“Democrats today convey only minimal awareness of what they
are up against: an adversary that views politics as a struggle to the
death. The Republican Party has demonstrated a willingness to
sacrifice principle, including its historical commitments to civil
rights and conservation; to bend campaign finance law to the breaking
point; to abandon the interests of workers on the factory floor; and
to undermine progressive tax policy – in a scorched-earth strategy
to postpone the day of demographic reckoning.” --Thomas
B. Edsall1
“People are more likely to break social norms if they see
other people violating norms, even if there is no direct connection.
. . . there is now overwhelming experimental evidence for that
theory. So it's not crazy to think that CEOs might start violating
pay norms because they see quarterbacks getting big checks.”
--Paul Krugman2“Set the bar low enough and all blame is deflected, all shame expunged. Choose the right points of reference and behold the alchemy: naughty deeds into humdrum conformity. Excess into restraint. Sinners into saints. . . . There's always someone higher on the ladder and getting a whole lot more, always someone who establishes a definition of greed that you fall flatteringly short of. One titan's bonanza becomes the next titan's yardstick, and the pay of the nation's top executives spirals even further out of control.” --Frank Bruni3
These three comments are presented in chronological order of publication; they are all opinion pieces from the NY Times by relatively liberal writers. Edsall in the first quote points out the willingness of Republicans to break almost any ethical standard in order to preserve their own power in the face of changing voter demographics that do not favor their policies in the future. Krugman is speaking somewhat tongue-in-cheek in his piece, but I take what he says seriously. And I think that Bruni points out how the growing conservative commitment to breaking social norms justifies itself, along with Krugman's observation.
I'd like to add one further observation to this series of concerns by liberals. It doesn't have to be well-paid athletes that businessmen use as questionable role models, but people generally more respected: priests, ministers. And it doesn't have to be only money that conservative businessmen bend ethics to achieve; it can also be power to assert the “truth.”
Republicans lie more than Democrats; there are many studies that confirm this fact available on the internet, but here's one.4 Republicans also vocally uphold religious values more than do Democrats, particularly those of Christianity. Again, there are many studies available on the internet to show this; here's one.5 One might think that being a good Christian would preclude much lying, but I think there's a clear connection between adhering to a religion and lying.
Religions are based on stories. Stories are fictional. I would argue that fiction tells more of the truth than fact does very often, especially psychological truths. I have no problem at all with stories, even religious stories. Many of the latter are quite beautiful and life-affirming. The problem I have with religious stories is simply that religious people very often accept and promote them as fact. Thus, Jesus literally came back to earth after death, in body; Jesus even told the apostle Thomas to stick a finger into one of his crucifixion wounds. For this reason, among others, the Catholic church tells us that the elements of the sacrament of communion, bread and wine, literally and factually become Christ's blood and flesh in our mouths.
The problem is, none of this can be proved as fact; in fact, it is faith in story. Again, I have no problem with faith in story—the way we choose to tell our own life stories can keep us sane or not. Stories are very important. But stories lose their whole value if they are seen as fact, not fiction. Fact can teach us only limited aspects of reality; fiction can teach us a more transcendent reality, both physical and spiritual—metaphorical. Transubstantiation of the eucharist is a beautiful metaphor of spiritual union, which becomes potentially disgusting when taken as fact.
It seems to me that many conservative Republicans who are pragmatic businessmen or powerful leaders in different fields see in people's responses to Christian stories how to have it both ways. And it certainly doesn't have to be an issue of conscious forethought; unconscious understandings will work quite well. If we pronounce that fiction is really fact, then there is no natural, shared foundation for truth and the people who say fiction is fact become the only foundation for truth. Priests and ministers have played this role for many centuries. If they say something is true, then some people will believe it is true, maybe wholly because it is asserted as an absolute—and absolutes are a lot more comfortable to deal with than the ambiguities of real life.
So, if a Republican declares that Obamacare is ruining the economy, some people will believe it. If a Republican declares that Obama wants to kill off old folks or take everyone's guns away, some people will believe it—if only because it has been asserted in an oracular manner, and it's easier to believe an assertion than to research the truth.
Thus, by promoting fiction as fact, religion loses its value as beautiful, consoling, inspiring story and becomes a cynical manipulation of truth and power. And this is what the conservatives promoting their own versions of “truth” are doing as well.
1Thomas
B. Edsall, “The State-by-State Revival of the Right”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/opinion/the-state-by-state-revival-of-the-right.html?emc=eta1
2Paul
Krugman, “Broken Windows and American Oligarchy”:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/broken-windows-and-american-oligarchy/
3Frank
Bruni, “Weary of Relativity”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-weary-of-relativity.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ffrank-bruni&contentCollection=opinion&action=click&module=NextInCollection®ion=Footer&pgtype=article
4http://www.nationalmemo.com/republicans-lie-more-than-democrats-study-finds/
5http://www.gallup.com/poll/27889/Abiding-Relationship-Republicans-Religion.aspx
