically oppress you as some dictatorships in the past have. While I do not think that these fears have merit, on some level I cannot blame anyone who holds onto them. We each fear the extremes of the other side.
Consider that we on the left have strong Fears too. We do not see you as the regular-folks taking to the streets with love of country and freedom on your minds. Rather, we worry that if your movement gains enough fervor, it will grow large, and violent, and replace democracy with fascism. These too, are fears of the extremes you could represent. I am not going to try to argue that our fears are more valid than yours, only that on some level we believe them, and that both these opposing views are something we hold in common yet keep us from being able to find common ground.
After all, it's hard to take a step in either direction if you only believe that it leads to Fascist dictatorship OR communist dictatorship. The common ground is that we both fear absolutes.
Another thing we have in common is that we really do both love our country.
But we feel that your love of country is a bit blind sometimes. I get the sense that you feel we on the left do not hold a pure love of country because we muddy it with disagreement over some choices our leadership has made, particularly when it comes to war and foreign policy.
A better writer than myself has argued that love of country should be mature shouldn't be absolute unless one truly does live in a blameless Utopia, that the other kind of love is like the love of an abuse relationship with all the harm and denial that comes with it.
But I'm not asking you to agree with that perspective, only to acknowledge that it has reason and thought behind it, and isn't some blind hatred of America or America's troops as seems so frequently tossed out.
Love of country and a fear of absolutist extremes should be enough to bring us together. Let us build from there.
II
Secondly I would like to address some allegations made by some members of the tea party about those of us who are Liberals, Democrats, Progressives, Socialists, or frankly, any label left of Libertarian.
Point one: One the left we are not all the same. Just as you differ in terms of just how far to the right you are, how religious you are, and how you may stand on some issues, we too are not all some conglomerate single-brained lock-stepped group who all want the same things.
Point two: We do not want to take your rights away. Consider the issue of Gun Control. Since President Obama was elected, concerns about access to guns have skyrocketed across the country. NRA memberships have swelled, gun-rights advocacy groups have quadrupled their fundraising, and people have begun to feel the need to show up in all the public places they can legally carry arms to in order to demonstrate their right to do so. But the fact of the matter is that the only fire-arm related law signed by this president so far has actually been one to allow guns to be carried in national parks. That's an expansion of those rights, not a threat to them. Where does this Fear come from?
Point three: We on the left are intolerant of religion. The fact of the matter is that those among us who are Atheists or Agnostics do tend to consolidate openly on our side of things politically. But none of us our in favor of government restriction of religion, only that government should be uninvolved in picking a side when it comes to religion. Furthermore, many of us, me included, are people of faith. Our views on life and God often differ greatly from yours, but that does not mean we are without faith or morality as is so frequently suggested.
Point four: Laziness. I see signs now that say things like, "Democrats: Because it’s easier than working for a living." We on the left work for a living the same as anyone else. Consider that unemployment does not shift because larger numbers of people abruptly become lazy and choose not to work, but rather because in our currently awful economy jobs are shipped overseas to people willing to work for nothing, or who are forced to work by their oppressive governments. The fact of the matter is that most people like to work, to have a sense of worth, and to feel good about themselves at the end of the day. Wanting for those of us unable to secure stable employment to still be able to somehow eat and live while they wait out the storm of economic downturn is not advocacy for the permanent unemployment or shiftlessness of anybody.
III
Problems we have the Tea-Party movement.
Partisinism. We do not think you are a bi-partisan movement. You are conservative. Universally. Some of you may be more focused on your fears about government intrusion into religion and some of you may just want lower taxes, but the fact of the matter is that all of you are dissatisfied because you feel the country is going too far to the left in terms of its direction.
Deficit. We think your concerns about the fiscal deficit are misbegotten. Consider that the deficit has grown far more under conservative presidents such as Bush and Reagan by staggering margins, yet anti-deficit rhetoric never seems to show up until a more liberal president sits in office and wants to up the fractional amount of public money invested in say, Social Security or Medicare. Until you truly take conservative presidents to task for overspending the same way you do the others, it is impossible to take this concern as seriously as you would like us to.
