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Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Essay: Our American elites – Part 3 Our contemporary Republican party

Information and comments on the essay:


Our American elites – Part 3 Our contemporary Republican party

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

Find out more, including where to buy books and ebooks

Read or download this essay as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKd0Uzbm9mSHlHV3c/edit?usp=sharing

#GOP #TeaParty

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Our American elites – Part 3
Our contemporary Republican party


I would like to have one more go at the effects of the core philosophies of the elites among us. I have described those working from an early “Puritan Ethic” of community betterment and their opposite, those working from an early “Plantation Ethic” of being above the law with the freedom to control and exploit others and their property at will. How is this playing out in 2012?

The Republican Party seems to have been seized by elites with the Plantation Ethic during the past few decades. They love their money and privilege and will do anything to protect their private advantages. They have been preaching a host of destructive circular arguments. Here are a few examples:

They describe government as being out of control and being the root of all evil. They say that government needs to be slashed, reduced, and killed. No joke. Grover Norquist, the lobbyist and conservative “No Taxes” activist said, “… I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” Then they work to

Essay: Ayn Rand and the real parasites Have you swallowed the big fat lie?

Information and comments on the essay:


Ayn Rand and the real parasites Have you swallowed the big fat lie?

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

Find out more, including where to buy books and ebooks

Read or download this essay as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKekdLdF9iVjhBVlk/edit?usp=sharing

#AynRand #Politics #TeaParty 

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Ayn Rand and the real parasites: Have you swallowed the big fat lie?



Do you remember company towns and company stores? Do you believe that the company was just creating jobs and looking out for the best interests of their employees? Do you believe that your niece, struggling to pay her bills with a part-time minimum-wage job, is too stupid to do any better? Is she so ignorant, irresponsible, and inept that she is incapable of contributing to the welfare of her family and community?

Do you believe that feudal lords or plantation owners were the praiseworthy “job creators” for the serfs and slaves of their time? Do you believe that the character of those who

Essay: Will the real patriots please stand up?

Information and comments on the essay:


Will the real patriots please stand up?

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

Find out more, including where to buy books and ebooks

Read or download this essay as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKa1lXMUlGYmJFS1U/edit?usp=sharing

#America #TeaParty #Liberals

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Will the real patriots please stand up?


Teachers train students to evaluate ideas by comparing and contrasting. There seem to be several strongly-contrasting ideas about what patriotism is, so let’s compare them.

Everybody seems to agree that waving and saluting a flag is patriotic. So is praising troops, singing certain songs, and setting off fireworks. I’ll agree that all of that is very nice. Symbols stand for things that have real meaning and showing respect for those symbols is not entirely without meaning. But, what else do you stand for? What personal actions and sacrifices are you willing to take as a patriot?

One vision of patriotism is standing together with existing compatriots to fight against a common enemy. Yes, that is always a good idea. We are, by definition of being “us,” inherently good. And, everyone else is an enemy and therefore always bad. Show these patriots an enemy and they will rally together, crying “death to (whomever),” shaking their fists, and even gunning up to go attack someone. Man, now THAT’S real patriotism.

A first priority for this kind of patriot is to protect their country from foreigners – people who surely want to overrun them or just somehow run them into the ground. Let’s see, that could include