There are three items in the New York Times today worth taking a look at: Joe Nocera, Charles M. Blow, and a Times editorial.
In reverse order, the Times looks at the Roberts Court and its willingness to ride roughshod over its own rules and legal precedent to carry out the agenda of its conservative members by fiat - because they can.
The conservative majority strode into the center of the bitter debate about right-to-work laws preventing unions in 23 states from requiring nonmembers to pay any union expenses, including those supporting collective bargaining that benefits nonmembers. It used this narrow case to insert itself into that political controversy when there was no reason to do so.
Blow looks at the school kids tormenting an elderly bus monitor and makes a direct comparison to the behavior of conservatives these days.
Whether it is a Republican debate audience booing a gay soldier or Rush Limbaugh’s vicious attack on a female Georgetown law student or Newt Gingrich’s salvos at the poor, bullying has become boilerplate. Hiss and taunt. Tease and intimidate. Target your enemies and torture them mercilessly. Maintain primacy through predation.
Nocera looks at how a small group of investors use the power of borrowed money to loot a corporation again and again, at the expense of employees and regular shareholders.
Financial engineering has been part of the Burger King story for so long that it’s hard to believe there is still anything worth plucking from its carcass. “It’s been run as a cash cow for Wall Street,” said Bob Goldin, an executive vice president of Technomic, a food service consulting firm. Along the way it’s had 13 chief executives in 25 years, numerous strategy shifts and marketing campaigns — and has been constantly starved for cash. But, hey, the private equity guys got theirs. And isn’t that what really matters?
If you want a common theme in all of this, it's Bullies Behaving Badly. Behind it all is the power of Big Money to buy want it wants - because it can and who is going to stop it? The Republicans have been riding on the Politics of Resentment for decades. (Here's an expert at work) The Politics of Resentment is all about harnessing everyone's inner bully and giving it a target to turn it loose on, tempered with the narcissism and false victimhood in which bullies love to cloak themselves. "He/she was asking for it." "Who do they think they are?" "I'm just getting what I deserve."
It's closely coupled with anger and fear, a perversion of the Fight or Flight reflex. It's a handy way to get people to fight against their own self interest, which is why it's also known as the Politics of Division. (If you want to see how it works, go here, and scroll down to the poster for the character White Rage. Click on it to see the larger image.)
If you compare the behavior of the Democratic Party with the Republican Party, it's hard not to see the Bully dynamic at work. How often do you hear the stories about school kids getting terrorized repeatedly - because people with the power and responsibility to act turned a blind eye because they wanted to avoid conflict, were in denial about the problem or were intimidated by the parents of the bullies? How often do the victims get blamed for somehow 'provoking' what happened to them? How often do the victims get told to 'just ignore them and they'll go away?" How often are the victims told "find some way to work with them and they'll stop being a problem." How easy is it to ignore what's happening because doing something about it would take time and effort that is in short supply for what is bound to be unpleasant?
Sound anything like politics as usual?
You know, it's one thing for the Republicans and their corporate - religious - authoritarian leaders to gin up resentment and division with pandering, propaganda, and paranoia. It's quite another for the victims of all this to suffer leaders who ignore legitimate reasons for resentment and division for the sake of some illusion of comity and concord. The problem of bullying is not susceptible to passive solutions. It takes recognition of the problem, a willingness to say so, and the determination to take active measures to stamp it out.
The Republicans have been perfecting their media machine and their messaging for decades. They win by mobilizing their troops and demoralizing their targets. Turn on FOX, Rush, Beck, Hannity, etc. etc. You'll hear a constant stream of taunting, lies, insults, and false victimhood. You'll hear any opposing voices that manage to break through momentarily instantly shouted down and cut off. They have incorporated bullying into their DNA - and they're not afraid to use it.
Contrast that with the tepid support for Occupy Wall Street from the establishment that should have been on its side. Damn few Democratic politicians turned out to support it; the party distanced itself from what was and is a genuine spontaneous uprising against the bullying ordinary people experience every day, the bullying that is the driving engine of Wall Street and conservatives. The Tea Party enjoyed the backing of billionaires funding them in the shadows and pointing them at targets. Occupy Wall Street was actively suppressed by the forces of Homeland Security and the rest of the police state apparatus put together by the bullies who ran the country (badly) up until 2008. And yet this suppression has come with covert support from the highest levels of the administration. Who is playing who here?
If that wasn't bad enough, we get the Very Serious People intoning that both sides do it and our problems would all be solved if we would all just come together and forget our differences. (Conveniently forgetting those NOT on the agenda of the aggressors.)
Look, aggression is part of our heritage as naked apes (or fallen angels if you prefer). We need it for survival, to focus our attention, to provide the energy to overcome obstacles and mobilize our resources. We need it to counter aggression coming from others. But, like government it is neither good nor evil of itself. It's a tool and we have the responsibility to use it wisely and effectively. We have the responsibility to put it down when other tools will serve us better, but that goes along with the complementary responsibility to use it when appropriate. A tool that never gets taken out of the tool box is effectively useless.
IF the Democratic party wants to pick up a meme that can resonate with Americans and people of like minds, IF the Democratic party is not afraid to recognize it has an opponent that has crossed the bounds of legitimate political behavior, one that constantly acts in bad faith and recognizes no legitimacy other than its own, THEN we have an opportunity. I propose we make bullying an issue. It's practically crying out to be recognized. And the message can be as powerful as we dare to make it. Have a look at how it could work.
Do you recognize bullying?
Do you remember what it was like to be teased back in school, the hurtful names, the ridicule? The taunting, the shouting down until you ran in tears? Do you wonder why your friends didn't say anything, or even joined in?
Do you ever listen to conservative talk radio? Does it remind you of anything? Do you find yourself repeating some of the same talking points - as long as they're not aimed at you? Do you maybe understand your friends back in school now?
Did you enjoy it when certain kids told you where you could sit in the cafeteria? Did you like having to give them your dessert for a little peace, or even all your lunch money?
Do you like it when a big box store comes into your community, demands to build where and how it wants, and uses your tax money for roads, utilities, and protective services while demanding tax breaks so it can send more money off to corporate headquarters? Do you ever wonder how local businesses feel as they watch their tax dollars being used to put them out of business?
Did you enjoy getting picked last for sports? Did you enjoy seeing others kids picked first because they were 'cool' or were friends of the team captain, or were just really good at sucking up, not because they were better players than you? Did you like being the first one targeted at dodgeball?
Do you like working at a job (if you can get one) where getting hired is easier for some people? Do you like seeing people being rewarded for who they know, what school they went to, who their parents were - rather than what they know or can do? Do you worry about who will be first out the door if things go sour - and who will walk away with a golden parachute?
Did you ever have a favorite toy or a nice thing to wear that somebody made fun of or tried to take away from you? Did you ever get upset because some people had really cool stuff handed to them - and kept getting more while you were told to be good and wait your turn? Which never seemed to come? Were you told to stop complaining and making trouble? Were you ever made to sit time out because you were getting your friends upset too?
Do you get upset when you're told you really don't deserve social security or health insurance, that it's your own fault? Do you think it's fair you've been busting your butt at work for years to do more with less - yet you're not seeing anything in your paycheck as a reward? Are you worried about getting fired just for asking your co-workers if there isn't some way you could all get a fairer deal? Do you wonder why banks that got rewarded with billions for making really bad decisions refuse to give you a loan because you might do something imprudent with the money? Do you like it when they suddenly raise their fees and throw extra charges at your account?
Did you ever see two kids fighting at school, surrounded by a bunch of kids egging them on? How often did those kids really want to fight - but had to because the people in the crowd wanted them to and would make fun of them if they didn't? How often did those kids end up in the principal's office in trouble - and how often did the kids pushing them into it get away scot free and with a good laugh?
Ever wonder why we always seem to be at war with somebody, or about to go with war with somebody. Ever notice those calling loudest for it are those one who will be farthest from the front lines - if they're not making money supplying the conflict? Ever notice how many of those nasty people we're supposed to hate seem to have their own leaders egging them on to hate us? What's up with that.
Do you remember how certain kids could get away with anything, how their parents had everyone afraid? Do you remember how they could shut anyone up with a constant stream of lies and abuse? Do you remember how they always seemed to get what they wanted, just because they were louder than anyone else? Did you notice how they made outcasts out of anyone they didn't like, people who didn't kiss their butts enough? Did you notice they didn't seem to value anything because they could buy everything?
Do you wonder where the flood of nasty attacks come from these days? Do you wonder why some people and some groups are constantly attacked? Do you wonder why the same faces keep popping up in politics? Does it seem like money is everywhere - except in your corner or your pockets? Do you wonder why things don't work any more or are falling apart - but some people seem to be doing really well?
Bullying.
It's not just in the school yards everywhere. It's in the workplace. It's on TV and radio. It's all over politics. It's wherever money talks - and these days it bellows.
American got going as a country because our founding fathers had a bullying problem. They had an England that was constantly shaking them down for money, dissing them as backward, poor, lazy, and threatening them with their army and navy. We worked together, and we did something about that.
But bullying hasn't gone away. If anything it's worse today. Bullies have always had power and money on their side. They have always used fear, intimidation, and lies. They'll take everything you let them, and turn you against your friends so you'll be left alone and powerless against them. They'll try to make you angry - at the wrong people so you don't realize who is pulling your strings. They'll make you afraid - and use your fear to control you.
You can always tell where bullies are in charge. A few people are doing really well. The rest are suffering and often at each other's throats, instead of those holding them down. There is no progress, no justice, no mercy, no hope.
The answer is simple. Look past the unthinking fear, the anger they use to control you. Look in the mirror, at the people around you and realize this will continue only as long as you permit them to divide you for their profit. This can be a rich world for all who are willing to deal in respect and fairness, all who are willing to give as well as get. This is what America was founded on, this is what America can be again.
Forward.