Political Discussion

I had an interesting discussion with a professional person I was consulting. We were chatting and somehow got on the topic of politics. It turned out he was full blown MAGA. I asked why, and he came out with an antigovernment diatribe. “All people in government are on the take,” he said, “Musk and Trump are trying to get government under control.” I know a good number of government bureaucrats, all of them quite talented and selfless workers. Most of them could have done much better financially if they had gone into business or industrial careers. I said, one can make a stereotype of any profession. I could say that doctors, business people, and most career people are on the take. It doesn’t mean it is true. Creating negative images of others is the main propaganda objective spread by right-wing extremist propaganda networks, like FOX and Newsmax. Anytime we divide people into groups according to their jobs, we can make negative stereotypes about them. Government workers, doctors, CEOs, etc., are human beings, with the same selfless dedication to help others, or in some cases, the same orientation toward avarice and self-serving corrupt behavior.

This distrust of government is necessary for the wealthy oligarchs who are in charge of our country. Government regulations and law enforcement are the only limits between billionaires and greater wealth and power. If there is a broker, empowered by the public, law and the constitution, then the oligarchs cannot use their immense wealth to do as they will. If you are raised to wealth and privilege, as most of our oligarchs are, they have little experience in having an authority tell them, “No.”

Modern, extreme capitalism, declares that profit is the linchpin of all morality. If you can operate at a profit, in the end, you are working for maximizing the efficiency of the whole system. But, if profit is the arbiter of what is good for individuals, and individual corporations, then, the good of the whole, the common good, gets lost. All capitalist systems are regulated by governments. Some are regulated and subjected to a measure of what is good and equitable for the majority of the citizens, and others use that powerful system to serve the interest of the rich and powerful.

The professional person also brought up the national debt and that our country will have to declare bankruptcy if something isn’t done to reign in expenditures. He referred to Musk’s DOGE efforts to reduce the size of government. He didn’t mention that the last three Republican administrations increased the deficit, while the last three Democratic narrowed the deficit. Nor did he justify the chainsaw approach to cutting programs that benefit the most needy of our population to fund the trillions of tax cut dollars promised for the wealthiest Americans. Most of the socalled savings by the young computer DOGE kids were not well planned out and carry long term costs that nullify any cost saving effects. Most of the staffing cuts came in regulatory agencies whose job it was to watch over the misbehavior of our mega-rich and largest corporations. He also expressed concern for the immigrants in the country as a lawless element in society. Again he had the ability to blithely stereotype all immigrants with a label of lawlessness and contamination of our society. He ignored the productivity of hardworking families whose desire is to live and prosper in an environment that is safe and secure for their families. The masked agents who are roaming our streets disappearing people are the equivalent of Musk’s chainsaw approach to cutting government spending. Why are the agents masked? They should be proud of what they are doing. Their badges, with names and ID numbers should be fully visible, that is, if they are doing a good deed for the country.

The willingness to stereotype, scapegoat, and humiliate designated groups is what the Nazis did in Germany. They were experts in disappearing people off the streets. They didn’t bother with habeas corpus. They didn’t check on criminality, they had their lists of categories of human beings who were to be eliminated. Under the current administration, to be of a non- Anglo race, being of a different gender category, to be a woman in a position of authority, makes one vulnerable, if not to deportation, then to firing, demotion, and humiliation.

We do need to rethink the direction of our society. Chainsaws, wealthy oligarchs, authoritarian leaders, and masked thugs are not the way to do it. One thing average people can do is to get big money out of politics. Unregulated billionaires with power is a scary scenario. We can band together to demand that democratic procedures be followed. We need not agree on policies, but we should talk to each other and find compromises that limit the power of government, oligarchs, and would-be authoritarians over our lives. Instead of a minority of extremists dictating their desires for money and power, we need to restore dignity and a worthwhile economic lifestyle to the average working person.

Rick Lohr, formerly of Marathon City, is a retired history teacher and former owner and manager of Pine Valley Golf Course. He has been retired for over 20 years but has given about 650 talks to schools, service groups and senior centers related to the 45 counties he has traveled to.

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