From Otto's
War room:
The idea that we can choose to be
"individualists" in our economy and we don't need collective thinking
is part of the “free-market” capitalist, ideology. This ideology is a
tool of the Republicans and conservatives, in and outside of this country, to
co-opt or dupe workers into supporting their agenda. And that agenda is the
pro-capitalist, pro-business and anti-worker policies we get today from the
Republican Party. But why do workers support this? Do they really want to be
fired at any time without any warnings? Do they really want to cut out all
benefits from the work place including health care? Quite often we are told
that conservative workers see themselves as individualist who opposes any kind
of collectivism.
To put it clearly R.J. Saulnier said:
“What Republicans stand for derives from their
adherence to individualism, the philosophy that perceives of the individual as
a self-disciplined, basically self-reliant person who has rights and freedoms
that it is the duty of government to respect and protect, who respects the
rights and freedoms of others, and who feels an obligation to attend so far as
possible to his/her own individual and family welfare. It is this embrace of
individualism that sets Republicans apart from those who favor government that
is big, centralized, intrusive, and increasingly paternalistic. What
Republicans stand for is precisely the opposite–government that is limited,
noninterventionist and decentralized.”
When he said “self-reliant person” what does
that really mean? Do they make their own clothes? Do they build their own cars
from scratch? Do they grow their own food? Chances are they consume products
every day that requires a work force to make. Even a small business person has
to acknowledge that. Each business creates a piece of the economy and the only
people in the country who don’t buy and consume those goods are the hermits
that live off in caves and never see another human being. But that’s not what
we have here in Kansas
There is little doubt that by
“self-disciplined” Saulnier does not mean the people on welfare or other
government assistance. The American worker has learned to hate those people as
un-disciplined people who they believe are just lazy and lacking in moral
character. Some Republicans have a tendency to insult supporters of the
Democratic Party by insisting they are all on government assistance waiting for
handouts.
Most people on assistance have paid some taxes
at one time or another. Most have worked at least some time in their lives.
Many people on assistance, such as food stamps, are working and they are
earning minimum wage. Few people are on assistance their whole lives,
especially with all the new rules both national and state-wide, that place
limits on welfare.
Welfare recipients and those on assistance
also spend money which gives back to the government in the form of sales tax
and they add to the economy. Working people have to make the products that
those on assistance buy. Without consumers such work provides products which
can’t be purchased.
In this way we are all interconnected. Most
Republican workers will accept un-employment if they are fired or laid
off. In this modern economy few “individualist” conservative workers can
afford not to take unemployment.
What this all means is that economic
“individualism” is just a myth. Perhaps a person can be an individualist in
arts or culture but not economically. Anyone has the right to be responsible
for him/her self, but that does not have anything to do with economic
individualism. We are all dependent on those who provide the things we buy with
our money. If we are sick we go to a doctor. Trying to cure yourself because of
your individualism is foolish and can lead to death. Almost no one can really
claim to be completely free of anyone else’s help. We need others to survive
and that is fact. Whether we always work or whether we get our income another
way, we all depend on each other.
It is time to expose the “individualism” myth.
Pix by www.dailykos.com.
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