On Ben Carson: When my kids were young, we read a book about the great Dr. Ben Carson, an African American Horatio Alger success story. Somehow along the way, right wing ideologues body snatched brother man and turned him into Clarence Thomas twin. Maybe Carson and Herman Cain should run as the Koch Family Philanthropic Foundation candidates. Oh, they are already. Carson and Cain are funded by Americans for Prosperity, which is funded by the political wing of the previously mentioned donors. Carsons analysis is rooted in the Libertarian ideology. This perspective has some valuable points, but is naively simplistic in its tenets of faith in the capacity of the capital market system to correct historic inequities without government intervention. His platform is that of a surgeon who seeks to remove pathologies only by surgery, using tools of benign neglect. He says what the right wants to hear about social complexities, but his solutions are shallow and one dimensional in understanding the roots of the pathologies. But that is why the right embraces him, and Cain until he imploded, and rejects a centrist Democrat like Obama. I personally am supporting Senator Bernie Sanders in 2016, who Im sure is popular with the faithful conservatives. My vibraphone colleague and facebook friend John Mark Piper,whose political views are mostly opposite mine, recently posted a rant concerning the history of relations with Indigenous Peoples in America. This represented a case in point, of complex historic circumstances that can not be rectified with happy talk about folks lifting themselves up from their bootstraps. Future domestic policy must be informed by the realities of the past that have created the circumstances of the present. If the tenets of democracy espoused by the Founders are actually implemented, their benefits must circulate to those that were left out of the equation. The root of current inequalities is in the inequalities of the past 500 years. The ideology that the “laissez faire market” promotes equality through survival of the fittest, a basic conservative platform point, has no credibility for other than those who were its beneficiaries. This is the inherent flaw of the Libertarian model. However, the points of focus concerning domestic economic activity and non military aggression in international conflicts, are interesting, though secondary, parts of that ideology. Ben Carsons appeal to the right is not rooted in his analysis of these issues. He is a Michael Jordan casting of lifting oneself up from the bottom that the right wants to promote and idealize. His is obviously a success story, but he is an exceptional individual who is being promoted as a template. His story is inspirational, but his reflective ideology concerning his unique path is applicable only to himself. His story is inaccurate in dismissing the many aspects of government which assisted his rise. The right wing became interested in him only after he already had become an accomplished success story. Otherwise, he would have been another marginalized, forgotten, ignored, embittered, unfulfilled genius. I agree with some of his verbiage concerning pulling oneself up, but most of it is delusional happy talk from a person who does not acknowledge the many issues affecting others of his cultural identity.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 00:49:50 +0000
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