Posted by
Crispian on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 4:05:06 PM
What are these tea parties about? Some claim they are just a laundry list of complaints by a bunch of sore losers. The Chicago Tea Party that took place (in Chicago) was nothing of the sort. There was neither sign nor mention of issues like abortion, stem cells, national security, health care, immigration, gay marriage, or the other usual conservative complaints. This was a protest about the runaway government spending and the threat it poses to the future of our nation and the impact it already has on our daily lives.
"Capitalist Pig" Jonathan Hoenig spoke to the crowd, excoriating President Bush for his excessive spending and his advocacy of the first bailout. There were half a dozen signs in the crowd similarly blaming Republicans as well as Democrats. Hoenig explained the challenge we now face as "collectivism" versus "individualism." According to Hoenig, it is a matter of having the government take our money to provide for us in its best judgment or leaving the money in our hands for us to spend according to our own best judgment.
Picking up on this theme of self-determination, John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, urged the protesters to lead themselves. He argued that government bureaucracy will gain greater control over the choices we have by controlling the corporations with its essential ownership of them. Kristina Rasmussen, Executive Vice President of the Illinois Policy Institute, cautioned against ignoring local threats, citing the 50% proposed income tax increase in Illinois.
Some in the crowd complained about tax increases, many about spending. One man was concerned about the fate of his small company which does much of its business online. Another man, standing at the edge of the crowd commented that 'these people aren't supid, even if their taxes don't go up now, they will later.'
Is such a protest too esoteric? Is the threat of taxation and runaway spending so complex that the protesters cannot possibly be motivated by their own sincere convictions? Those who believe that the government should provide for us would say yes, that we are too dumb to understand what it means for someone else to spend our money. And that is what these protests are all about.
Here is a view of the protesters:
