QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
“No man is an island, entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.”
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
1624
SENSE AND NONSENSE – COMMUNITY AND RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM
From the editor: This column is the fourth in our series on “Dangerous Lines to Cross.”
The February column discussed the line between rich and poor. The March issue focused upon the line between journalism and propaganda. The April issue looked at the line between critical thinking and magical thinking. In this issue, we examine the line between community and rugged individualism.
Community
At 2:46 p.m., March 11, 2011, the first of three major disasters hits the island nation of Japan. An 8.9 earthquake strikes Japan. The quake shakes items off grocery-store shelves in Tokyo, 190 miles to the south of the quake’s epicenter. The Fukushima nuclear plant, with six separate reactors, is just 40 miles southwest of the epicenter.
Residents of villages on the northeast coast hear warnings of a possible tsunami. They do not know they have less than 30 minutes to escape to higher ground before 45-foot waves hit their homes and businesses. The ocean will eventually rise from sea level to 182 feet above sea level. The coastal town of Sendai is directly in its path. The earthquake and tsunami kill 13,000 people with another 14,000 still missing.
But the worst is not over. The tsunami has rendered generators at the nuclear plant useless, and the back-up battery system that provides electricity to water pumps for cooling the core of the nuclear reactors reaches its limits. The pools in which spent fuel rods are stored begin to heat up. The water evaporates and hydrogen gas begins to accumulate. One day after the tsunami hit the plant, the roof blows off nuclear reactor #1, injuring 4 plant workers. On March 14, unit #3 also explodes injuring 9 people. Surviving residents within 20 miles of the plant are evacuated. Non-essential employees of the plant are told to leave, but 50 specialists heroically volunteer to stay and work around the clock in the highly radioactive environment.
The meltdown of some nuclear fuel pellets occurs at Units #1, #2, and #3 when the fuel rods reach temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Seawater is pumped into all three reactors – an unavoidable last-ditch decision that permanently destroys all three reactors.
The only thing that is not destroyed in this series of natural and man-made disasters is the spirit of the Japanese people and a devotion to their cultural belief in the power of community. To survive, they turn to each other for help.
Rugged Individualism
The poster child for rationalizing and romanticizing the concept of rugged individualism is author Ayn Rand. Her novels, “Fountainhead,” published in 1943, and “Atlas Shrugged,” written in 1957, have become required reading for some decision-makers in this country. Rand’s novels glorify elitism and promote a remarkable level of arrogance, greed, and self-centeredness while labeling these vices “enlightened self-interest.”
Rand’s notions have been adopted by such notables as ex-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and the young, dimple-faced Republican congressman Paul Ryan. A non-profit libertarian conclave called The Cato Institute, founded by the Koch brothers, calls its newly hired analysts “virgins” if they have not read “Atlas Shrugged.”.
Rand acolytes believe in the rant of John Galt, the protagonist in “Atlas Shrugged.” Galt summarizes his elitist bent and reveals his disdain for those less fortunate: “The man at the top of the intellectual pyramid contributes the most to all those below him…The man at the bottom who, left to himself, would starve in his hopeless ineptitude, contributes nothing to those above him, but receives the bonus of all their brains.”
Rep. Paul Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” budget is just one example of the fruit that Ayn Rand’s iconic fictional characters have produced. Ryan maintains that his plan does not privatize Medicare when, in fact, it does precisely that. Ryan says that Medicare under his proposal is just like the health insurance enjoyed by eight million federal employees including congressmen. NOT TRUE! Federal employees have a fixed benefit plan in which the government pays a fixed share of premiums that keeps pace with rising health care costs. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says, under Ryan’s plan, Medicare would pay a shrinking share of the total health costs of beneficiaries, and seniors would pay a growing share. That is because Medicare beneficiaries would receive coverage through private insurance plans unprotected from rising health care costs. Adding insult to injury, the government would use taxpayer monies to subsidize those private insurance entities.
Ayn Rand died in 1982. But Republicans have adopted her elitism and hatred of government as social gospel. Paradoxically, their gospel lacks what it claims to represent: “enlightened self-interest.”
Maynard Chapman, Editor
The Compass Newsletter
IF I WAS RUNNING FOR POLITICAL OFFICE
From the editor: IF, in a moment of weakness, I decided to run for political office at any level of government, my campaign theme would be “I’m Your Candidate and I’m Dumb as a Stump.”
My campaign platform would include the following “planks”:
I’m too dumb to figure out that tax cuts for the rich and tax loopholes for corporations should be labeled “welfare.”
I’m too dumb to figure out that money does not “trickle” down from the rich. If I have money in my pocket, it comes from hard work.
I’m too dumb to figure out the end of the world probably will not occur in my lifetime.
I’m too dumb to figure out that if someone offers me a choice between ‘their way or the highway,’ I should choose the highway.
I’m too dumb to figure out that greenhouse gases do not refer to local nursery employees with digestive problems.
I’m too dumb to figure out that the earth is more than 6,000 years old.
I’m too dumb to figure out that the opportunity for upward mobility should exist for all rungs on the income ladder – not just the top rung.
I’m too dumb to figure out that Donald Trump is a cartoon character rather than a serious political candidate. (However, by getting publicity, he does prove that he is smarter than the media that covers him).
I’m too dumb to figure out that Medicare protects seniors from poverty.
I’m too dumb to figure out that attaching the profit motive to health care is like attaching a fuse to a time bomb, and it will explode when lit.
I’m too dumb to figure out that Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Ohio governor John Kasich are bought and paid for. (They join Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner on the oil and gas payroll).
I’m too dumb to figure out that Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is an Ayn Rand disciple who believes he is smarter than his constituents.
I’m too dumb to figure out that President Obama was born in Hawaii – even after he secures an exception to Hawaiian state law to release his “long form” birth certificate.
I’m too dumb to figure out that Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and his son Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky don’t believe in government even though they both have chosen government as a profession.
I’m too dumb to figure out that Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform (ATF) and Dick Armey of Freedom Works are toxic plutocrats who aspire to become autocrats.
I’m too dumb to know what “plutocrats” and “autocrats” are.
I’m too dumb to figure out that the best way to prevent abortions is through the safe use of contraceptives.
I’m too dumb to figure out that violence begets violence and torture begets torture.
I’m too dumb to figure out that former vice president Dick Cheney and former defense secretary Don Rumsfeld should be charged with war crimes, and Karl Rove and others should be arrested for revealing the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
I’m too dumb to figure out that people with guns kill people, and I’m dumb enough to believe the NRA’s claim that guns don’t kill people.
I’m too dumb to figure out that I don’t need an AK-47 assault rifle to harvest a deer or elk during hunting season.
And, finally, I deserve your vote because, like you, I vote the way Fox News tells me to vote.
GOD BLESS AMERICA – PLEASE!!
PRESIDENT OBAMA DRAWS A LINE IN THE SAND
From the editor: The two most important questions for a negotiator are (1) where do I draw the line? and (2) when do I draw it? President Obama drew a verbal line in the sand when he outlined his budget on April 13, 2011.
He said, “They (Republicans) want to give people like me a $200,000 tax cut that’s paid for by asking 33 seniors to each pay $6,000 more in health costs. That’s not right. And it’s not going to happen as long as I’m President.”
“In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. We can’t afford it. AND I REFUSE TO RENEW THEM AGAIN.”
Copyright © 2011, The Compass Society
www.compasssocietynews.com
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