The Economist recently published an article arguing that the right has too much anger and “too few ideas” – implying that the ‘Tea Party’ movement is an entirely reactionary movement with no substance except to discredit President Obama and cause political agitation. To this I say that the Tea Party movement doesn’t need to do much to discredit President Obama – he does that enough all by himself.
The statement that the Tea Party movement is reactionary is also largely mistaken. The Tea Party movements that have sprung up since early 2009 all have longer histories than when they got together – and further – share a common longer history which the movement’s namesake refers to – the Boston Tea Party.
The statement that the Tea Party movement is reactionary is also largely mistaken. The Tea Party movements that have sprung up since early 2009 all have longer histories than when they got together – and further – share a common longer history which the movement’s namesake refers to – the Boston Tea Party.
The philosophical underpinnings of the movement are also strong and largely libertarian; small government, low taxes, fiscal responsibility, maximized freedom, and a vehement dislike of any form of nanny state. The reason why the movement may be deemed – albeit mistakenly – as reactionary is because the Obama administration provides the exactly antithetical form of government to the kind of political arrangement that the Tea Partyers (along with the Founding Fathers) would like to see.
Obama plans to raise taxes (even if he didn’t plan to he’d have to just to finance the huge government deficit). The Obama administration wants to get involved in private businesses and thus introduce distortions into the market. The Obama administration has planned great government projects that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars that future generations will have to pay for (and pay back to China no less). These are all hostile to the kind of America that we want to see.
Of course we are angry – we have every right to be. This is beyond a political feud or an attempt to cause agitation for the Obama administration. This is beyond politicians playing the politics game and trying to win another term in office. Our vision is long term and right now we are afraid – afraid for how big the government is going to get, afraid for our future, afraid for our kids’ future, and indeed, afraid for the future of this great nation. This is about people’s livelihoods and our freedoms – we are not going to give these up without a fight.
Obama plans to raise taxes (even if he didn’t plan to he’d have to just to finance the huge government deficit). The Obama administration wants to get involved in private businesses and thus introduce distortions into the market. The Obama administration has planned great government projects that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars that future generations will have to pay for (and pay back to China no less). These are all hostile to the kind of America that we want to see.
Of course we are angry – we have every right to be. This is beyond a political feud or an attempt to cause agitation for the Obama administration. This is beyond politicians playing the politics game and trying to win another term in office. Our vision is long term and right now we are afraid – afraid for how big the government is going to get, afraid for our future, afraid for our kids’ future, and indeed, afraid for the future of this great nation. This is about people’s livelihoods and our freedoms – we are not going to give these up without a fight.
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