Last Thursday Sarah Palin asked, via Facebook, if perhaps President Barack Obama had a lack of faith in “American exceptionalism.”
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich seems to think Obama is leading “a secular socialist movement ... that represents essentially a European socialism.”
Meanwhile Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., led the charge to condemn the idea – just the idea, not even the reality – of a European style value-added tax. In his words, it’s a “massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income.”
So let’s get this straight. According to the Republicans, America is better than everyone else by default, and our president is a radical socialist with an outrageous European-style agenda. But while we’re racking up massive budget deficits and an unsustainable debt burden, the Republicans are steadfast against the only fair, proven and reliable means of increasing government revenue to cover that debt.
Marvelous.
This, my last column for the year, is for the Republicans. All of you.
Dear U.S. Republicans,
This cultural protectionism has to stop. Don’t understand what I mean by cultural protectionism? Let me explain.
By cultural protectionism, I mean you’re terrified by the idea that us “progressives” might take away all the things that, in your opinion, make America America. So you’ve resorted to a hefty dose of crazy — in the form of Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann and the tea parties — to protect that.
I think you’re afraid that if we don’t have the most nuclear weapons — which we don’t, by the way — we won’t be the big, strong America that we’ve all grown up with.
I think you’re afraid that if the government provides health care to those in need then they’re undermining that whole philosophy of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” and the “self-made man.”
I think you’re afraid that if we – God forbid – adopt a European idea, we’ll just blend together with the European Union and America as we know it will cease to exist.
I love this country too. But you couldn’t be farther from the truth.
America isn’t about us having the largest military or the most nuclear weapons. As the world’s largest superpower we have a responsibility to lead on the issue of nuclear disarmament and to make the world a safer, more peaceful place.
America isn’t about us forcing needy Americans to “work hard” to survive. American motivation and productivity aren’t going to stop just because people have access to affordable health care. It just means they can worry more about helping their families live comfortably and less about just being able to live.
And America isn’t about throwing away good ideas just because we didn’t think of them first. We were founded on ideas straight out of Europe, and you know, they turned out all right. A VAT tax could bring a new era of prosperity to the United States and prevent our economy from debt-induced financial disaster. And while it might not be politically popular, most of the important changes in our history have been pretty controversial.
America is about us. It’s about the people, and the variety of opinions, and the progress that we constantly push our country toward. Right now, you’re holding us back. You’re afraid to move forward and you have no alternatives. So you resort to this crazy rhetoric – Obama’s a “socialist.” He’s got a “radical agenda.” You’re going to “repeal the [health] bill.”
None of that is true, and you know it. Cultural protectionism won’t move us forward. Stop fighting progress. Don’t fear change and don’t reject ideas just because they weren’t your ideas first. That’s definitely not what America is about.
Alex Priest is a junior in the School of Communication and Kogod School of Business and a liberal columnist for The Eagle. You can reach him at edpage@theeagleonline.com.
