Channeling Anger

Why are so many people angry - Tea Party people, liberal and conservative media hosts, Senators, me - when, for most of us, life is good and we know that it makes us less fun to be with?  

First, fear is a rational emotion when faced with waves of incomprehensible change that Obama's acolytes may believe in, but most of us don't understand - joblessness (initially not his fault, but also not a priority), a scrambled health care system, pending inflation (destroying retirement plans), wild stock market fluctuations, and reduced liberty (due to terrorism and an expanded socialist government.) And that's before scrambling the energy system, the immigration system, and the tax system and moving on to nuclear disarmament and a more equitable world order.  

Fear plus powerlessness leads to anger. The ineptitude of the Republican Party has gotten us to the point where self-identified conservatives outnumber liberals two-to-one, but the liberals control the government. And a year of highly public congressional efforts at health care and financial reform have demonstrated that this is definitely not government "of the people, by the people, for the people."  Any health care cost containment gets shredded by deals to buy support for universal health care coverage; and the bipartisan power of Wall Street money...! 

So, should we just go out and work on our golf game as a psychiatrist friend of mine suggests?  Maybe after November, if the public cannot channel its anger into political change that we can believe in. First, lets find some candidates that we can vote for, not just against.   

 In sifting through California candidates, I've found a moderate Republican advocacy group that does not believe the Tea Party movement is real; a prominent Democratic state senator who doesn't care that his constituents are angry, just that he has low name recognition; a leading Republican gubernatorial candidate who is clearly from the privileged class and doesn't seem to understand what government "by the people" means; and a bunch of other undeserving riff-raff. I've enjoyed being with the people in the Tea Party movement, and have good regard for Republican/Libertarian John Dennis who is running for Nancy Pelosi's seat - but his odds are about like buying a lottery ticket. (Beyond matching San Francisco's warped  ideology, Pelosi delivers billions in earmarks.)   

So, what does one do to get away from the negative?  Thank you Tom Campbell. While Campbell's even-money chance of beating Barbara Boxer would be incentive enough, the larger point is that you couldn't design a better senator - five term Congressman from Silicon Valley (named the most fiscally responsible member of Congress by the National Taxpayer's Union); Harvard Law; University of Chicago Economics PhD (under Milton Friedman); dean of the Cal Berkeley Business School; social moderate - a broadly qualified Senate counterpart for the House's Paul Ryan.  Californians who want to channel their anger in a positive direction can take a big step by supporting Campbell in the June 8 Republican primary. (The Republican primary is also open to the 20% of voters registered "Decline-to-State".) For the rest of the country who would like to defeat Barbara Boxer, money is welcome.

The risk is that our attention span is short. Last week's financial hearings become this week's oil spill, Times Square bomber, and Greek riots. Note to self: Stay focused. November 2. 

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This week's video provides good perspective for those who have a hard time grasping Obama's budget.

Bill Bowen - 5/7/2010

Comments

[bill McCormick]

Note to flyover: I always liked John Kasich who is running for Ohio Governor. He was a fiscal conservative and pretty much a straight shooter.

I like the word frustrated a little more than anger, Bo. I realize that the parties are pretty much controlled by seriously opposite points of view on the solutions and allocations of money to most major issues. Perhaps what bothers me most is that the middle 50 % of the voters are left shaking their heads at the lack of bipartisan action to address the country's problems. Instead we see nothing but attempts by the far left and the far right to impose their will on the rest of us and little willingness to compromise.

That in a nutshell I believe is the reason for so much anger. The result of this situation is that the country is either frozen in indecision or is dominated by the fringe of society (left or right). Most of societies problems require asset allocation decisions: Not too much and not too litle in order to maintain fiscal responsibilty and address each of the needs. The fringe 25% demand that their agenda be funded at the expense of the others and that does not lead to moderate long term planning. So for example we alternate between the "war on drugs" and the new Pelosi approach of "drug education and treatment". On immigration we argue whether to give "amnesty" or "ship em back". In terrorism we debate "seek and destroy" versus "get to know em better through dialogue, Miranda rights and milder interogation methods". ETC

While Sarah Palin is seen by the left as a far right leader her base of Tea Pary people are upset when she supports a more moderate conservative candidate. Moving towards the center and bipartisanship, where most of us seem to want to see issues addressed and solutions formed seems to be dangerous politics. And, meanwhle the deficits increase, the debt mounts, illegals come in, drug use increases, teen pregnancy mounts, Iran goes nuke, more people are now on food stamps, unemployment persists and no one can plug a failed oil well. No wonder we're angry, Bo.

[Al Bowen]

Hey, Brother Bill. The ebbs-and-flows between progressivism and conservativism are reasonably frequent. Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember the renaissance of conservativism brought about by Bill Buckley. It was dark indeed before Buckley. Keep plugging with your blog.

My "take" is that many of us (me included) and the media were sorely distressed by lack of stewardship from the combined Republican Congress/Presidency and vowed that the scoundrels needed to be tossed out. The media moved from hypercritical reporting on the Republican establishment into a mode of praising anything suggested by the liberating Democratic establishment. Or, maybe the "cause of the day" is changing so rapidly that the news media cannot assess what they are seeing (i.e., what is given to, or staged for, them)or analyze what it means. The attention span is too short and the resources are too limited (and maybe inherent biases are too strong?).

My hope is that the "Near Death Experience" of Greece will cause our media and public to understand the inevitable USA endgame unless we stop our profligate spending. It is easy to be sympathetic for every carefully packaged cause crying for government dollars (federal, state, or local). So difficult to truthfully assess likely costs, just say "no" if there are higher priorities, and be prepared for the inevitable accusation that you are a "racist" in doing so.

My best wish is that Greece's painful situation linger so long, with such disturbing images,that it occupies our attention span long enough for a USA concensus can be established concerning the inevitable consequences of spending beyond our means. Certainly it will be our citizens, not the Democratic establishment, that will drive such a concensus. Unfortunately, the initial performance of the media is not encouraging--videos of a mob of "protestors" setting fire to a bank, causing 3 employees to burn to death. The mob did not remind me of Ghandi, or Martin Luther King, or the Tea Parties. Who were these "protestors" who came armed with gasoline bombs? If a true cross-section of Greek citizenry, Greece indeed is in trouble.

[flyoverstate]

Thanks for this blog. I'm generally an easy going type of guy who just wants to hang with family and friends but am just so d--- mad at what is happening. Anybody know of anyone in Ohio I can support in November? Thinking positive is really hard right now. Throw the bums out...all of 'em. But let's be sure the new ones are not just a repeat of the old.