Other states may not be as lucky as Nevada in which we have a Congressional Representative who can so blatantly articulate exactly what the Republican Party is all about. A tip of the hat to Steve Sebelius for covering the Nevada GOP convention on behalf of the rest of us, and his rendition of the remarks made by Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV2). “’Successful Americans’ need to realize that they need the Republicans in Washington, D.C., Heller said.” Whereupon it sounds from Sebelius’s account that Heller launched into the standard GOP talking points: attacking trial lawyers and advocating big tax breaks for Big Oil. And, the standing ovation line? “Enforce immigration laws.”
Heller’s Hedonism: Following what passes for logic in GOP realms, one can assume that Heller’s remarks are predicated on the notion that Money (preferably lots of it) equates to Success. While having lots of moolah is nice, and can certainly make life comfortable, equating economic well-being with personal satisfaction and happiness is a highly questionable life strategy. The five attributes of successful people (purpose and direction, passion and emotion, faith and/or a belief system, influence and leadership, and wisdom) [LA] aren’t the sort of thing available from the Nieman-Marcus catalog. In Republican axiology what is valuable includes only that which can be defined by an exchange rate, balance sheet, and income statement. The rest of us must be deluded if we happen to think that purpose, passion, beliefs, influence, and wisdom might be more important than our check book balances. There’s a word for that Republican axiological version: hedonism.
Hedonism is often associated with adolescent thinking processes, and in at least one study with deviant adolescent behavior. [Bnet] However, one doesn’t particularly need a degree in either psychology or philosophy to recall that one of the first words acquired by children is the emphatic, “Mine.” Thus it seems that Representative Heller and his applauding audience missed at least half the entire point of going to kindergarten. However, the hedonism is perhaps only part of the problem. The other part may be more closely associated with identification issues and projection.
The GOP appeal to the basest of human motivations appears underpinned by fear – the enduring terror that someone somewhere will get more, and worse yet may not be as deserving as the members of the audience. To carry the point one step further, if I as a hedonist define my well being in terms of how much I can get from others, then conversely my greatest fear will be that someone is out to get something from me.
Therefore, in Republican terms those trial lawyers are out to “get” the proceeds of some “successful person’s” valuables. Their axiological scheme precludes thinking that some cases have genuine merit. For example, in McQuillan v. Check ‘N Go of North Carolina, Inc. (and two other cases in 2004) three of North Carolina’s largest payday lenders are alleged to have exploited poor people by “luring them into quick loans that carry exorbitantly high interest rates up to 500%.” [TIPJ] In 2000 consumer rights lawyers filed a class action complaint against five HMOs in Maryland for double billing their members. [TIPJ] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit recently ruled that the Dynamics Research Corporation cannot “insulate itself from liability for violating state and federal labor laws by banning its employees from bringing class action against the company.” [TIPJ] In Heller World it must be acceptable to charge 500% interest, double bill for services, and prevent the enforcement of state and federal laws, because not to do so would ‘take’ the most valuable thing – money, from the successful people who ‘earned’ it.
Should the major oil companies be plowing back more revenue into stock buy-back schemes than into research, development, and production, then that’s perfectly acceptable to Republicans of Heller’s ilk – because “it’s their money and they can do what they like with it,” the needs of American consumers notwithstanding.
Worse than the projection of fear onto that portion of the American population not secure within their upper economic status might be the dread that these people might not be 100% Americans either.
Heller’s Politics of Division: The GOP of Heller’s paeans has long benefited from Limbaugh-esque divisions of the American people into ‘tribes,’ a word the hate-radio magnate tosses about to avoid saying ‘ethnic’ or ‘racial.’ The meaning is still clear. Those who are not white, Protestant, and Republican aren’t quite American. American Nativism, visible from the early days of the Republic in the reaction to the French Revolution, and made even more palpable during the German and Irish immigrations, got a boost from George Creel’s propaganda efforts during the First World War. [MilHist] The combination of Creel’s “100% Americanism,” with intrinsic racism embodied in the Jim Crow South, tangled with Anti-Immigrant and Anti-Labor themes has been an extremely difficult knot to dislodge in American political life. Evidently, the Republican Party has decided not to attempt any improvements.
So, when the crowd at the Nevada Republican Convention gave Rep. Heller a standing ovation for urging the enforcement of immigration laws what message were they hearing? Why must we ‘enforce’ immigration laws? While corporate use of undocumented workers can certainly be used to debase the value of labor, that sort of argument isn’t likely to bring a GOP crowd to its feet. After all, the application of the hedonist principle requires that corporations be able to do whatever will fill their coffers. If this isn’t the case then the answer must surely lie in the racism underlying 100% Americanism. “They” cause crime (although studies indicate otherwise). “They” use up public resources (in the face of research to the contrary). “They” may corrupt elections (regardless that there is no evidence to support this charge).
The very definition of Republicanism these days is the exclusion of those Others. The Republicans who stood up and clapped for Heller’s remarks were quite likely appreciative that he had re-enforced their self identification as Real Americans, not those ‘unsuccessful,’ non-white, Others. Their tribal identification serves to support their sense of self-worth, a notion not espoused by their more inclusive Democratic counterparts. The successful 100% Americans in Heller’s audience must do daily battle against the forces of inclusivity (less they lose part of their identity) and remain constantly vigilant against schemes that might cause them to part with their individual gains for the common good (lest someone undeserving receive them). And, who is ‘deserving?’ The Republican precepts require that only 100% Americans are deserving – and that means only the members of their specific tribe, where once they advertised that “No Irish Need Apply” they can now insert “Mexican.” Equally excluded are those ubiquitous, but never quite tangible, Welfare Queens – people who don’t work as successfully as the tribal members.
Indeed, having no sense of the Common Good, Heller’s audience must clap vigorously for the hedonism and exclusivity of his message; above all else they must protect themselves from the Others – i.e. the rest of us.
Seed Newsvine
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