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I think the below article speaks to the same principles Hal is bringing
up, but from a more "conventional" - if you will - angle.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.truthout.org/021709R?print">http://www.truthout.org/021709R?print</a><br>
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<h2>Truthout Original</h2>
<h6>
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<h3><a set="yes" linkindex="12" href="http://www.truthout.org/021709R">Ending
the Hidden Agenda Behind Tax Cuts</a></h3>
<p class="article_date">Tuesday 17 February 2009</p>
<a linkindex="13" target="_blank"
href="http://www.truthout.org/021709R?print">
<p class="article_source">by: Joe Brewer, t r u t h o u t | Perspective</p>
</a>
<p class="alignright"><img src="cid:part2.03080909.06060209@mailbag.com"
alt="photo"><br>
<span class="photo_source">The
way that taxation is viewed by the public has a lot to do with the way
politicians frame the debate. (Artwork: inventions-guide.com)</span> </p>
<div class="article_content">
<p> <b><i>Something as simple as a metaphor can mean the difference
between shared prosperity and widespread suffering.</i></b>
</p>
<p> It's time to tell the truth about tax cuts. This phrase
dominates political discourse and is coughed out every time a
conservative public figure opens his mouth. It is treated like the
basis of sound reasoning, yet no one points out what should be obvious
- that "tax relief" and "tax cuts" are just code words for destroying
the capacity of government to serve the public.
</p>
<p> We've heard over and over again that the source of
society's problems is the government. The solution that follows is to
"trim the fat," "cut out the waste," "shrink the government" and
provide "relief" to millions of citizens who suffer the burden of
exploitation by Washington elites. This story flies in the face of the
facts, yet it makes sense to a significant portion of the US
population. How can this be?
</p>
<p> The answer has to do with how we make sense of things in
the world. Our experiences shape what seems legitimate by reinforcing
(or undermining) our ideas about the way things work. So, for example,
a progressive politician may speak honestly and forcefully about the
positive role of government in our lives. But this will fall on deaf
ears if our typical experience is at odds with such claims. This
observation demonstrates a key element of what George Lakoff and I <a
linkindex="14"
href="http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/what-we-do/cognitive-policy/"
target="_blank">have dubbed</a> the <b>Cognitive Criterion for Public
Support:</b>
</p>
<p> <i>An effective policy must be popular if it is to stand the
test of time and it must be popular for the right reasons, namely
because it promotes the right long-term values in the minds of
citizens, reinforced through the lived experience.</i>
</p>
<p> The reason many people accept conservative claims about
taxation and government is that they hold up for many common
experiences, especially when conservatives are in control of the
government. Conservative officials enact policies that make life worse
for people while claiming that things will get better. Then they draw
upon these negative experiences to advance their agenda. No Child Left
Behind is an excellent example. The strategy works like this (a more
detailed analysis <a linkindex="15"
href="http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/rockridge/why-voters-arent-motivated-by-a-laundry-list-of-positions-on-issues.1.html"
target="_blank">can be found here</a>):
</p>
<blockquote>1. Declare that the agenda is to "improve" public education.<br>
<br>
<p>2. Pass legislation that cripples public schools.
</p>
<p>3. Cry out for "reform" when people see how bad our schools are
doing.
</p>
<p>4. Get rid of public schools and replace them with private
schools, especially schools that teach conservative ideology (e.g.
elite charter schools, religious schools, etc.).</p>
</blockquote>
<p> This strategy demonstrates how *<a linkindex="16"
href="http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/what-we-do/cognitive-policy"
target="_blank">cognitive policy</a>*
works. Emphasis is given to how people understand what is happening.
The goal is to ensure that our experiences are interpreted through a
conservative lens. It is not literally the case that taxation is a
burden (a provocative metaphor), but rather that our common sense is
influenced by a combination of our experiences in the world and the
interpretive filters that give them meaning. (A key feature of how the
political mind works, as I discuss in <a linkindex="17"
href="http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/2008/11/20/revealing-the-great-political-blind-spot/"
target="_blank">The Great Political Blind Spot</a>.)
</p>
<p> Back to the hidden agenda behind tax cuts; we can apply this
insight to see that conservatives *want* people to have negative
experiences with government. Why? Because it supports decades of
propaganda - and an underlying belief that stems from their worldview -
that government is the problem. In the early 1970's, conservative
elites started investing heavily in the creation of idea factories to
spread their views far and wide so that they eventually became the new
common sense of our culture. They had to work tirelessly for years to
change the underlying values of American citizens because our long
history has been devoted to advancing our most cherished values, which
happen to be progressive. But, as we can see by the pervasiveness of
their ideas today, this effort has been catastrophically successful.
