Things are not what they seem
Charleston Gazette
John Palmer: Things are not what they seem
The alleged “war on coal” has been blamed for the loss of middle-class jobs in West Virginia. But things are not what they seem. These job losses over the decades have been due mostly to replacement of men by machines, and more recent job losses to competition from natural gas and thinning coal seams. “Friends of coal” are not “friends of coal miners.”
Urban unrest in Baltimore and St. Louis has been characterized as “racial.” But things are not what they seem. (White) ill-trained policemen have been required to try to keep social order over a restive (black) underclass, inner-city dwellers. The question of the worth of black lives seems only to arise when one is taken by a white policeman.
The upper management of, and shareholders in, large corporations have been called “job creators” who are essential to keeping the economy going. But creative innovators arise naturally from a variety of backgrounds and the fruit of their creativity is often co-opted by large, — “size matters!” — firms. Most of these innovators have been nurtured in academic, governmental or small business settings. .
The “war on terror” has been invoked to keep military spending at high levels. But things are not what they seem. Our fabulously expensive military hardware (e.g. ships, aircraft, and missiles) cannot be used effectively against secretive religious fanatics or distant indigenous warlords.
The Democratic Party has been characterized as representing common folk, while Republicans represent the interests of big business. But both parties are more at home on Wall Street than Main Street. Possession of prescribed substances is prosecuted (persecuted?) more vigorously than white-collar financial manipulation.
Is there any doubt at all whom the Republicans represent? Certainly there was none in the mind of President GWB in 2000: “This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base.”
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