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ENVY

Let me start things off by taking my own whack at the now well-thrashed piñata of Mitt Romney’s latest pronouncement, that complaints of widening inequality are simply “envy.” I think that to some extent, in the current political climate, this attempt by Romney to claim the crown for “most out-of-touch presidential candidate since George Bush, Sr.” needs no real rebuttal; by all means let him self-destruct. Those taking the occasion to make or repeat useful points about inequality, meanwhile, have already done a fine job.

But I thought of one more point, yesterday, which I think is interesting enough to record here; I think this might be a good response if one were in a debate with Romney (and actually wished to contest his dismissal of inequality). A bit long for a genuinely good sound-bite, probably, but oh well. Here goes:

Think about it this way, Mitt. Imagine you have a friend who plans to start a company. He’s going to need a lot of start-up capital for this enterprise, say $200 million. So you and, say, 98 other friends all go in as investors; not necessarily in equal shares but all 100 people have contributed something to this project. The $200M total is reached, the company is launched, and huzzah! your investments produce a success. Or, that is, they produce growth, but not for 99% of those who made that growth possible, you included. Certainly, the amount of initial contributions varied so one would likewise expect investors’ shares of the growth to vary, but everyone should receive something. Except that 99% are receiving absolutely nothing, with all of the growth going to the enrichment of just 1 in 100, the CEO having through some chicanery or other arranged to keep all the company’s growth to himself. This is entirely contrary to how things were supposed to work, themes of “a rising tide lifts all boats” and “everyone in this together” having been constantly repeated when money was being collected. And so, naturally, you and the rest of the 99% intend to protest this outcome, vocally and aggressively. Asked to respond to your charges, the CEO shrugs disdainfully, waves his hand and pronounces them “just envy.”

And undoubtedly, Romney’s warped corporations-are-people perspective would find various reasons why this is an invalid parallel. He still insists that Romneycare and Obamacare are completely different, after all. But I’m not sure he convinces anyone else. (more…)

Is it just me, or has Ohio’s governor-elect John Kasich been one of the busiest governors-in-waiting ever? It seems like scarcely a day has gone by, since the election, without that goofy mug and bad hair appearing alongside some news item about another pronouncement from the man. Perhaps it’s just the contrast with Ted Strickland, who was all-but-invisible the last year or so of his term. Kasich does at least seem like a relative dynamo, in comparison; I must admit that much.

Alas, he also seems exactly like the aggressively know-nothing, atavistic, brainless ultrareactionary which he seemed like as a candidate and which seems to be the model GOP candidate these days. A more energetic clone of Dick Cheney, basically. Or perhaps a right-wing Incredible Hulk; “HULK SMASH PUNY LIBERALISM” could really sum up the essential beliefs and policies of modern American conservatism.

We’ve already had Kasich’s pointless, mindless knee-jerk announcement that he’ll abort Ohio’s planned modest passenger rail line, presumably just because passenger rail service seems “socialist” and un-American, even French. By god, Ohio will not be the beachhead for any threats to America’s single-occupant-SUV-on-crowded-freeway or slow-and-humiliating-line-at-the-airport only transportation system. Nosir.

As for the rising price of oil, well, apparently we’ll solve that by “drilling for oil and gas under state parkland,” and as for the environment? Fuck it! I’m just going to quote at length from the Plain Dealer article, here, because so much of it would probably otherwise sound unbelievable: (more…)

So, one of the 100-some categories which have been created in SB’s WordPress system is “Year in Review.” Apparently it’s been used before not once, but twice: two years ago both Charlie and Josh assigned a post to this category. Given that it’s there, then, and that fast away the old year passeth, I suppose I might as well do a 2010 Year in Review of sorts.

I think the lead item, at least in reflecting on 2010, has to be The Gulf Oil Spill by BP.

Be honest, now: it’s hard to even believe that was this year, isn’t it? It feels like it was all so long ago, though of course the consequences are still playing out and will probably continue to do so for years. But it’s long-gone from the public consciousness, in sharp contrast to the weeks (which seemed like months) during which it was a full-scale four-alarm national obsession.

And at this point it’s really hard to avoid wondering, at least quietly, if it might all have been a bit of an overreaction…? Personally I think that it was, and at the same time, was just the opposite. (more…)