Racism. I'm not going to say that all of the Tea Party is racist, but consider some of the glaring comments made in disparagement of Arabs by one of the organizers in New York. Consider the lack of diversity amongst most Tea-Party assemblies. You have handfuls of minority attendees but there is no question that it is not a remotely demographic sampling of the country. Consider the downright hilarious incident of a few weeks ago, when two Egyptian Christians were surrounded and scorned by an angry right-wing Mob when they were there to protest the same Islamic community center that the right wingers were assembled to protest as well. You will not be able to shake the stench of racism until you manage to expunge moments like these from your movement.
Astroturf. The Tea Party has some corporately backed members. There are multiple businesses and consulting firms who have helped to swell your ranks and give the illusion of a larger movement than you actually represent. FreedomWorks might be the most glaring of these, but in general there are business interests who only care about being taxed less and not about the overall well-being of the country. Association with them makes it very difficult for those of us on the left to be reconciled to the rest of your viewpoint as it makes the whole thing seem very artificial in nature. Manufactured outrage does not impress most of us.
Conclusion
Again I write this in a spirit of civility and solidarity with other Americans. You guys are humans. So are we. Please feel free to write me back with your own perspective and try to help me to understand, civilly, what our common ground really is.
VoxProjectus@gmail.com
This letter is aimed all of you who in recent months have taken to the streets, the internet, and the airwaves to register your support of or alignment with the Tea Party movement here in the states.
Introduction
I wish to begin this letter with an apology on behalf of those of us make light of or mock this effort. I think at times while we have very strong reasons to disagree with you when it comes to the vision of our country you are trying to make reality, we are too quick to assume those reasons are obvious, implicit, and do not require elaboration or outreach. So, honestly, sorry. While you may not agree with what you are about to read, I hope you will acknowledge that it is written in a spirit of civility and with only the intention of making a perspective very different than your own crystal clear.
I
Firstly, I'd like to address some dualities the Right and Left wings of the political spectrum have that in some ways mean that we have more in common then opposition.
The first thing we have in common is Fear. If what I've read and heard is true, there is a great deal of fear amongst you that our country is going to turn into some sort of communist dictatorship, or at the very least, transform into an effete European socialist state, either of which you would gladly lay down your lives to prevent happening. You fear that government involvement will clamp down on your rights, and systematically oppress you as some dictatorships in the past have. While I do not think that these fears have merit, on some level I cannot blame anyone who holds onto them. We each fear the extremes of the other side.
Consider that we on the left have strong Fears too. We do not see you as the regular-folks taking to the streets with love of country and freedom on your minds. Rather, we worry that if your movement gains enough fervor, it will grow large, and violent, and replace democracy with fascism. These too, are fears of the extremes you could represent. I am not going to try to argue that our fears are more valid than yours, only that on some level we believe them, and that both these opposing views are something we hold in common yet keep us from being able to find common ground.
After all, it's hard to take a step in either direction if you only believe that it leads to Fascist dictatorship OR communist dictatorship. The common ground is that we both fear absolutes.
Another thing we have in common is that we really do both love our country.
But we feel that your love of country is a bit blind sometimes. I get the sense that you feel we on the left do not hold a pure love of country because we muddy it with disagreement over some choices our leadership has made, particularly when it comes to war and foreign policy.
A better writer than myself has argued that love of country should be mature shouldn't be absolute unless one truly does live in a blameless Utopia, that the other kind of love is like the love of an abuse relationship with all the harm and denial that comes with it.
But I'm not asking you to agree with that perspective, only to acknowledge that it has reason and thought behind it, and isn't some blind hatred of America or America's troops as seems so frequently tossed out.
Love of country and a fear of absolutist extremes should be enough to bring us together. Let us build from there.
