Goodbye, Cruel World

The world would be a better place if the American right wing had never existed. Thousands of Americans and Iraqis would still be alive, tens of thousands or Iraqis would still be living in their own homes. The American economy would not have hopped from bubble to bubble if the right wing had not put all of their faith in deregulation, and American jobs would not have been sent abroad. Our tax dollars would not have flowed upward into the coffers of the rich, and the war machine would not comprise such a large part of our economy. We would have retained the respect of other nations, and not aroused the absolute hatred of those we have attempted to bomb into submission. We would get along better with one another if the right wing had not used tribal hatreds to arouse their base against black people, immigrants, liberals, and the well-educated. Our infrastructure, health care, and schools would be better if the billions spent on futile wars had been spent on domestic needs. The planet would be a better place if our addiction to oil had been broken 25 years ago.

But the issue goes deeper even that these practical matters. We would, in fact, be happier people if the right wing had not terrorized us with their horror-filled systems of belief. The Friedmanites are bad enough -- in their world, there are only winners and losers. Everyone deserves what they get, and if a child who gets melamine in his milk is a victim of "creative destruction", well, too bad, because some rich person is getting a little bit more money. In the capitalist world, you are not just supposed to starve, you are supposed to deserve starving -- insult added to injury, humiliation added pain. Of course, as Naomi Klein has shown, the "free market" is never free at all, it is fixed, by dictators and armies and oligarchs. But the thrust of the propaganda stands. We may call this the "Phil Gramm Position".

As bad as this is, far worse has been the effect of religious fundamentalism on the individual spirit and the national mood. By now, we all know some child (or former child) who has been terrorized by "the Rapture" -- who has come home after school to an empty house, only to panic because he or she is convinced that everyone else has been "raptured up." The left behind one has to reckon with the idea that not only is everyone he or she loves gone, he or she has done something wrong according to Jesus, and failed to deserve salvation. I call this child abuse. The religious right has been determined to enforce the unhappiness of others, no doubt so that that unhappiness will match their own. After all, they want to make sure that gay people understand that no matter how much they pay in taxes, they are second class citizens. They also want to make sure that every woman in the world understands that her interests are secondary to those of any embryo, any man, even, indeed, any sperm cell. This would be the "James Dobson Position".

The God of the right wing, and of the Bible, is a pretty arbitrary guy. He lays down the rules, but you can get those boils or those locusts even if you didn't knowingly do anything wrong, in fact, even if you didn't do anything wrong at all. Your personal God could punish you for something someone else did, as in the Bible he frequently punishes the enemies of Israel, men, women, children, dogs, cats, goats, etc., just for being the enemies of Israel. I love how right wing preachers pray away hurricanes, sending them to places like Bermuda. If your God is arbitrary, then of course you are always anxious and depressed -- your adrenaline is always pumping. And you are never motivated to understand how the world works. But locusts and boils and hurricanes have causes -- physical, medical, and ecological. Society can avoid locusts and boils and even mitigate the effects of hurricanes if it understands cause and effect, but if your God is an arbitrary authoritarian, and your father was an arbitrary authoritarian, then you never truly understand cause and effect in the world we live in. As we all know, no religion has ever successfully answered the problems raised by the issue of an omnipotent God. The best they offer is to forbid questioning, and to punish those who do. Because the right wing experiences the world as cruel and arbitrary, they have no inhibitions about enhancing that cruelty -- as in "Hurricane Katrina", as in "Iraq War", and in "Abu Ghraib".

This is the world we have been living in for the past thirty years.

