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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTheir Real Goal: To Make Us All So Cynical About Government, We Give Up (Robert Reich)
http://robertreich.org/post/63417612450Their Real Goal: To Make Us All So Cynical About Government, We Give Up
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013
An old friend who has been active in politics for more than thirty years tells me hes giving up. I cant stomach whats going on in Washington anymore, he says. The hell with all of them. I have better things to do with my life.
My friend is falling exactly into the trap that the extreme right wants all of us to fall into such disgust and cynicism that we all give up on politics. Then theyre free to take over everything.
...
Their real goal is far more insidious. They want to sow even greater cynicism about the capacity of government to do much of anything. The shutdown and possible default are only the most recent and most dramatic instances of terminal gridlock, designed to get people like my friend to give up.
...
Its a vicious cycle. As average Americans give up on government, they pay less attention to what government does or fails to do thereby making it easier for the moneyed interests to get whatever they want: tax cuts for themselves and their businesses; regulatory changes that help them but harm employees, consumers, and small investors; special subsidies and other forms of corporate welfare. And these skewed benefits only serve to confirm the publics cynicism.
...
If you believe the fix is in and the game is rigged, and that a handful of billionaires and their Tea Party puppets are destroying our government, do something about it. Rather than give up, get more involved. Become more active. Make a ruckus. Its our government, and the most important thing you can do for yourself, your family, your community, and the future, is to make it work for all of us.
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Their Real Goal: To Make Us All So Cynical About Government, We Give Up (Robert Reich) (Original Post)
Mass
Oct 2013
OP
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)1. You can't drown the government in a bath tub unless people HATE it.
The GOP has been trying to destroy the government for about 30 years.
And the media helps.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)2. k&r thanks for posting. nm