Against Our Interests?

by Ruth Sheets
 

I have been listening to the returns from the special election in Wisconsin.  The Democrats needed to win three seats and only got two and are facing a challenge next Tuesday.  What amazes me is the fact that Wisconsin Republicans, like Republicans in many states continue to vote against their own interests.

Wisconsin Republicans went into office claiming that their major effort would be to add jobs and lower the state debt.  Their real intention was to bust public unions and cut services.  Voters don’t get it that they might not need governmental help at this moment, but that life throws surprises our way and any of them could be in the position of needing help.

We hear “We need small government.”  That seems to be the popular line with the Tea Partiers these days, but what are they willing to cut?  The programs that serve the most vulnerable, of course.  They are well aware of the reality that those citizens are least able to stand up for their needs, let alone their rights. 

Will the Tea Party willingly cut defense funds?  Probably not; they will more likely want to cut veterans money because that is easy.  Will they cut money for prisons, border patrols, funds for the war on drugs, programs for abstinence education, all programs that are wasteful and not as effective as claimed?  Not likely.  They don’t seem to care about value if the program supports their personal or social beliefs.

Cutting funds for education, food stamps, Medicaid, and other support programs seems a top priority for conservatives, even those who depend on these programs just to stay alive and to provide for their children. 

 

I heard a listing of the Federal monies that Michelle Bachman, a leading presidential candidate, has received throughout her life from the government. Hypocrisy rules even at the highest levels.  She cries “small government” while it is the government that has enabled her to be where she is. 

It is amazing how few Americans have noticed the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.  The rank and file of the Tea Party and many other Conservative Republicans fall in the group that is moving toward the poor side.  They don’t even seem to realize what is happening.  They don’t see that none of the programs being advocated by their representatives will in any way improve their situation.  They don’t get it that their chances of moving into that higher group diminish with each day.

What is wrong with  us?  Are we hard-wired to be unable to recognize inconsistencies?  Is it part of our make-up that we stand against our own interests?  Is “the American dream” of wealth so strong that we believe we will one day be among the chosen few who are in the top 1 percent, the very wealthy?  Do we delight in the hopeful thought of being able to dictate to the rest of the poor suckers who just couldn’t make it, the ones who just didn’t work hard enough or weren’t lucky enough?

Maybe instead of teaching to tests in our schools, we should be teaching logic, ethics, basic economics, and statistics from very early grades.  That will require money and time for planning, both of which along with many other ideas are being cut.  Maybe what lies behind all the education cuts is that people who don’t know how to think for themselves are so much more easily frightened and manipulated by people who enjoy wielding power.