</p>
<p> Now is the time to nip their bankrupt idea about taxation
in the bud. The way to do it is simple. Take their reasoning to its
logical conclusion and see what happens if it is applied to the real
world. We can test the conservative belief about taxation against our
own and decide what's best by looking at the outcomes.
</p>
<p> First, we'll need to be very clear about just what
conservatives and progressives mean by taxation. Then we can apply
these understandings to the world to see their consequences. (The
insights that follow come from linguistic analysis of cognitive "<a
linkindex="18"
href="http://www.rockridgenation.org/blog/archive/2007/03/26/thinking-points-discussion-of-chapter-3-part-1-frames.html"
target="_blank">frames</a>" that shape political thought.)
</p>
<p> <b>Taxation as Conservatives Understand It</b>
</p>
<p> I've already alluded to an interesting metaphor that helps
make sense of conservative thought about taxes, which I'll call Taxes
Are a Burden to make it explicit. The understanding of taxation that
follows from this metaphor can be seen in this story:
</p>
<p> <i>Hard-working Americans are in need of some tax relief.
Years of mismanagement by tax-and-spend liberals have taken money out
of the hands of working people and put it into bloated government
programs that serve special interests. We need to cut taxes, return
fiscal responsibility to government, and put money back in the hands of
taxpayers who know best how to spend it.</i>
</p>
<p> This perspective is grounded in two beliefs: (1) The world
is comprised of individuals; and (2) People are inherently bad and must
learn right from wrong through self-discipline. I like to call this the
"Me First" perspective because it assumes that people must help
themselves before thinking about others. It can be summarized with the
declaration, "You're on your own!" The Me First perspective assumes
that any assistance from the community would be "coddling" or
"spoiling" us. This claim is asserted as truth in the conservative
worldview.
</p>
<p> <b>Taxation as Progressives Understand It</b>
</p>
<p> Progressives have a different understanding of taxation that
can be expressed through a variety of metaphors: Taxes Are an
Investment, Taxes Are Membership Dues, Taxes Are Pathways to
Opportunity, Taxes Are Infrastructure and Taxes Are a Duty. (Read more
about progressive taxation in "<a linkindex="19"
href="http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/progressive-taxation-some-hidden-truths/view.html"
target="_blank">Progressive Taxation: Some Hidden Truths</a>")
Reasoning that emerges with these metaphors can be seen in this
progressive story:
</p>
<p> <i>Our great nation was founded on a promise of protection
and opportunity. Through our shared wealth, pooled together by taxation
with representation, we have invested in the public infrastructure that
makes possible the creation of new wealth. We have a sacred trust to
keep this promise alive throughout our lifetimes, expand it as we are
able, and pass it along to our children.</i>
</p>
<p> This perspective is grounded in the beliefs that (1)
Individuals are influenced significantly by our communities; and (2)
People are inherently good and benefit from cooperation with others. I
like to call this the "People First" perspective because it assumes
that people must help each other in order to enhance their ability to
help themselves. It can be summarized with the declaration, "We're all
in this together!" The People First perspective assumes that we are
greater than the sum of our parts and that new opportunities emerge
when we make wise investments with the common wealth we share.
</p>
<p> <b>Truth and Consequences</b>
</p>
<p> Now that we have a clear sense of what taxation means to
conservatives and progressives, we can see what happens if these
different ideas are used as governing principles for shaping society.
This analysis accomplishes two purposes. First, it reveals key truths
about taxation that complicate arguments made by conservatives, truths
that don't get talked about nearly enough. And second, it exposes a
covert agenda that deceptively exploits real concerns of people to
advance an otherwise unpopular agenda.
</p>
<p> What happens if the Me First perspective is applied to
taxation? Just look to the world we find ourselves in today. A problem
defined as "too much spending" leads to budget cuts. This results in a
diminished capacity to provide vital services. Public goods like
education, civil and criminal courts, road maintenance and fundamental
scientific research are too costly for individuals - or even
multinational corporations - to afford. So these services are cut and
people lose their jobs. Thousands of teachers no longer cultivating
young minds. Countless construction workers laid off when city and
state governments halt infrastructure projects. Graduates with advanced
degrees unable to find work because public agencies are "tightening
their belts" and cutting back on grants to academia, nonprofits and the
private sector.
</p>
<p> Beyond the direct human suffering of disrupted lives, there
is substantial reduction in government programs that protect the public
against harm. The FDA cannot staff enough inspectors to keep toxic
peanuts out of the food supply. The EPA lacks capacity to keep drinking
water clean in cities and towns across the country. The SEC is unable
to keep a watchful eye on runaway speculation and our economy spins
wildly out of control. Bridges crumble and levies break because funds
are in short supply.
