REVOLT EN MASS(E)
Middle Class Takes Bay State
By Wayne Jett © January 20, 2010
Not a moment too soon, the middle class of Massachusetts took control
of a U. S. senate seat which, for many decades, advanced the agenda of
the dominant elite. The decisive win by Scott Brown, a man whose
personal transportation is a truck, may or may not be enough to turn
back the elitist assault on middle class access to health care, energy
and prosperity.
For two centuries, Boston has been the northern stronghold of the
political/financial axis with New York known politely as the Eastern
Establishment. Regardless of the descriptive metaphor used, the
political machine of the dominant elite centered on Wall Street elects
governors, senators, representatives and presidents, selects cabinet
secretaries, Federal Reserve governors and bank board members, and
captures every regulatory agency.
Draining the Mercantilist Swamp
History may record that January 20, 2009, was the high-water mark of
mercantilist power in America since 1945. But that will not be the case
unless the phenomenon of Scott Brown’s win is replicated again and
again in senate, congressional and all federal races this November and
every two years afterward.
The phenomenon of Brown’s election was not a “rising” of radical
vanguards, such as Lenin’s Bolsheviks in 1927 Russia. Nor was it a
revolution of the proletariat, as Karl Marx tried to provoke. Academics
will minimize Massachusetts by comparison, but Brown's election is part
of a national movement. The American middle class began a revolt
against elitist oppression in 2009, expressing itself in public
demonstrations and townhall meetings. Then the revolt made the
difference in governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey, and now in
the Massachusetts senate contest.
But the infant revolt of the middle class has far to grow and go
before the dominant elite no longer dominates American government and
society. With Scott Brown seated in the Senate, a majority of senators
will remain commanded by leadership controlled by the dominant elite.
Consider the revelation in the new book Game Change
that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) carried the message to Barack
Obama that he should run for the Democratic Party presidential
nomination.
The House under Speaker Nancy Pelosi is controlled by the dominant
elite more efficiently than the Senate (considering the filibuster rule
in the Senate), although rank-and-file Democrats have voiced
substantial dissent on economic policy.
Parsing Candidates and Parties
These may seem partisan statements, but they are intended as economic
observations of reality. The Brown win in Massachusetts was, first and
foremost, a win by the middle class. The electorate includes a majority
classified as “independent,” and Democrats comprise two-thirds of the
remaining minority. The Republican Party wound up a big winner, partly
because party leadership assisted Brown’s win, but primarily because
the party’s processes nominated a candidate with middle class values
and the courage to espouse them.
To be clear, Martha Coakley, the Democratic nominee for the Senate
seat occupied so long by Ted Kennedy, was a candidate with a middle
class background. But her party leadership insisted that she support
elitist policies inimical to middle class prosperity. Even an able
candidate from the middle class appears inept, off-balance, incompetent
(what the White House calls “a poor candidate”) when required to defend
and promote legislation which is poisonous to interests of your
electorate.
If the Democratic Party permitted Scott Brown to run and be nominated
while espousing the policies he champions, independents would have been
more likely to vote Democratic, even though “moderate” Democrats
presently toe the line on Obama legislation. The “independents” of
Massachusetts, called Reagan Democrats 30 years ago, are middle class
people who work to produce their living standards. Most middle class
are not so persuaded by ideology as to identify with elitist policies
which they sense are designed to target them (in a bad way).
Doubling Down
Juan Williams of National Public Radio and Fox News Channel reported
Tuesday night that the Obama White House intends to “double down” and
push adoption of health care legislation immediately – that to do
otherwise would sacrifice achieving the agenda in favor of retaining a
majority while achieving nothing. This is entirely consistent with the
elitist worldview presently, which has the American middle class under
heavy assault and wishes to consolidate government power while it holds
legislative majorities.
Those with trillions in capital, overriding influence of federal
government and major media doing their bidding are formidable
oppressors. Consider, however, that the middle class faced all of this
in Massachusetts and overturned it within a period of weeks. Look about
you at any crowd you see and contemplate that every person you see is
middle class – even though some are misled to identify themselves with
the elite. This is the source of power within reach of the middle
class, if they will rise in time to assert it. ~