Neoliberalism
Blowback
Oppressed
people cannot remain oppressed forever.
And Thomas
Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are
created equal . . ." So the question is not whether we will be extremists,
but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for
love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the
extension of justice?
Shallow
understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute
misunderstanding from people of ill will.
Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
By J.M. Hamilton
(8-26-2017)
If Mr. Trump has
accomplished nothing else in the first eight months of his presidency, he has
removed the "crypto" modifier often utilized when describing the
Republican Party as "fascist."
There is nothing
crypto about Mr. Trump, or the fascists that support him. It's all very
much out in the open now, and has been since the nation’s founding.
Which is a good
thing, because the Party of Lincoln, which has metastasized into the Party of Trump, has laid all its cards on the table. The Republican Party,
since passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, has pandered to
bigotry throughout the land, under Mr. Nixon's 1968 Southern strategy... a strategy that has been utilized by every GOP
presidential candidate ever since (and more than a few GOP
congresspersons).
The Cheeto Messiah,
as w/ all things Trumpian, has taken Mr. Nixon's strategy to a whole new
level, that is to say, a whole new low. Trump is a divider and appeals to
the baser demons of our nature. Leave it
to Mr. Trump - a dullard and incompetent on most prerequisites for
the presidency - to obtain a self-earned PhD in dictatorships, division, and
sophistry.
The racism and racists within the Republican Party can no longer be denied or overlooked.
Mr. Trump - w/ a preternatural ability to lie w/out conscience - has
captured the Party, and now, woe unto these United States and the rights of humanity
It is the
duty & responsibility of every American to call out the fascists and
the haters, frequently and often. Four hundred thousand American soldiers, who died during WWII fighting fascism, would expect nothing less. JMH has attempted to avoid this
topic for a long time, but apparently, one cannot write about economics
& politics in America, w/out writing about the bigotry, homophobia,
and misogyny that is endemic from sea to troubled sea.
Some might think JMH
has finally jumped the shark.
But given the events of the last two weeks, one would either have to be
completely nescient, or in denial, about Mr. Trump, and his base of
support, not to understand the obvious.
JMH has written
before about willful ignorance, self-deception, and painfully, about
Mr. Richard M. Nixon and his racist strategy (otherwise known
down through the ages, as divide & conquer). It's no longer
enough for former Republican presidents, like the Bush family, to
come out and denounce POTUS Trump's remarks, and assert the moral equivalency
- Trump utilized to describe the two sides in the
Charlottesville' disaster - does not represent the Party's views.
Nor is it enough for GOP Senators to distance themselves from POTUS
Trump.
Particularly, since
as noted by myself and others (read here and here), it is not merely Mr. Trump,
who is the manifestation of racism within the Party, but the policies of
the GOP, themselves, that are fascist.
Racism is so interwoven into the U.S. social fabric that many Americans of “good will” no longer see it, or are blind to it.
Now there are those
who are demonstrably racist w/in the GOP, and there are those who
willfully - or unwittingly - turn a blind eye to the bigotry and
white supremacy built into the Party's policies. There are also
businessmen - CEOs and high net worth individuals - who are so embarrassed
by POTUS Trump's actions (or perhaps, more to the point, are worried about the
impact that their association w/ Trump might have upon their bottom line), that
they are willing to publicly denounce and disassociate themselves from the
president.
That is to say, not
everybody who is a Republican, or who associates with the Republican
Party, is a racist. However, what can be said is that the
Party, and its policies, are now so overtly racist that blissed out
ignorance, or the need to further one's business interests, no longer provides
an excuse to partner with or support the party of fascism.
Shockingly and sadly,
there are two notable groups of citizens that have been more than willing
to support the GOP: CEOs and Fundamentalist Christians. Both groups
should know better, and yet both groups have been unequivocal in their
support for Mr. Trump and GOP policies. Today, we address corporate & multinational America's affiliation w/ the POTUS, and next
go around, JMH will dive further into the rightwing Fundamentalist Christian
agenda.
So let's cut to it.
Specifically, what policies - advocated and promoted by the GOP -
are racist?
For starters, there's law & order politics,
which is the manifestation of Jim Crow in the 20th & 21st
centuries. America locks up a disproportionate number of minorities
for simple drug possession. Commit multi-million, or billion, dollar
fraud on Wall Street and you almost always walk. But a person of
color gets caught with a joint in their pocket and there is a serious
probability of jail time. And even though there have been enlightened
moves away from mass incarceration policies, by both political parties,
the War on Drugs - and the War on minorities - continues to this very day (thanks
in large part to Trump's attorney general – Mr. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III).
Voter suppression,
and POTUS Trump's Voter Fraud commission, has one aim and that is to
disenfranchise minority voters. Couple this with gerrymandering and you
have a highly overt attempt to keep minority voters - who typically vote
Democratic - from either casting the ballot, or marginalizing their
votes and democratic outcomes.
