Newt Gingrich was pontificating the other day, as is his wont, about the just completed midterms, giving the Republican party spin that it wasn’t all that bad, got control of the House, yadda yadda, but had to admit the much anticipated ‘red wave’ turned out to be nothing more than a slightly higher tide than usual. Seemed to surprise him and he concluded that maybe, just maybe, he needs to reevaluate his political thinking.
‘Bout time.
It’s been rather clear to those of us not blinded by party and politics that a goodly portion of the American people have reached a fatal level of self-absorption and illogic, what I like to call “8th grade syndrome.” ‘Why can’t we all get along?’ is the central core of their social and cultural stance and they firmly believe material goods and security and recreation are freely and deservedly provided by dufus parents who Just Don’t Understand Me. So, they vote accordingly, for anyone who promises to give them anything for free; against anyone they think is mean i.e., anyone who talks like a dufus parent, i.e., conservatives; and for anyone they feel sorry for, i.e., Fetterman. The result? Over the past twenty years, there has been an increasing Balkanization of the populace, somewhat along the same lines that split the Romans and the Visigoths, with about as much chance of compromise.
Newt and the other Republican party mavens have, of course, missed this. Having moved from one civilized environment to the next - middle class family to middle class college and career - they developed a logical and common-sense view of human behavior. Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs and western civilization’s inspirations and motivations for family, relevance, and prosperity form the convictions and subsequent voting patterns of the populace. In normal times those are givens and the various political parties set their platforms based on them, the Republicans for an orderly society in which anyone can participate by exertions of their own efforts, the Democrats for more assistance to those who have somehow missed the chance to participate, the one-off lunatic fringe parties for their various single issues, such as the environment or anarchy.
That was then, this is now.
Pocketbook issues and common sense are now only the province of a rapidly dwindling boomer generation, which was the last one raised with individuality, respect, and optimism. We now have the Nietzsche generations ascending, and they have far more loyalty to themselves than they do to social structures. Anything that promotes their own well-being and the advantage of their friends over others has their attention. They are far more akin to the 18th Century aristocracies than they are to the American yeoman class, seeking power and wealth and control over yon peasants who still cling to those outmoded concepts of individual rights and sacrifice and responsibility.
Which is why they vote for Fetterman. Because a brain-dead pseudo-Marxist is far more likely to help install the neo-corporatist state that they feel will bring about the eight-grade world they have long dreamed of than will some fussing farmer boy spouting self-reliance and more police.
Which means, of course, that all former bets are off. So, Newt, and everyone else who still thinks elections will save us, y’all best re-evaluate.
