It Helps to Have Perspective

I'm trying to wrap my mind around the angst felt by the tea partiers and conspiracy theorists and give-me-back-my-country types. I'm trying to understand the pain and bitterness they must feel. On average they're pretty well off economically, but they pine for days gone by and cheer along as cable "news" and talk radio give voice to their anger. I'm trying to understand what they're so mad about, what they are afraid of.

My research into this phenomenon has led me to a brand-new, best-selling book that sheds light. I will quote or paraphrase some of its most salient descriptions here:

• Opposition forces are coming together, "showing their teeth and shrieking to high heaven."
• Republicans denounce the President while the conservative media harp on state socialism and demand a return to the good old days.
• Instead of civil discourse there are "private fulminations and public carping" against the President's agenda.
• Some say the administration's objective is "to redistribute wealth"; they want to take it from those who have worked hard and been thrifty and pass it to those who have not.
• They say this is totalitarianism or socialism.
• They say they are waging a "holy war for freedom and the survival of democracy in America."

On the other hand, as the book points out, many people feel these kinds of charges are almost comically overheated. The vitriol flows "from deep reservoirs of fear, resentment, and fury; it [cannot] be answered by an earnest appeal to the facts." It all stems from a kind of psychosis that follows the horrible economic strain the country has just experienced.

The book is Supreme Power by Jeff Shesol. The economic strain was the Great Depression. The President was FDR.

"Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose."