Protest of the Producers

[Ed Hudgins]

Protest of the Producers
by Edward Hudgins

September 20, 2009 - The past week saw two conflicting kinds of political consciousness that point to what is right and what is wrong with our culture today.

The first was on display on September 12 in Washington, D.C., as hundreds of thousands of individuals flooded Pennsylvania Avenue and the Mall in front of the Capitol building. This Tea Party was organized to protest out-of-control federal government spending and deficits, attempts by Congress and the Obama administration to control health care, economically destructive environmental regulations on businesses, and limits on economic liberty that make individuals more dependent on government.

This demonstration was the most dramatic of many this year that have taken place from coast to coast, complemented by citizen protests at town hall meetings held, often reluctantly, by elected government officials.

Consciousness raising

No doubt each demonstrator sought to voice his or her opinions about public policies with which they rightly disagreed. But something else was happening that could have effects much more far-reaching than stopping any particular piece of legislation. The demonstrators were beginning to expand their consciousness of themselves as producers who are proud of running their own lives and who are stung by the injustice of being punished and set upon by their government and fellow citizens for their virtues. Whether construction workers, retail clerks, software engineers, business owners, professionals, inventors, you name it, most were concerned that government is taking their fates and their futures out of their hands.

Most successful social movements, for better or worse, depend on enough individuals recognizing some important aspect of themselves that they share with others and that offers opportunities for mutually advantageous action. Individual blacks in the South in the 1950s and '60s rightly saw themselves deserving liberty to run their lives as they saw fit and to participate in the political process. They also saw, as they'd seen since the days of slavery, that they were victims of white political elites who used state force to limit those liberties. They saw that the time was well overdue for the shackles of state-enforced segregation to be removed. And they saw that they could act together to eliminate the injustice they suffered.

Many Americans today are becoming more conscious of themselves as striving to take responsibility for their own lives, their own families, their own careers, and their own material well-being, and as being the authors of their own happiness. They are growing more conscious of the government shackling them in the name of helping those who are irresponsible and who do not strive to better themselves but, rather, simply make demands on those who do. And they are growing more conscious that they can take to the streets and eliminate this injustice.

This consciousness of themselves as creators and producers is still emerging and evolving. This perspective of producers versus moochers still does not define how they view American politics and culture. "Liberal" versus "conservative," two very confused concepts, still organize and integrate their understanding of the world in which they live.

But to the extent that their consciousness of themselves as producers who hold up the economy and society becomes primary, these Americans will seek united action with other producers to demand that government leave them alone. They will no longer sit silently as they are denounced as "selfish" and "greedy" for wanting to run their own lives any more than black Americans will sit silently when racial epithets are hurled at them.

Collectivist mentalities

This first form of political consciousness is in stark contrast to a second form, one that was fostered by former president Jimmy Carter last week. Speaking about those who oppose President Obama's policies, he said, "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

Where did Carter get his evidence for this accusation? Surely not from some poll or survey! In fact, the charge originated in an ideological model that he chooses to carry around in his head. He, like so many on the left, sees the world in terms of group membership. That is why they find it difficult to understand that millions of individuals would oppose programs-whether offered by white or black politicians-that limit their liberty as individuals.

Indeed, the left's defense of government paternalism is based on this mindset, on group consciousness, on the notion that individuals acting in voluntary cooperation with others are too often impotent. And it is this kind of consciousness that Carter and collectivists like him must foster if they are to keep the producers in bondage.

Producers of the world, unite!

Protests against the policies of Obama and Congress will certainly continue and intensify as the 2010 elections loom. Those who want to effect a deeper social change and to reinforce the moral foundations of a free society should not only raise their own and potential allies' understanding of the benefits and hazards of particular policies; they should also foster in themselves and others their own self-consciousness as producers and creators.

Looking at the world this way will provide a surer guide not only for political action but for the kind of culture that will help vanquish the tribal mentalities that hold so many back in their own lives and that support a political system that, in the end, cannot stand because it destroys the producers.
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Hudgins directs advocacy and is a senior scholar for The Atlas Society, the center for Objectivism.

For further reading:

*Edward Hudgins, "Thoughts on Racial Thinking." January 17, 2009.

*David Kelley, "A Museum for Capitalism." Navigator, June 2003.

[Christopher]

Very keen insight.

Here in California, individuals can write any measure they want and, with enough signatures, have that measure popularly voted on during the next election. I've always wanted to write up the following measure that would affect all future popular votes in the state: when new measures are introduced for popular election that support additional taxes and/or state-funded programs, those measures must specify the dollar amount such a measure would cost the average citizen. In other words, "If you vote yes on ABC measure, you will pay an additional X dollars in taxes annually."

None of this tax the wealthy for me stuff or raise taxes but have the feeling that I'm raising everybody else's taxes. People should feel responsible for supporting their causes, and what better way than to show how much they are paying when they vote "yes."

[Christopher]

Ed,

As noble as your vision is, I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. Here's just a couple of interesting pieces of information for you from the closing of the GM plant near Dayton, Ohio:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/19/ohio.plant.closing/index.html

GM employees received buyouts of as much as $140,000... [do you wonder where that money came from?]

but suppliers' employees get no compensation when they're cut loose, said Kaine Goodwin, the business manager for IUE Local 755 in Dayton. "We get no severance pay, and they're not going to bail us out," said Howard, his voice rising and eyes widening. "Somebody should bail us out. We're the ones suffering. ... We don't have a dime. We're gone. Goodbye."

http://www.manufacturing.net/News-Ohio-Governor-Bailout-Opponents-Playing-With-Fire.aspx

Ohio Governor: Bailout Opponents ‘Playing With Fire’

The governor says the nation can't give up on its auto industry, which he says remains very important to Ohio's economy.

And finally, the clincher...

http://newstalkradiowhio.com/localnews/2009/04/lots-of-rhetoric-but-will-poli.html

DAYTON, Ohio -- Tax Day has come and gone, and so have the Tea Party's in Dayton and around the country.

Now organizers and attendees wait to see if they bring about any change in current policy.

The local event, protesting what they claim is "runaway government spending," attracted thousands to Court House Square in downtown Dayton last night. Organizers and police officers estimated the crowd at approximately 8,000 people, making the Tea Party the largest in Ohio and one of the largest in the country.

The evidence suggests that those who are crying "foul" and marching in teaparties are people who would have gladly accepted any form of bailout.

To be fair, I did not find a lot of information from Dayton citizens supporting the bailout prior to the factory closing. In fact, because of the little I found, it's quite possible that only a minority of the workers who were laid off actually wanted to be bailed out.

But still, people are very self-serving. I wouldn't be surprised that they march in teaparties only after they get the short end of the stick when it comes to government redistribution. Self-responsibility, or merely an extension of self-serving behavior?

[Ed Hudgins]

Christopher –

The latest battle for freedom, like all others, will be long and with many twists and turns. I like the idea of attaching numbers to government spending when we can. In fact, I use to do a lot of work on the costs of government regulations, for example, restrictions on shoe imports will cost the average family in poverty $X extra per year to their kids, etc. There’s a ton of good estimates coming out of the free market think tanks.

Of course, there are several problems with this approach in referenda. First, who will produce the numbers and by what criteria? See, for example, the current battle in Washington about the real costs of Obama-care. Second, in many cases the direct costs do fall disproportionately on higher income folks. Thus many lower income folks figure they’re picking someone else’s pockets. We know in the long-term such redistribution harms everyone but in the short-term there are often winnings and losers.

On the Tea Parties, no doubt folks had mixed motives for participating. But my read is that most were of the “let-us-along” types rather than the “give-us-bailouts-too” crowd. I suspect that in states like Michigan and Ohio there might be more in the latter category. Or just as likely, the press chose to focus on those folks!

Cheers!