The Republican Party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Hoover, Eisenhower, and Reagan bears no resemblance to the New Party of Trump. Somewhere between the 1860s and about 1936, the Democratic party of small government became the party of big government, and the Republican party of big government became rhetorically committed to restricting federal power. I say rhetorically in this instance because while they have been successful in removing many restrictions on big business they have more recently used the power of the federal government to stifle competition and restrict entrepreneurship and new business. More recently, the old Republican Party has devolved to become more racist while the Democratic Party, formerly famous for the 1948 splinter group of the segregationist Dixiecrats, has become the champion of minorities. As arguably the greatest poet of the 20th century stated, “For the times they are a-changin'.”
Link to YouTube Video of Performance |
The Times They Are A-Changin'
by Bob Dylan
by Bob Dylan
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
For the times they are a-changin'. Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
The New Republican Party, or NRP, is using a divisive new mouthpiece to obtain many of their personal goals. Many Republicans would probably tell you, off-the-record, that they don’t approve of many of his methods, but they will enjoy the ride while it lasts. While both parties have been guilty of legislation that benefits them personally, the NRP is currently taking this greed to new heights. With both recently enacted legislation and proposals outlined for the immediate future, our lives will be irreparably changed.
The NRP is attacking what I call the Non-Wealthy Class (N-WC) to the betterment and enrichment of the Wealthy Class (WC, not to be confused with Water Closet even though there are similarities). This newly defined N-WC or Non-Wealthy Class is a better classification for analysis as the former middle-class migrates to an amalgam of poor, soon to be poor, and the never quite affluent enough to retire. The bullet points below outline my predictions for what this legislation and other actions of the NRP will achieve for the wealthy:
· Restrictions on affordable healthcare will kill off those who are not wealthy so they will not be a burden to wealthy society. As long as there are enough N-WC’s around to bag their groceries, build their yachts, clean their homes, grow their food, and cook and serve their meals, the WC will be content.
· A good formal education will be inordinately expensive so as to restrict access to the wealthy so they can maintain their status through future generations. Basic education will be restricted so that the N-WC’s will only have access to enough training to allow them to serve the wealthy, i.e., the new slavery.
· Tax reforms will benefit the wealthy and shift a disproportionate share of the tax burden to the N-WC. While large corporations can afford teams of tax lawyers to sometimes get their taxes to zero (Amazon, Trump?), new entrepreneurs without such legal tax advice will be at an extreme disadvantage and destined to fail.
· In order to preserve control of their political power, the NRP will use gerrymandering, voter suppression, the advantage of the Electoral College, and the Big Lie (outlandish statements repeated often). By lowering the tax burden of big business, the NRP guarantees more campaign finance contributions to ensure their re-election.
· Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other social programs will be curtailed to make more money available for those programs that benefit the wealthy.
· Wages will be suppressed so that the cost of goods and services for the WC will be lower. This forces employees into tax supported social programs where the WC enjoy major tax advantages.
· The NRP will allow their president to lie to the American public without challenge to divide the nation and make it easier to control. With fear of job loss, gun loss, false national pride, and a loss of white supremacy, the masses can be coerced to vote to maintain the NRP.
· Money will be spent building a wall on the Mexican border to support the Big Lie that we are under attack, that this will make major inroads toward solving our drug problem, and that it will drastically curb illegal immigration.
· The NRP will continue to make judicial appointments that favor both the WC and evangelicals. While it is easy to understand the greed of the WC, I find the hypocrisy of this latter group to be mind-numbing. The evangelicals will tolerate and even make excuses for the behavior of the most non-Christian presidential leader this country has ever had in order to further their agenda. While Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Johnson had no declared religious affiliation, neither exhibited a callous disregard for a common morality.
· The NRP will continue to make judicial appointments that favor both the WC and evangelicals. While it is easy to understand the greed of the WC, I find the hypocrisy of this latter group to be mind-numbing. The evangelicals will tolerate and even make excuses for the behavior of the most non-Christian presidential leader this country has ever had in order to further their agenda. While Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Johnson had no declared religious affiliation, neither exhibited a callous disregard for a common morality.
The poor and soon-to-be-poor are more easily controlled with promises. Elusive reforms may be dangled at election time to thunderous applause. The NRP’s claim to “love the under-educated” is a testimony to the fact that they are easier to manipulate. Such a goal is just as despicable as the old “keep them barefoot and pregnant” adage for spousal control.