</p>
<p> The consequence of conservative ideology is a
self-fulfilling prophecy. People are forced to be "on their own" with
no protection against serious threats and no assistance to get them
beyond their current means. When disasters strike, there is widespread
suffering and death because the tapestry of society - our precious
safety net - has withered and decayed. Think I'm exaggerating? I'll
just say one word - Katrina.
</p>
<p> And despite their claims to the contrary, conservative leaders <a
linkindex="20" href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/05-1"
target="_blank"><b>want</b> this to happen</a>.
</p>
<p> Contrast this with the People First perspective. Again, we
can let experience be our guide. A decade of rampant deregulation,
perpetrated by a conservative mindset about the relationship between
government and the economy, led to the great stock market crash of
1929. A visionary progressive leader, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
stepped in and vastly expanded a wide variety of public programs. The
flood of revenues accompanying this expansion was enough to put
millions of unemployed back to work. New programs that embody the
spirit of progress emerged in the decades that followed. Social
Security, the GI Bill, Medicare and the FDIC are a few examples of the
legacy this pooling of resources delivered to the American people.
</p>
<p> Along with this massive investment in societal
infrastructure, Americans experienced tremendous growth of shared
prosperity. For the first time in our history, an entire generation of
children from working-class families moved up the economic ladder with
college degrees in hand. Home ownership skyrocketed. Literacy rates
went through the roof and new skills emerged to expand the capacity of
markets. And two generations of people experienced the benefits of
cooperation in their daily lives, codifying the ethic that we're all in
it together as a bedrock of sound reason.
</p>
<p> I can attest to this from personal experience. Both of my
parents came from working-class families. I was the first to get a
college degree. Federal and state scholarships delivered me from the
rural farm to the hallowed halls. And now society gets to benefit from
the fruits of my labor as I work to transform our political system for
the betterment of society. The cognitive policy of the People First
perspective is a foundation of my identity in the world.
</p>
<p> <b>The Hidden Agenda Exposed</b>
</p>
<p> The progress of our nation is being held hostage by a
malicious metaphor. Treating taxation as nothing more than a burden is
tantamount to declaring that citizenship is nothing more than getting
all you can for yourself … everyone else be damned. Conservative elites
have undermined the responsibilities we have to one another to advance
their agenda. They are fully committed to crafting the world in their
image, as we've seen all too clearly these last eight years and
throughout the current debate about economic recovery under the Obama
administration.
</p>
<p> I say enough is enough. Let's call this tactic out for what
it is. People are hurting in every corner of the land and they're
looking for help where they haven't dared to look for quite some time -
in the service of our representatives in the federal government.
Conservatives will try to convince us that our hardships are caused by
excessive government. The truth is that we are suffering under
excessive <i>conservative ideology of governance,</i> which is a very
different beast. They continue to claim that we can't get ahead because
we're overtaxed. This claim is absurd!
</p>
<p> Not a single home foreclosure throughout this crisis has
been caused by excessive taxation. The misfortune of illness in a
dysfunctional health system has burdened people with horrendous debt. <i>Where
did this problem come from? Profit-driven health care created under the
Nixon administration.</i>
</p>
<p> Banks haven't failed catastrophically through oversized personal
W-2 forms. Radical deregulation is the culprit. <i>Who deregulated the
market? Conservative ideologues from both political parties.</i> (This
is what the word "centrist" really means - conservatives who've
infiltrated the Democratic Party.)
</p>
<p> Companies haven't been driven to huge layoffs because their
tax burden is too high. They are victims of an unraveling market. <i>What
undermined the integrity of the global economy? An extremist philosophy
of governance that is blind to the role of the regulatory frameworks
that give stabilizing structure to our markets.</i>
</p>
<p> What can we do to stop the conservative agenda? Call it out
for what it is. When someone says, "People need tax relief," respond by
letting them know that "We <i>really</i> need to invest in one
another." Make it clear what the consequences of tax cuts really are -
the destruction of our mechanisms for protecting and empowering one
another. And let's stop taking their language for granted just because
everyone is doing it. That logic didn't make much sense in middle
school. It's all the more dangerous to follow as adults. Challenge the
conservative meaning of taxation directly. Declare that we are
decidedly NOT on our own. Point to the benefits we've taken for granted
too long, things like education and schools and roads and courts.
</p>
<p> We mustn't stop with a critique of their ideas either. We
need to fervently argue for our own. Together we are greater than the
sum of our parts. A prosperous community is a place where neighbors
pool their efforts for the greater good. Taxes provide resources for
investments larger than anything we could build on our own. And these
benefits create a space for new ideas to take hold and expand our
wealth.