The policies of austerity,
and safety net reduction, are directly aimed at the indigent
and minorities. The GOP has proven time and time again, that they have
zero reservations about expanding the deficit, or national debt, to pay for tax
cuts for the wealthy and war w/out end.
Conversely, the GOP will do everything in their power to cut
funding & spending programs that aid children, women, and those in need
(and in many instances, these programs benefit - not only minorities - but
white voters as well).
The aforementioned
Southern Strategy, or dog whistle politics, is a strategy designed to
play disaffected white voters off of minority voters, when in reality both
groups of voters should be aligned in common cause against the Oligarchy.
Every day that racial prejudice, animus, and socio-economic
discrimination plays out is another red letter day for the plutocracy that
rules over us all. Social division rewards, almost exclusively, the Oligarchy and the billionaire class.
Why do you think
Trump exploits division and the politics of resentment like a Pro?
The GOP, in
particular, has supported the Ayn Rand economy on steroids, deregulation,
and free trade uber alles.
These policies allow Wall Street to prey upon the poor and the
disenfranchised with predatory loans, and allow multinationals to flee
offshore, in order to avoid taxation, exploit foreign labor, and commit regulatory
arbitrage. This has led to a race to the bottom across the globe, w/
nation states played off upon one another, in terms of jobs, tax base, and the
gutting of services provided to those in need. And the West’s politicians either don’t care,
or haven’t the courage to call it out.
The Ayn Rand, or
neoliberal economy, has directly led to industry consolidation,
and the formation of predatory cartels and monopolies. Many economic
sectors and industries are consolidated, so as to be dominated by one or a very
small number of players. This degree of industry consolidation is
highly disadvantageous and often equates to a form of economic discrimination, particularly
weighing against those with limited education and means (call it monopolistic taxation w/out representation). Most frightening
is the degree of consolidation w/in the MSM, internet commerce, internet
service & content providers, and telecommunications companies.
The consolidation of
the MSM is George Orwell’s nightmare and a dictator’s dream.
Civil asset forfeiture, the war on drugs, war w/out end (under the premise of fighting
terror, while being allied to the number one sponsor of terror,
Saudi Arabia), the criminal justice industrial complex, the cash bail system,
and regressive tax codes, etc., etc., etc... these are all additional GOP chains
that bind & weigh disproportionately upon children, the poor, minorities,
and women.
The GOP’s attacks
upon women’s reproductive rights, and medical services, is another patriarchal
position designed to keep women in their place.
“In
American history, we’ve never had business leaders decline national service
when requested by the president,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor of
organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management. “They’ve now turned
their backs on him.” - NY Times (Photo: Mr. Stephen A. Schwarzman, chief executive of the
Blackstone Group, meeting with President Trump in April)
The great irony
in all this is not only are the GOP's policies racist, retrograde, and designed enrich an elite few at the expense of many (many of the policies
above have a business angle, or are adopted to mitigate taxation upon the connected
& the wealthy), but the policies above also harm Trump's base
of support. For not only do these policies discriminate
against persons of color, but no few of these policies in number have
a socio-economic bent that adversely impacts poor whites as well. It's
also important to note that the Democratic Party has its own history w/
racism, and in more recent times (particularly under POTUS Clinton) had outright
co-opted many of the GOP’s policies. That said, the progressive -
Sanders/Warren - wing of the Democratic Party is working to move the Party away
from discriminatory and neoliberal policies.
Many CEOs correctly
denounced Mr. Trump's comments over Charlottesville, and walked off his
advisory boards and committees. In doing so, the majority of these
executives also knew full well that they would continue to work with the
Trump administration, behind closed doors, and continue to support the party of
fascism through campaign contributions, donations, PACs, 401(c)s, lobbying, etc.
And it is this kind
of behavior that should not continue. The GOP, as the party of fascism, must
either be abolished or reformed. Just as Nazis are no longer tolerated in Germany, America must wake up to the fact that we cannot tolerate the
Republican Party, in its present incarnation. CEOs and high
net worth individuals need to demonstrate - not only sound business acumen
- but a profound understanding of the political environment we all live in.
Most importantly, the Oligarchy needs to demonstrate that they are keenly aware that one American
political party in particular – and its policies - are ripping this nation
apart at the seams. After all, what will it do to their quarterly earnings if this nation is at civil war, or if their products & services are boycotted, because of continued multinational support for oppression & tyranny?
Call it neoliberal blowback… call it what you like, but the sick patient – that is our nation – is
growing worse, not better. Right-wing
conspiracy theorists once believed Obama would create a crisis before leaving office,
so that he would not have to leave the presidency. JMH always believed that such speculation was
idle and incorrect, but with POTUS Trump on the other hand, apparently,
anything is possible.
Copyright
JM Hamilton Publishing 2017