In a week, we have a chance to leave this world behind. If we look at our two candidates, the differences between them are stark. John McCain, who was raised by and accepts the authoritarian model, is evidently never at peace. He is hot-headed, erratic, and has been remarkably cruel. He claims to have principles, but his principles change every time he loses his cool. The more he is pushed, the more it becomes evident that he lives by his own selfish desires -- for money, for power, for women. He's is a classic avoider, who can't even answer the simplest question -- if something "unpleasant" comes up, he changes the subject. Barack Obama rarely changes the subject, because he is fully capable of looking at an issue and considering it. He seems to have been reared in a non-authoritarian household, by a loving mother and loving grandparents. He thinks that the world is a rational place that can be understood and modified. His own family seems happy and loving. Right wingers think he is shallow, but he isn't shallow -- he's well-adjusted. And we've had two whole years to poke him and prod him and discover this. Obama has grown through campaigning because he has learned from it. McCain gets ever smaller and more weird as he campaigns because he doesn't understand what is happening to him. When we choose between these two men, we are choosing between two worlds -- the world of ignorance, fear, manipulation, and cruelty, and the world of rational investigation, weighing of options, and planning. This world is a world where sexual preference is not such a big deal, salvation is not an eternal mystery, and life goes on. It's a world where bad things happen, but there is no malign Godly intention behind them. It is world that understands the temptations of human nature and attempts to deal with them rationally and systematically. Some of these attempts will fail, but on balance, not as many as have failed in the last twenty-five years.

Most of my friends see the coming election as the most important we have known. The right wing has damaged our country, our livelihoods, our national honor, and our planet, but not yet fatally. If McCain gets elected, that could change.

Comments

[MrJoyboy]

The only truthful Republican campaign sign would read "Ignorance is bliss".

[Hopefulinfl]

Thank you Jane. These right wing evangelicals have to be defeated and defeated now. What concerns me about them is their religious zeal. They will not just go away. They are intent on changing our democratic ways to ft their version of the world. It is part of their purpose in life to convert. That is the part of this group that will not go away. Therefore, we will have to contend with them, unfortunately, for years to come.

[Reau482]

AMEN :))

[realpolitic]

"'McCain" is a classic avoider, who can't even answer the simplest question -- if something "unpleasant" comes up, he changes the subject." So right! I have seen McCain practice this avoidance several times. In an interview, when a poll came up that Palin was hurting the ticket he just really denied the poll. Conservatives have been living in a phony narrative so long where tax cuts for the wealthy do help the economy and where government can cut taxes and still balance the budget that they simply think they can make up alternative information when it suits them. It is why they can not govern. They do not deal in the real world, but in a faux-Fox News world where their polciies actually work. It is getting harder and harder for them to construct this alternative reality. They then fall back on character assasination and division as they always have.

[shirleen01]

Call it like it is..he's old!

[realpolitic]

Worse yet, his ideas are old!

[MadDog]

Amen to that. Very well written article. Yes, the contrasts are distinctive, but the choice is clear. Obama is the only answer.

[KoolBreez]

Beautiful!

[Retro646]

excellent post - and has been forwarded to everyone in my contacts list.




obama/biden '08

[mdowning]

Incredibly well listed, and sadly, true. Thank you?

[pfc1369]

Jane Smiley makes her case as well as anyone I read.

I'm McCain's age, and though I have a very strong sense that the world has changed nearly beyond recognition from the world he and I grew up in, even for me he seems a dreary throwback.

I can't listen to him for 20 seconds without thinking...JV football coach circa 1955...or army captain circa 1963.

He is frozen in amber, still talks in terms of...fight this...fight that...There is not an ounce of genuine reflection to be found in the man. It may damn well just as well be 1959 for all the leadership he displays.
He is from an age that is passing away...now the question is, will the country be even just slightly wiser than it has been for decades...and see that McCain himself fades away?...

[Reau482]

-and don't forget "winning" the war - with how many more dead? and what will be classified as "winning" (using his famous airquotes) I have an 18 year old son, I want these wars to STOP!

[RRG64]

2 Thessalonians 2:3-12

I have frequently wondered how close this is to our current condition.