</p>
<p> Ideas matter. Words are important. We cannot afford to let
a radical minority set the tone of public debate any longer. The time
is ripe for moving beyond the era of misguided individualism. Let's
take the momentum we've built in the last few years and place the
United States back on a course that resonates with our deeply held
values - caring for one another, expanding freedoms to the
marginalized, and recognizing that our shared prosperity is at the core
of our success as a nation.
</p>
<p> -------</p>
<p> <i>Joe Brewer is founder and director of <a linkindex="21"
href="http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/" target="_blank">Cognitive
Policy Works</a>,
an educational and research center devoted to the application of
cognitive and behavioral sciences to politics. He is a former fellow of
the <a linkindex="22" href="http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/"
target="_blank">Rockridge Institute</a>,
a think tank founded by George Lakoff to analyze political discourse
for the progressive movement. This article has been previously
published on the <a set="yes" linkindex="23"
href="http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/2009/02/15/ending-the-hidden-agenda-behind-tax-cuts/"
target="_blank">Cognitive Policy Works site</a>.</i> </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<br>
Hal Snyder wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:DF0B80FB-788B-46D7-A290-AA1D2A12ABBF@drxyzzy.org"
type="cite">The Baseline Scenario report has Simon Johnson's view of
the underlying economics.
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=1117">http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=1117</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Regarding the notion of an entrenched cadre of individuals,
amassing and holding onto unimaginable wealth and power <b>at any cost
to the rest of the planet</b>, recall work by Peter Phillips and
Project Censored on the Global Dominance Group.</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.projectcensored.org/articles/story/the-global-dominance-group/">http://www.projectcensored.org/articles/story/the-global-dominance-group/</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I think Bill Moyers and Simon (IMF) Johnson are still bumping
around <b>inside the box</b>. For example the chuckling over how we
clearly don't want the government running the banks, imagine going to
the bank being like a visit to the DMV, ha ha ha. Actually,<b> going to
private banks</b> these days is very much like a visit to the DMV where
I live. Also: when the government intervenes on a failing (small) bank,
the bank is promptly re-privatized [<i>what a relief</i>].... And so on.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>1. There are at least as many <b>threats to individual liberty
in these times from the private sector</b> as there are from the
government. Or have we taken our eyes off: Monsanto, Choicepoint,
Blackwater, Pharma, big media, the health insurance industry, predatory
lenders, etc... </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>2. I don't think the current mess will be resolved until we
realize <b>it's not about money</b>. The recent discussion on this
list about where we put our personal energy, our time, our hearts -
that's the <b>real currency of the human race</b>. It's time to shake
off decades of free-market brainwashing and acknowledge higher human
principles than greed. And not just acknowledge these principles, but
elevate them as our greatest aspirations.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Putting a dollar amount on every object or act or creature, and
somehow expecting whims of human commerce (the free market) to produce
a just or sustainable result makes about as much sense to me as making
big decisions based on which way the wind blows.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>3. Derrick Jensen says that if someone can slide insane premises
past you, they can use flawless logic to take you to an insane
conclusion. For example:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><b><i>How can we get the economy growing again?</i></b></div>
<div>
<div><br>
<div>
<div>This assumes a) we want the economy to grow, b) we want an
economy, and c) there is some agreement of who "we" are.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Jensen gives reasons we might say no to a) and b) and suggests
that "we", the implied beneficiaries of a growing economy, leaves out
much of the human race as well as most other life on the planet.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>How do they face their children?</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://growthmadness.org/2006/12/29/how-do-they-face-their-children/">http://growthmadness.org/2006/12/29/how-do-they-face-their-children/</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>On Feb 17, 2009, at 7:24 PM, Mike Kirk wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<blockquote type="cite">
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style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;"
valign="top">I saw part of this - very honest and to the point. <br>
<br>
Americans need to realize we are not immune from financial turmoil.<br>
<br>
-Mike<br>
<br>
--- On <b>Tue, 2/17/09, Chuck Minne <i><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:mincam2@yahoo.com">mincam2@yahoo.com</a>></i></b>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote
style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;">From:
Chuck Minne <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:mincam2@yahoo.com">mincam2@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Subject: [CitizensTruth] Are we chumps?<br>
To: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:citizenstruth@six.pairlist.net">citizenstruth@six.pairlist.net</a><br>
Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 6:26 PM<br>
<br>
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valign="top">
<div>This is worth watching:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank"
href="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02132009/watch.html">http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02132009/watch.html</a></div>
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