If one looks back at history, one of the primary drivers of the American Revolution was not taxes, it wasn’t Parliament, or a seething hatred of the crown. Those were just manifestations of a deeper problem. I think if you had to pick a fundamental, underlying reason why Americans separated from Great Britain, it would have to be that the colonies suffered from a deficit of dignity. There was an impression, even among elites in the colonies, that the cream of British society looked down on them from on high, and did not consider them to be equals. No matter how successful someone might have become in the colonies, to the folks back home, they would always be colonials — second class Englishmen. Once elites felt the indignity along with the common man, the seeds of the separation had been sown.
I bring this up, because there is the beginnings of a dignity deficit beginning to appear in some segments of American culture. I’m not suggesting we’re on the road to another revolution, though some seem to believe that, but I think we’re seeing symptoms of a problem that can lead to Very Bad ThingsTM if left to fester. The American left, for all their pretensions of caring about the Bill of Rights, civil liberties and freedoms, and the plight of the common man, has largely given up on them in practice. They care about civil liberties to the extent that they can use them as a political club to beat their opponents over the head with. They care about every day people to the extent that it helps them cement their power. Since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, you haven’t really heard much philosophy coming from the left in terms of what our rights and freedoms ought to be.
This is important, because liberty and freedom are values we should all agree on as Americans. Sure, we can argue over whether the general welfare clause allows Congress to establish “free” health care for everybody. We can argue over what to do about Social Security’s looming insolvency. We can argue over gay marriage, abortion, and all the other issues people love to bicker about. But there are some things that as Americans, we should all find outrageous, but it’s a sad fact that we don’t.
The media is perhaps the worst of the bunch when it comes to standing up for justice and liberty, and holding the powerful accountable. Sure, they are willing to do it when it involves topics the left disapproves of, but they tend to ignore a lot of Americans’ deeply established and held values. If this wasn’t the case, no one would pay attention to Rush Limbaugh. This is what contributes to a deficit of dignity — when the elite in politics and the media ignore and trivialize entire segments of society, those people start believing their concerns don’t matter. That’s not just wrong, it’s dangerous if taken to extremes.
Where’s the outrage in the media about the fact that a man was sent to prison for clearing brush out of a temporary waterway? We might all want clean water, but talk about unintended consequences. Why don’t you see stuff like this in the New York Times and Washington Post, where, especially, people who make these policies and laws can see the consequences of them, taken to extremes. Why is the left not outraged at repeated stories like this, and beginning to question why police are using more and more military style tactics when dealing with enforcing victimless crimes? Why did it take the NRA and SAF, and not the ACLU, to hold Nagin and Riley’s feet to the fire after they unlawfully confiscated firearms from elderly women in the lawless aftermath of Katrina, leaving them utterly defenseless. Hell, why isn’t the media and ACLU demanding that Nagin and Riley be thrown in jail? Has there been outrage among elites that Fenty has openly defied the spirit of the Heller ruling? Or is the sentiment more “Go Fenty! Screw those gun nuts!” Regardless of how you feel about Randy Weaver, or the Branch Davidians, can anyone on the left make a reasoned argument as to exactly why Lon Horiuchi should not be in prison right now? Can they explain why no one went to jail for mudering dozens of children in Waco?
These aren’t merely concerns of madmen. They are real questions that people have asked, but because their viewpoints aren’t represented among the elite, no one acts like they care. It’s quite possible no one among the elite does care. Having ones concerns and grievances marginalized is a great driver of political resentment, and while I don’t think too many people are ready to start a revolt over this, its what feeds a lot of the angry people who hurl invectives at those of us who suggest that they still have faith in the process. Given that the popular attitude among elites is to mock and dismiss them, as the Brady Campaign suggested I should do yesterday, is it any wonder they are pissed off? Something they ought to think about.
