Economic narcissism, and positive freedoms vs. negative freedoms

The economic values of the elitist neoRepublican Party are based on an addictive selfish and counterproductive attitude of me, me, me. It erroneously pretends that only the state intrudes on our liberties

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By Rocky Boschert
Financial Editor

As we enter the Presidential election year, the words “liberty” and “freedom” are commonly being used to justify a narcissistic form of elitist economic exploitation. We see it almost everyday mostly throughout the right wing press and blogosphere, among so-called free market think tanks, and from blatantly obstructionist Tea Party Congressional representatives.

In current practice, the words “freedom” and “liberty” are being used regularly to excuse or justify almost every new assault on the economic lives of the middle class, the poor and the disenfranchised – as well as almost all forms of income inequality to which the controlling 3% subjects our nation’s workers.

As a result, libertarianism, once a noble if not idealistic small government economic philosophy, has become synonymous with narcissistic right wing big corporate injustice and oppression. In the name of “freedoms” and “liberties” – mainly the freedom from government regulation – we are asked by the elitist right wing to 1) vilify government efforts to repair a US economy wrecked by failed Bush era “free markets” economic theories; 2) sustain tax cuts for the super-rich without regard to economic stimulus and job growth; and 3) ignore powerful Wall Street companies using their huge coffers of money to attack and diminish American worker wages & benefits, humane working conditions, and effective public safety and public health protections.

Encouraged by a nationwide elitist right wing agenda, US insurers are allowed to bribe politicians with lobby money to thwart a cost-effective health care system; planners at all levels of government are encouraged to snub reasonable economic development regulations; and big oil and gas are encouraged to trash the environment in the name of energy independence. This economic and legislative haughtiness is nothing more than the powerful exploiting the weak and the rich exploiting the middle class and poor.

Sadly, the right wing elitists have become so self-centered with their greed that they acknowledge few legal or environmental limitations on their power and on the lives of others. And their greed is promoted by think tanks like the Club for Growth, American Enterprise Institute, etc. Their new concept of “freedom” has become simply a dangerous rationalization for more concentrated greed and power.

So why are most Americans so slow or fearful to challenge this false concept of liberty?

One reason has been the effective distortions by the right wing of the difference between negative and positive freedoms. Described briefly, “negative freedoms” – the economic belief system adopted by the right wing elite – are “freedoms” that encourage everyone to live or to act without regard to the economic and social values of the majority. Positive freedoms, in contrast, are freedoms that simultaneously respect both the individual and groups – freedoms that combine both personal and social responsibility.

Positive freedoms exemplify the values of most progressives. Strangely, “positive freedoms” clearly threaten America’s right wing. For some reason they seem irrationally afraid that allowing positive freedoms to thrive will force them to give up their political power and economic success. And unfortunately, for our nation, the right wing elite have been very successful convincing the conservative middle and lower class that the more egalitarian positive freedoms are not in the best economic interests of the nation as a whole.

Today, the elite right wing corporatists continue to hammer home to their middle class base the big lie that libertarian economic values of limited government regulation can be applied equally and effectively to both small businesses and monopolistic corporations. They do so by spewing mean-spirited false accusations against planned economy capitalists, environmentalists and social justice campaigners as being communists or unpatriotic anti-capitalists. Fox News has become the exemplary propaganda tool for this right wing ruling elite.

Unfortunately, this dysfunctional conservative mindset seems unable to acknowledge that one man's pursuit of “liberty” or “freedom” can often conflict with the values and the pocketbooks of others in many ways.

In a productive and economically healthy society, some people's so-called freedoms must sometimes be curtailed to insure the freedom of others. It’s the only mature and productive way to live in a real democracy. In other words, your freedom to swing your fist must end where my nose begins. The freedom to protect my nose (or to protect the contents of my wallet from abusive unregulated businesses) is the freedom and liberty that progressives, environmentalists and social justice campaigns defend.

In America today, the freedoms espoused by the narcissistic right wing elitists intrude heavily on the economic equality of most middle and lower class Americans. In fact, if liberty for myself, any economic class, or nation depends on the misery, exploitation or the repression of other human beings, that system of liberty and freedom is both unjust and immoral.

Yet the right wing controlling elite arrogantly refuses to even recognize this moral conflict. These right wing narcissists aggressively assert that their freedom to pollute, exploit, degrade, and regarding gun rights – to kill, are fundamental human rights. It is a moral social dysfunction and today’s biggest threat to America as a democratic nation.

The economic values of the elitist neoRepublican Party are based on an addictive selfish and counterproductive attitude of me, me, me. It erroneously pretends that only the state intrudes on our liberties. It dangerously ignores the role banks, corporations and the super rich play in controlling and potentially destroying our positive freedoms.

As of this writing, the future political pallbearers of this new elitist right wing mindset is being hashed out by the false prophets with names like “Mitt” and “Newt” – power addicts controlled by their super-rich Super-Pac handlers.

Even someone with memory loss must know that after two long wars fought by everyone’s children but the children of the richest families of America – and after little chance for the country to recoup in three years after eight years of the Bush/Cheney recession-creating war profiteers – returning to those same failed policies would be a perfect example of Einstein’s definition of insanity.