Baraka_Guru

But the thing is the U.S. already has a relatively low tax revenue per capita. And it's not just corporate tax cuts that the Republicans will likely sell, it's personal taxes too. How low do you need to go to generate economic activity? You can't keep lowering taxes and expect to pay off your runaway debt while continuing to pay for programs people want.

And if you look at those who flock to Beck, they're after the things he's selling: patriotism, militarism, and old American values. It's basically a resistance against change. The world is changing, it's changed: globalization, multiculturalism, instant global communication, gay rights, reproductive rights, rising BRIC dominance, the establishment of social democratic systems, etc.

These things scare the shit out of Old America. These Christian conservatives are flocking to Beck because they are mobilizing to protect what they feel is threatened. Unfortunately, much of what they're protecting are likely old ideals best left behind in the 20th century. Much of what they're protecting may have already died, if they're not in their death throes as we speak.

Republicans who take up these values---who essentially borrow a page out of Beck's playbook---will likely win votes. Tax cuts will only be one part of it.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot