Politics and the Us vs Them Mentality of Hatred
Posted: Tuesday, October 21, 2008
by Jennifer Cuddy
This election year has beheld one of the most divisive campaigns in history. This us vs them mentality has incited more hatred, promoted the most racist ideologies, and has placed both candidates in unduly high positions as martyrs, mavericks, and messiahs; notions that I think even the elected candidates are attempting to discourage. Yet most of the hate campaigning is certainly coming mostly from the right than the left. I had the unluxury of being forced to witness this insidious promotion of hatred while watching a political news talk show on the notoriously right winged Fox Channel owned by Rupert Murdoch. The alleged "news" consisted of 30 minutes worth of discussing the racial implications of the election, notably emphasizing to the public over and over again the fact that Barack Obama is black. An issue that morally, should not even be an issue, as it is irrelevant, and I find it very disturbing that Fox news would relentlessly pursue the topic. For what is to gain by discussing this non issue other than the attempt to appeal to either consciously or subconsciously prejudice people and sway the vote away from Obama based on race?
The other half hour covered the notorious William Ayers-Obama connection, which again, is another truly non issue as there is no real connection other than a very loosely connected one. According to Wiki, William Ayers has spent his post- Vietnam War protesting years as follows:
Ayers worked with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in shaping the city's school reform program,[28] and was one of three co-authors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge grant proposal that in 1995 won $49.2 million over five years for public school reform.[29] In 1997 Chicago awarded him its Citizen of the Year award for his work on the project.[30] Since 1999 he has served on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, an anti-poverty, philanthropic foundation established as the Woods Charitable Fund in 1941.[31]
Given the fact, that Ayers has been such a prominent figure in the state of Illinois, Senator Obama ( as would any Senator of the state of Illinios) would inevitably cross paths with him. To link Obama with Ayers simply because they both happened to work on the same charitable fund, does not project any of Ayers particular past actions to Obama or any one else on the panel. In fact, to do so, one might as well associate all University of Illinois staff with Ayers, or proclaim guilt by association to Columbia University, where in 1987 he did receive his Ed.D from Teachers College, Columbia University in Curriculum and Instruction.
Another loose analogy would be to project identical ideological beliefs or the placing of partial guilt by association to past behaviours of members of your churches congregation. The truth is you don't have identical ideological beliefs, and many Christian faiths have amongst their members ex convicts, closet child molesters, etc..like it or not.
This anti-Obama campaign is nothing less then character assassination of a decent and well educated man. If one were to look into Barack Obama's history, you would find that he has been involved in numerous philanthropic activities, and most significantly being the fact that he is a Civil Rights attorney.
Lastly, the most outrageous accusations against Obama has come in the form of his being a Socialist. For only in America is socialism a dirty word! For those of you who do not trust the government, then why do you campaign for anyone in government at all? You claim Obama to be a socialist because he wants to instill a National Health Insurance, but you say, "not with my dollars you're not!" How selfish is that? If you give to charity at all then why not give the charity to the people in our own country who are literally dying due to lack of health insurance? And believe me, these people who have no medical insurance and can't afford to pay for the ridiculously high costs of medical care ( despite having health insurance ) effects you more than you think. For this is the number one reason for the rising health care costs, and not litigation. In fact, a national health insurance would provide hospitals with actual payments for services rendered, which will inevitably drive down medical care costs. I think it is immoral to deny a society the right to affordable healthcare. Healthcare, if any industry at all, should be one augmented by the government. If you are unwilling to support this, then I say, that it is you who are un-American.
If I were president, not only would I support a Universal Health insurance, but I would give tax cuts only to those employers who offer benefits to their employees - and the greater the benefits they provide, the larger their tax cuts. I would also penalize businesses for not supplying their employees with benefits in the form of higher taxes. I think that this is the best way to avoid the abuse of corporate welfare, and still maintain a capitalist society. Discourage the greed, and encourage social utility. Americans need to stop thinking in terms of us vs them, and start thinking of ourselves as a unified people, and a humane people as well.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Jennifer, you really outdid yourself this time. That's a lot of red meat for one article. :-) But I'll try to respond point by point.This election has indeed been divisive and the media has been mostly to blame. We have the ultra-liberal MSNBC on one side and the ultra-conservative Fox News on the other. Each, helped along by the respective candidates, are distorting the issues in this campaign. One side falsely depicts McCain as an eratic (read too old), tempermental, advocate of corporate welfare while other side falsely depicts Obama as inexperienced, a socialist, and a friend of terrorists.I agree that it is wrong to level charges of guilt by association if that association is merely casual.Although Obama is not a socialist, many of his policies involve redistribution of wealth schemes. Not good. While he doesn't advocate a true system of government-run universal healthcare like Hillary does (thank God she lost in the primaries), Obama does want to give government healthcare to people who don't get it from their employers or can't afford it. Where will the money come from unless he taxes the heck out of all the rest of us?Now, a word to those who are are credulous enough to believe the kooks who claim that Obama will paint the White House black, or that he is a Muslim, or that he is a terrorist, or that he his is dangerous, or that he would somehow sell our country out: You are too stupid to vote. The Republican Party will continue on its downward spiral until it disowns people like you and the kooks who have beguiled you.At any rate, I'm voting for Chuck Baldwin.Why on earth would you say, people like you? Are you implying me to be amongst that group? For I don't see how, as I've explicitly denounced those people as well.As far as taxing the hell out of us, this is also not true. What could be done is simply doing away with other certain government funded programs that are ineffective. It calls for a redistribution of taxes.Also, I'm not so sure that I agree with increasing taxes for the rich either, because these people ( business owners) will only inevitably keep their deep pockets, and delegate the losses by laying off more staff instead. It's all greed based. What might help, would rather significantly decreasing the tax burdens for those making less than 100,000/year or possibly even 250,000 year, in order to promote the economy by allowing for the rise in ability to pay for products and services that may otherwise be unaffordable.Americans pay one of the lowest taxes int the world, I believe the cap to be 35%. What we need to do is allow for more spending. And we need to lower healthcare costs, as it is literally killing us. Social Security and Medicare is projected to go bankrupt by 2040. We need to stop the rising costs of healthcare NOW. Inevitably, the rise in taxes would be less than the cost one would pay for healthcare anyway. It is a win win situation, and it is absolutely unavoidable. We simply must address this, as it is increasing bankruptcy claims, increasing the chances of medical errors due to the stretching of hospital staffing, which gives rise to litigatious pursuits. Just you wait and see when you are the one suffering from a medical condition that is costly to treat.I also think we should place sanctions on corporations that hire the majority of their employees overseas, and grant large incentives to the ones that do employ American citizens. We need to increase our exports and minimize our imports.The only way out of this economic crisis that we are in is to increase spending, not promoting underconsumption. This is up to the buyers. But if the buyers can no longer afford the goods, the supply and demand will be disrupted, and businesses will inevitably fold.
Since you are the author of this article, you may Remove this comment.Jennifer, I clearly wasn’t talking to you when I made the “people like you” comments. I prefaced those remarks with “And now a word to those who are credulous enough to believe …” That obviously does not apply to you. Go back and read it in context and note the colon after “… or that he would somehow sell our country out” and before “You are too stupid to vote.”Let me deal with your first paragraph first. I clearly was not talking to you when I made the "people like you" comments. I prefaced my comments with "And now a word to those who are credulous enough to believe ... " Go back and read it in context. It obviously does not apply to you. One cannot simply grab words out of context and run with them. That's what the media does all the time. You, on the other hand, know better that.
Jennifer a really good article. What system we prefer not the real issue basic morality and core values yes, that is. People are divided over wealth and power, fact. Yes and the media on both sides are the propaganda that fuels the car. Now I come from a different era when all you say in your closing argument was America. 40 days vacation with all the holiday's, a 40 hour work week, no wekends,retirement plan, free medical, yes lunch, dental, etc and my employer still made money. Yes and I'm not so old a man. A miracle, no, just a different age. Yes still made money and in a Capitalistic system. That is in my opinion at the core of our problems. Not free trade, fair trade, not a one world system a system that takes care of people. How much is enough? No, in my opinion there hasn't been and won't ever be a perfect system devised by man. The system that works for all is the system that takes care of the average people, the poor, those in need. We have lost sight of that in every age. I'm sorry, the conflict rages between the have and the have not, it always has. The have want more and will grab it and do not care to part with it so g9overnment does it for them. Yes, it is as simple as that. If there were eauity in it all we would not be responding to you and I wouldn't be writing. Best wishes.Yes, I know. i admit and regret having made some comments on anti obama articles out of passion. Now i realise just how this is instigating so much hate between us.I've often thought about those days that you describe, when we were more of a mixed socialist-capitalist society, and often people refer to those days as much less crime ridden.I really fear for the future generations that are being reared more and more into an competitive, materialistic America. When kids are killing their fellow students in middle class suburban neighborhoods, what hope is there? ADHD was never an issue in previous generations, and now kids are routinely placed on various psych meds. It scares and saddens me. We can't even enjoy Halloween, which has been a favourite holiday amongst children for generations.And now our senior citizens are forced into positions of having to choose between paying for prescribed medications or their rents and utilities or even for food. I fear for my mother's retirement.Many people who have good health by chance, have no idea of just how expensive healthcare really is in this country. My own niece and her husband, both young and fully employed are offered no health insurance by their companies. I fear for their safety.America is not a safe place to be poor in anymore. And it is a sad thing that our military is by far and away composed of young adults who come from poor families. They risk their own lives just to get an education, whereas the wealthy have not that concern.We are not created equal. People are not given the same propensities to succeed in life, but the ones that do have to go through extraordinary lengths to acheive success. To me, they are truly the most successful people - people who have overcome extraordinary obstacles, but they are few and far between.We need to start thinking of eachother more as fellow human beings, and fellow Americans. Investing our taxes in healthcare and education is wise for the future and stability of this country. And as far as my proposition of granting tax incentives to those companies that give their employees the most generous benefits is also win-win, as happy employees are productive employees. And productivity increases the overall GDP. We need to think in these terms, i.e., what is just and humane is best for all.Thank you so much for stopping by,JenniferJennifer an excellent reply. It is really in the hands of the young like yourself. We older have messed it up big time and we still do. For the General Welfare is what I believe in. Have we done that, no. Any system that takes care of those less fortunate is a good system. If you noticed I have switched to my personal beliefs because well I see no other answer. Certainly mankind hasn't produced any that lasts even with the smartest of intelligence. I ask no one to accept my beliefs nor condemn them for theirs. I will disagree but not condemn. But I do know this, unless we focus on the General Welfare and a fair and equitable way to do that, we all lose. You have a right to be concerned about your grandparents, your future and your loved ones. It is gone as we knew it. WE yes all of us me included, have allowed it. Only through our making change, not in one person, but in each state will there be the change we all demand. Keep stirring the pot with your beliefs it is what the system has been forged on and we all learn from one another.
Jennifer,What we have in this country is socialism for the elite, including the wealthy and corporate giants like Exxon Mobil who exploit those who are average middle class Americans. If I see one more advertisement for T. Boone Pickens or Chevron talking about clean energy I am going to puke. Poor people at McCain rallies are actually clapping as he pitches his economic plan that disses them - ill-informed voters you think? The silence over the economic implications of the wars is deafening. Did we forget the cost in lives and billions of dollars we are spending to prop up the Iraqi government? I am still waiting for McCain to wave the flag of military victory. Is the mission NOW accomplished? Excellent article. Keep it up.yes, the extraordinary cost of the war is another example of wrongly allocated taxes. If we can remove ourselves from the mess, we can reduce the accumulating debt. Not to mention the criminal exploitation of our tax paying dollars being given to Halliburton.Oh, that Anonymous person down below was me! I was in such a hurry I forgot to post my name..
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