Today I had a conversation with my son who shared an article with me about the University of Washington recently shifting toward a "business model" in order to stay afloat in the current business climate.
Supposedly, the UW is turning away state applicants in favor of out of state applicants with lower grade point averages.
Why? because out-of-staters pay higher tuition. It's a "good business practice."
The fact is, the pressure to privatize government institutions is one of the Right Wing's agenda items in order line the pockets of their corporate masters and strip away every social safety net there is...be it education, health, housing, pensions, etc. etc.
So, when I hear people tell me that there is no difference between Right and Left politics, my blood pressure goes through the roof.
It goes like this... No one wants to pay taxes...but then they scream like bloody wounded pigs when institutions are forced to cut costs or find ways to obtain funding.
I think what UW is doing stinks.....but then, with jack asses like Tim Eyman constantly cutting out the means of funding government by pushing initiatives that gain popular support by an uninformed public...what do we expect?
“I don’t want to pay taxes, I hate taxes...hey, what happened to my roads? why is my water now unsafe, why am I getting contaminated meat, etc. etc.”
Yes, it’s also true that governments, like businesses can be mismanaged. But you don’t solve a debt problem by just cutting off services.
It would be like you telling your wife, “we just saved 1,000 a month on our income by not paying our mortgage.” That would work great for about three months. Then when they came to evict you, you’d be screaming, “Hey, why are you taking my home?”
Sounds ludicrous right? but that is EXACTLY what our nation is going through. The right wing whack jobs have conned everyone into this “hate government, hate taxes’ rhetoric.
Because most people are uninformed (make that LAZY) and greedy, they buy into it. Now the bill is due all over the place. Schools are running out of funds, state and local governments...and the national treasury is bankrupt.
We used to have a strong system of tarriffs to provide income and protection for this country. Tarrifs prevented cheap goods from flooding our markets at the expense of American jobs. Tarrifs provided a huge income for our government.
What happened? Republicans virtually destroyed them (with help from some Dems).
We used to have protection from Wall Street and Banks colluding to take unnecessary risk at taxpayer expense.
What happened? Republicans destroyed them (with help from some Dems) We used to have a solvent Social security account until Ronald Regan decided to use it as a PIGGY bank to fund other crap...i.e. he lowered taxes for the wealthy and made up the difference from the money me and millions of other Americans put into our “retirement account” and now they want to privatize that!
This is why I get sick to my stomach when uninformed people tell me there is no difference between Right and Left. There is a huge difference although both play a role in our national demise.
Republicans are out to utterly destroy the middle class in favor of the almighty Corporations (follow the money!)
However, many of those who call themselves Republicans are really uniformed individuals who buy into the crap from the Right...they are manipulated often by using social issues like a Trojan Horse.
These uninformed individuals who call themselves Republicans or Conservatives are being used by the Right to push their economic agenda that harms the very people who support them. That's what those of us on the left mean by "voting against your own self-interest" The Right has mastered the art of manipulating ignorant people, much of them "good God-fearing Christians" to get their dirty work done.
On the Left, Democrats are lead for the most part by spineless leaders...afraid to fight. In some ways it’s understandable because the right pretty much controls the media. So if you do stand up, they use the noise machine to make you sound like a loony and the general public writes you off.
Remember the "Dean Scream"?
Howard Dean made a simple goof at a rally by letting out a scream. I agree he sounded like a nut case when you heard it...but when you learned the whole story...it was harmless.
However, the Right was afraid of Dean for his ideas to fix health care and other things...so they found a way to silence him by making him look like a whack job to the public.
Those of us on the Left who are informed and aware of what's going on, have an uphill battle as the Right controls most of the media, and the leaders on the Left are more worried about their personal survival than standing up against the continued assault on working Americans.
The few leaders on the Left who have stood up have suffered the full scale assault as millions of dollars are poured from home and aboard to smear them out of office. There's a long list of good, solid, Progressive leaders who have stood up for working people who have been drummed out by the Right Wing noise machine.
So, please, whatever your politics, don't tell me there's no difference between Right and Left. There is a huge differnce.
The Left lacks leaders with courage, and the Right has leaders who are bent on the destruction of working class Americans. That's a huge contrast.
The recent events in Wisconsin give me hope that we, the people, may actually turn back the anti-working class tide lead by the Right.
Let's hope so. Because if the tide isn't turned, ultimately this nation will end in anarchy! Once you strip away all hope from the majority, by eliminating their safety net, lining the pockets of the rich, and leaving everyone else to despair.
Trust me, there will be an uprising, and it will be ugly.
Is there a difference between Right and Left?
HELL YES!
