12 October 2012

A Vignette of the US Political Scene



I did not watch the VP Debate in the US elections.

Someone sent me this video clip because it illustrates the principle which I have mentioned that is very much in play amongst the hypocrites that "money that comes to me and mine is for growth and to create jobs but money for anyone else is handouts and mooching."

Ayn Rand descried social programs and help for the unfortunate as 'handouts,' and glorified rule by the fittest and the fortunate all her life.

But when she needed it she gratefully took the same Social Security and Medicare that was so pernicious to society.

And the point is, did she learn from this? Did she change her mind or say she was sorry for being so wrong, so unfeeling, so willfully ignorant of the vagaries of life?

No not one bit. And that is the mindset of a sociopath. Not that she took what she was entitled to because of the efforts of others to create a safety net. No, but because she would still denounce and deny that same 'insurance' against misfortune to others, while taking it for herself.

Or I could mention a person I know who likes to rail against any government efforts to help the disabled and the poor, even today. He finds it highly offensive.

And yet this same person directly participated in making millions from the aid and the bailouts of the US auto industry, and would have faced a grave personal loss himself if the government had not prevented its bankruptcy. He acts as though this was all his doing, his superior performance, and is now entitled to -- everything and then some.

And the financiers of Wall Street are even worse.

Politics is the art of hypocrisy. And some of the fortunate ones and their minions and stooges raise it to a high art indeed. They are shameless as well as heartless.