Marble Composition

A Failure of Ideology

This has been festering inside my rotten skull for a few days, and I'm going to snatch and grab from others I agree with to illustrate my point. There are better ways to run a more responsible government than the ones we've seen in the last five years. As I've said before, this tragedy in New Orleans will unearth more than it covers up. Here's one precept from Amy Sullivan:

We've heard the warning "this isn't about politics" over and over in the last few days. The hell it isn't. And I don't mean kicking Bush while he's down, just for the fun of it, although there are surely liberals eager to do that. For the rest of us, however, we're seeing the awful real world consequences of conservatism play out on our television screens. This is why we're liberals. We don't yell about poverty and racial disparities for kicks. An evacuation plan that consists of telling people to get out on their own is not an evacuation plan.

Liberals, or at least ones like me, believe that government can be a useful check in the face of rabid capatilism. Bringing more people into the middle class behooves us all; more tax revenue, more opportunities, better wages, higher earning potential, better education. A robust investment in human capital. Investing in people. Simple.

I have nothing whatsoever against capatalism, but history shows us if we let things go the way of the roaring '20's, we never took the time to learn the most important lessons.

Let's go to the Economist from Princeton:

But the federal government's lethal ineptitude wasn't just a consequence of Mr. Bush's personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good. For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn't forthcoming?

We shouldn't. Liberals believe in a government that can respond to the most dire needs of its citizens. This country is so rich, is there no way to provide for people that live within our borders? Conservatives have spent 30 years, back since Goldwater ran for president, convincing the American public that government is the problem, and that there's no reason for it other than to collect taxes and provide for a robust military. And lately a strong military for what, dethroning a tin-pot wannabe? Like Saddam Hussein?

[As an aside, I've heard Conservatives for years yelling about, "We took out Saddam!". And you're proud of that? He was a pussified, toothless wimp. No navy, no air force, ancient Russian-made tanks, and a feeble infantry. And that is supposed to demonstrate American power? If it is, the decision to attack Iraq is pathetic, and makes us look extremely weak.]

And finally another piece from Kevin Drum:

IDEOLOGY AND REAL LIFE....One of the things that Hurricane Katrina has done is shine a very bright light on the different worldviews of liberals and conservatives.

Conservatives fundamentally believe in a limited role for the federal government. They believe in downsizing, privatizing, and placing greater reliance on state and local government to provide essential services. It's easy — too easy — to blame George Bush in hindsight for specific things like cutting the Corps of Engineers budget for the New Orleans district, but the reason this criticism is legitimate is because this wasn't merely a specific incident. As even some conservatives tacitly admit, it was a direct result of George Bush's governing ideology.

FEMA was downsized and partially privatized because modern Republican leaders think that's the right thing to do with federal agencies. Budgets were limited for levee construction and first responder training because Republicans have other priorities. The federal government was slow to respond to Katrina because conservatives believe states should take the lead in looking out for their own needs. George Bush talks endlessly to the cameras about the private sector helping to rebuild the Gulf Coast because that's the kind thing conservatives believe in.

Liberals, by contrast, believe in a robust role for the federal government. We believe in sharing risk nationwide for local disasters. We believe that only the federal government is big enough to coordinate relief on the scale needed by an event like Katrina, and that strong, well managed agencies like FEMA should take the lead role in making this happen.

Both of these governing philosophies are defensible, but too often they seem like nothing more than opposing sides in an intellectual game. Katrina demonstrates otherwise. It's what happens when a drowning city runs smack into a conservative movement that believes in drowning the federal government in a bathtub.

So there you have it: a philosophy for governing that works not just for the rich and privileged, but for all Americans.

One final note. There's a big sleight of hand going on here. While Conservatives' pound an endless drumbeat to convince everyone that government is bad for us, the ones in power firmly believe in taking your tax dollars and funneling them directly to their friends. Don't be naive and think government doesn't work for them; it's paid off handsomely.

posted by FuzzFinger @ 9/06/2005 06:30:00 PM