Let no one in any way deceive you, for {it will not come} unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction

[GrkAm]

Excellent post! Well written and to the point. We need to stop all of the religious hate! Our country was based on freedom of religion, Should these zealots have their way, how many of us would jump on the Evangelical Christian bandwagon.

Remember, the Soviet Union nearly wiped out the Orthodox church during the Cold War. We ARE and have been a country of great diversity from religion to regional differences and everything in between, and we need to remain there!

VOTE for your freedoms. Don't let another Republican administration (ESPECIALLY with McCain/Palin) erode your rights any further!

OBAMA/BIDEN

[BeatUpCarpenter]

You hit the nail on the head!

[aussiegal77]

Great article! You make some excellent points. But may I just say that the right wing god isn't the God of the bible? The God of the bible isn't arbitrary. He doesn't inflict pain and suffering "just because". I think a lot of fundamentalist Christians don't know the God of the bible.

The bible is full of teachings to take care of the world we live in, help others less fortunate than you, love one another, that Jesus came to save ALL (not just the privileged) and most of all - ALL are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Salvation is open to all who would accept Jesus as their saviour.

As a christian - I am deeply angered by the fundamentalist right wing using God to further their culture of Hate, Greed, Hypocrisy, Lies and False Witness. Jesus condemned all of these in no uncertain terms.

I pray that Obama will come to victory Nov 4. I'm tired of being scared. I'm tired of the implication that God only blesses "real" americans. It's all too much and it's all lies. Most of all - I am tired of the Right wing attacking ONE man because his name sounds Muslim and because he is black. It's too much ugliness and I want it to stop. I hope it will soon.

[canucklivinginUSA]

vent your anger, mama

[eirrac]

Aussiegal, I agree with you, and I suspect a lot of others do also. I'm also a Christian, and am angered by what fundamentalist Christians have said and done in the name of their religion. It's certainly not what Jesus would have done, is it?

[glasstech]

Great article and great reply! I am also Christian and absolutely sick to death of that most conservative sector using God to shamelessly lie, steal and cheat their way to absolute power.

I am desperately trying to figure out how the U.S. can invade and occupy a Middle Eastern country -- telling its citizens that they cannot have a "religious" leader but must create a democracy "like ours," while at the same time our right wingers demand that ANY leader elected in the U.S. MUST be Christian (not even sound like a hint of anything BUT Christian)! I keep hearing the very conservative people in my community say "our country was built on the Christian beliefs of our forefathers." That, however, is not true. Our forefathers came here and started this new country built on FREEDOM of religion. Many of them were athiest or agnostic, and very tired of having the State Church of their home country shove down their throats. And when was the last time it worked to legislate morality? Oh, that's right - Never.... I don't understand why there have to be winners and losers when it comes to all issues related to religion and to human rights -- why can't we all be respectful and tolerant of others' beliefs?

I, too, am tired of all the hatred and ugliness. I am very hopeful that with the support of rational people, President Obama will be able to lead us in a new and very good direction.

[MakeAStand]

I agree with Jane 100%. The republicans, at least the right wing evangelical republicans, target the uniformed, the ignorant and of course the racists that dwell among us - they run their campaigns and the nation with a "divide and rule" attitude. They have no problem driving their wedge of hate and fear deeper into the hearts and minds of Americans, a wedge that has been in place for many many years. But at long last Americans are demanding change - and the democrats have risen above the divisive partisan campaigning and finally grasped the old maxim of "united we stand, divided we fall". The GOP needs a face lift, maybe a new hip and a heart transplant and Mr. O'Bama is the surgeon!

[RobChattaTN]

'if a child who gets melamine in his milk is a victim of "creative destruction", well, too bad, because some rich person is getting a little bit more money.'

hate-to-say-but-its-true: same can/should be said about 9/11:
it is simply the 'cost of doing business" (oil profiteering in Saudi Arabia, etc.)
and they don't care!

when americans finally figure it out (and many have)
we'll be going down a very different road:
of respect, freedom, democracy and a much better life for everyone....
someday...