Small segments can have disproportionate influence in politics. Lenin’s conscious cadre works. The reality TV segment awakened the fascist segment and the Russians. Brexit and Trump satisfy the agenda of ending their respective empires.
Republicans threatened to use the debt ceiling to bring down
the empire. Because they were upset that Alfred Doolittle, the undeserving
poor, was in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The Republicans
were mad at all sorts of things, they coalesced on their antipathy towards Doolittle.
As Doolittle points out in My Fair Lady, being poor doesn’t improve
character. We all have a Doolittle in the family. Our families Doolittle hates welfare.
He qualified for disability. He has Multiple Sclerosis from dealing crack. So,
he can’t work, except for the side job disassembling cars. You can’t live on
just disability. Doolittle is a good son; he got his parents on disability as
well.
Take Ella. This was a while ago. Ella started as Ella
Fitzgerald, born in Chicago. Her man threw her down the stairs and she became
Ella Mae, born in Mississippi. Ella wanted to work; you can’t live on just
welfare. There was no day care, so Ella Mae checked her children into school
early. She told the school she didn’t have birth certificates for them because
they had been born in Mississippi. The dumb school believed her. The school put
the children into EMH, Educational Mentally Handicapped because they were
obviously immature. Years later, the school figured it out, but that damage was
done.
Ella would wait until after the checker had totaled her
groceries to pull out her food stamps. Food stamps only paid for food. The poor
checker would have to pull all the groceries back and separate them while Ella
would holler:
-I need those.
Ella considered herself an activist. President Nixon liked
her and used her as an example of the working poor.
The Doolittle’s and Ellas are Trump supporters. They have no
comprehension of altruism or solidarity.
In their defense, they are not boing-boing or
lock-head. Doolittle and Ella didn’t
drop planes, blow up Challenger, or start wars. Another issue for Republicans
is that they are worried the IRS is going to make them pay taxes.
Don’t be too concerned. Some people will be cut but the
Doolittle’s and Ellas will qualify for SNAP, agriculture wants SNAP. Rich
people will avoid taxes. The war machine will get its money. The British have
an annual ceremony where they make a big show of knocking on the door. US’ns
like to have more drama.
This drama undercuts legitimacy. Rather than geographical
remnant of slavery our two legislative bodies should divide on popularly
elected representatives of function. One body should decide our international
functions: trade, empire, mineral rights, military… the other should be
domestic. We could put national plebiscite in charge of approving the budget,
that the two bodies came to.