II
Secondly I would like to address some allegations made by some members of the tea party about those of us who are Liberals, Democrats, Progressives, Socialists, or frankly, any label left of Libertarian.
Point one: One the left we are not all the same. Just as you differ in terms of just how far to the right you are, how religious you are, and how you may stand on some issues, we too are not all some conglomerate single-brained lock-stepped group who all want the same things.
Point two: We do not want to take your rights away. Consider the issue of Gun Control. Since President Obama was elected, concerns about access to guns have skyrocketed across the country. NRA memberships have swelled, gun-rights advocacy groups have quadrupled their fundraising, and people have begun to feel the need to show up in all the public places they can legally carry arms to in order to demonstrate their right to do so. But the fact of the matter is that the only fire-arm related law signed by this president so far has actually been one to allow guns to be carried in national parks. That's an expansion of those rights, not a threat to them. Where does this Fear come from?
Point three: We on the left are intolerant of religion. The fact of the matter is that those among us who are Atheists or Agnostics do tend to consolidate openly on our side of things politically. But none of us our in favor of government restriction of religion, only that government should be uninvolved in picking a side when it comes to religion. Furthermore, many of us, me included, are people of faith. Our views on life and God often differ greatly from yours, but that does not mean we are without faith or morality as is so frequently suggested.
Point four: Laziness. I see signs now that say things like, "Democrats: Because it’s easier than working for a living." We on the left work for a living the same as anyone else. Consider that unemployment does not shift because larger numbers of people abruptly become lazy and choose not to work, but rather because in our currently awful economy jobs are shipped overseas to people willing to work for nothing, or who are forced to work by their oppressive governments. The fact of the matter is that most people like to work, to have a sense of worth, and to feel good about themselves at the end of the day. Wanting for those of us unable to secure stable employment to still be able to somehow eat and live while they wait out the storm of economic downturn is not advocacy for the permanent unemployment or shiftlessness of anybody.
III
Problems we have the Tea-Party movement.
Partisinism. We do not think you are a bi-partisan movement. You are conservative. Universally. Some of you may be more focused on your fears about government intrusion into religion and some of you may just want lower taxes, but the fact of the matter is that all of you are dissatisfied because you feel the country is going too far to the left in terms of its direction.
Deficit. We think your concerns about the fiscal deficit are misbegotten. Consider that the deficit has grown far more under conservative presidents such as Bush and Reagan by staggering margins, yet anti-deficit rhetoric never seems to show up until a more liberal president sits in office and wants to up the fractional amount of public money invested in say, Social Security or Medicare. Until you truly take conservative presidents to task for overspending the same way you do the others, it is impossible to take this concern as seriously as you would like us to.
Racism. I'm not going to say that all of the Tea Party is racist, but consider some of the glaring comments made in disparagement of Arabs by one of the organizers in New York. Consider the lack of diversity amongst most Tea-Party assemblies. You have handfuls of minority attendees but there is no question that it is not a remotely demographic sampling of the country. Consider the downright hilarious incident of a few weeks ago, when two Egyptian Christians were surrounded and scorned by an angry right-wing Mob when they were there to protest the same Islamic community center that the right wingers were assembled to protest as well. You will not be able to shake the stench of racism until you manage to expunge moments like these from your movement.
Astroturf. The Tea Party has some corporately backed members. There are multiple businesses and consulting firms who have helped to swell your ranks and give the illusion of a larger movement than you actually represent. FreedomWorks might be the most glaring of these, but in general there are business interests who only care about being taxed less and not about the overall well-being of the country. Association with them makes it very difficult for those of us on the left to be reconciled to the rest of your viewpoint as it makes the whole thing seem very artificial in nature. Manufactured outrage does not impress most of us.
Conclusion
Again I write this in a spirit of civility and solidarity with other Americans. You guys are humans. So are we. Please feel free to write me back with your own perspective and try to help me to understand, civilly, what our common ground really is.
VoxProjectus@gmail.com