The events of the past month have ruffled feathers of progressives and folks in the center – the sideshows that took place outside town hall meetings earlier in the month have largely died down as the media and the public have picked up on the fact that these campaigns have less to do with truth and more to do with distraction and furor; but the toll they’ve taken on the actual political debate around health care is palpable, and many progressive lawmakers are stepping back from some of their promises and desires around health care just to keep from making those people angry.

Personally, I would say that if there’s a cause in this lifetime worth NOT getting re-elected for, it’s quality health care for every man, woman, and child in America. If I were a blue dog Democrat, I would be all about this being my line in the sand; it’s infinitely defensible. As much as the opposition wants to make this about lies like these non-existent “death panels” and of non-existent health care for illegal immigrants (which isn’t in any proposal or bill on the table) and as much as they want to make this about “socialism” and “naxi-ism,” both of which not only have nothing to do with this debate but the discussion of which is repulsive and proves these people need a history lesson, it’s about none of those things really.

These are labels the frantic opposition have applied to this; these are excuses that have been drilled into the heads of people without healthcare who somehow believe quality health care for all will somehow be a bad thing. But the real trend here is much more troubling: the possibility that these masses can be so easily whipped up into a fascist stir that they can easily be manipulated at any turn, much less an important one.

Sara Robinson, writing for The Campaign for America’s Future, is worried about that possibility, and so am I. So she has some tips for ways we can capitalize on this teachable moment and make sure that this pot isn’t stirred again. Here’s the core of the problem:

How in the hell did we get here? And more to the point: How do we get back out?

The first question is depressingly easy. This is precisely where 40 years wandering in the right-wing moral, cultural and economic wilderness has left us — and, in fact, where it was always intended to lead us.

A liberal democratic society is a complex system that’s designed to be very resilient and self-correcting in the face of all kinds of extremism. But the health of that system — especially its natural immunity to would-be attackers — ultimately depends on just one factor: It cannot survive without people’s ongoing confidence in a functioning political contract.

When it’s working right, this contract guarantees the upper classes predictable, reliable wealth in return for their investments. It promises the middle class mobility, comfort and security. It ensures the working classes fair reward for fair work, chances to move ahead and protection against very real risk that they’ll be forced into poverty if they can’t work any more.

Generally, as long as everybody gets their piece of this constantly renegotiated deal, everybody stays invested in keeping the system going — and a democratic society will remain upright, healthy and moving mostly forward.

For the past four decades, conservatives have done everything in their power to dismantle that essential contract, and thus destroy our mutual confidence in the fundamental agreements that allow any democratic system to function. (None dare call it treason — but a solid case could be made.)

But on to the how do we get back out? Sara explains that what’s been missing from public discourse is the clear and concise understanding that this social and political contract is not only essential, it’s persistence benefits everyone in our national community – and that it is just that, a community of countrymen whose mutual success is only as strong as our desire to be mutually successful. But how to rebuild that contract and the trust that comes with it?

Her suggestions: bolster education, restore the rule of law and equal treatment under it, pass comprehensive health care legislation that gives every American access to quality health care, bolster our institutions of thought and knowledge, and close the inequality gap.

Sounds good to me. Where do we start?

[ 5 Ways to Build a Fascist-Proof America ]
Source: AlterNet

If there’s anything behind these people at these so-called “tea parties” (as a student of accurate history, it’s unnerving to me to watch these people pervert the intention of the original tea parties – not that they were particularly selfless and honorable in and of themselves) it’s a seed of ignorance wrapped in a warm, cushy bed of despair and pessimism about the way their lives are going. Ignorance can only thrive in the absence of hope and knowledge – so the longer these people see their lives and livlihoods in a negative light, the more they’ll resist the medicine required to bring them out of it.

The solution, writes Mike Elk, for The Campaign for America’s Future, is to deliver to the people who need the most the green and new energy economy jobs that are coming with renewables and domestically produced sources of energy. Now is obviously the time to invest in domestic energy sources and renewables, and while the economic downturn has made the cost of oil and other imported fuel sources relatively cheap compared to their highs when we were all complaining about them, just because it’s not on the radar right now doesn’t mean it’s not a good time to push for it.

It really is a win-win: the American economy will be investing in its own infrastructure, in skilled jobs that can’t be outsourced, the environment benefits from a focus on renewable energy sources instead of highly pollutant fossil fuels and so-called “clean coal,” and the people benefit from the jobs that will be created. If that’s not a good use of my tax dollars, I don’t know what is. (oh yeah, health care for everyone, but we already know how I feel about that.)

Mike points at a classic case study: West Virginia.

Clearly, West Virginians would prefer jobs that didn’t destroy their communities and health, but are forced into coal mining because few other jobs exist. As a result, West Virginians desperately fear losing these jobs. The fossil fuel lobby exploits this fear to kill investments in clean energy jobs.The industry uses events like the upcoming free concert called “Friends of America” hosted by Sean Hannity, which has press materials implicitly attacking clean energy legislation, hysterically warning, “we must keep these [coal mining] jobs from being regulated out of existence”.

These industries always say that regulating them will cost jobs – even when it is proven that jobs will be created. This is because they have created a situation where people are hanging on by a thread, paid so little that they desperately cling to what they have and other people are starving in front of them.

The ability of these AstroTurf groups to mobilize people fearing the loss of their jobs led to the dramatic weakening of the Waxman-Markey climate bill and quite possibly health care. We often make fun of teabaggers showing up at town halls, but fail to realize that the reason they are motivated to rebel against change because all change has ever meant to them is job loss and the destruction of their communities.

At the very beginning of the article, Mike points out a statistic that I find fascinating. That the wind industry in the United States employs just over 85,000 people, whereas the coal mining industry in the US employs just over 81,000. That’s right – wind is already bigger – at least in terms of employment – than coal. So why does coal have so much leverage when it’s clear that wind has the potential to be the bigger energy powerhouse?

The answer lies in lobbying and old money: coal interests have had their fingers in politics for years, and renewable energy industries are just now getting into the game. Here’s hoping they step up with some facts soon; renewables are the future, there’s no doubt – but not just for the planet; for our economy as well.

[ Stop The Teabaggers, Give Them Green Jobs: Lessons From the Coalfields of West Virginia ]
Source: AlterNet