Their Freedom Is Controlling Your Life

Last week Gov. Terry Branstad signed a law which gives him what must be the ultimate among those who desire to hold the control of others’ lives in their hands; he now has the power to decide if a woman who uses Medicaid as their insurance will be allowed to get an abortion paid by Medicaid. Man, other Republican governors must be out of their minds jealous.

When I say “those who desire to hold control of others lives” I mean Republicans. Almost every move since Ronald Reagan has been geared to make those who are not rich lose more and more control of their lives. There are the obvious acts through which a segment of the population loses control over their own lives, such as all the regulations imposed on abortion clinics, which in effect take away choice for women. Having a child imposes huge societal controls on a woman. Now Branstad gets to decide who will have those controls placed on them. And the beauty is that he will not have to contribute one cent of his money to raise the subsequent child.

That is one of many ways Republicans have moved to control our lives in the past 30 years. They have nullified the power of unions and any leverage labor ever had by both busting unions and by passing laws which allow corporations to manufacture overseas without any penalty. This has greatly expanded the labor pool and thus lowered the cost of labor. How does that put the Republicans and the rich in control of your life? Well, have you thought about leaving your job lately? Back in the 70s you may have had a great many opportunities. Today, if you are lucky there might be one or two. More than likely there will be hundreds vying for that job. Since the chances of you leaving your job are slim, the raises and perks that once went with your job have been stunted. If you decide to leave there are a hundred outside the door that are ready to take your place for an even lower wage.

As we come up on birthday #237 for America, the freedoms and liberty that was won so hard against a government that limited freedoms are once more becoming quite limited for the average person. Franklin Roosevelt stated it very succinctly decades ago in a time of great economic trouble. As the country pulled itself out of the Depression, Roosevelt noted the relationship between freedom and economics:

“True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.”

Republicans are quite aware that the opposite is also true –  people who are hungry and out of a job can easily be controlled. All they had to do was to create the environment in which people were losing their jobs or feared losing their jobs and were either hungry or were getting there. Thus they have passed legislation which funnels government money to the rich. Then in turn they have cut social safety nets which at one time could sustain a person’s dignity. They have also created insecurity in jobs in all sectors through government cut backs, through laws which effectively undermine unions and through laws which allows employers to send jobs overseas for much lower wages.

Republicans have also created a populace they can control by defunding public schools and forcing teachers to teach to a set of tests. This cuts down on the teaching of critical thinking skills. Without those skills, it is harder for a person to understand when someone is controlling them. The rise of corporate and religious run schools with their ideologies also negate critical thinking skills.

And of course the great control mechanism for those in power since the beginning of man and in all societies is religion. That religion is so tied in with Republican Party is no coincidence. The Republican Party using their position in government to pass what should be religious rules is no coincidence either. Republicans know that claiming the mantle of the party of the religious gives them a great way to get votes and a great pipeline to use control mechanisms. Laws pertaining to marriage are a great example. Until just yesterday, our country had a law which controlled who you could and couldn’t marry.

How could you exert control without control of the media? You couldn’t! Usually the first thing the winners of a revolution do is seize the media. One of the first things we did after our revolution was free the media from government control. Yet the media has descended into almost total control by corporations which align themselves with the extreme right of this country. Thus they control the information that is disseminated to us. We now get a very narrow view of what is actually happening. Because of their opposition to the President, one TV network (Fox) refuses to carry anything Obama. They rehash discredited stories such as Benghazi rather than give the president any air.

The last way Republicans exert control is by limiting who can vote. We have a great example here in Iowa with Secretary of State Matt Schultz determining who can vote based on last name. Republicans do not want open elections, they want rigged elections. The gutting of the VRA by the Supreme Court Tuesday will go a long way toward that.

So we have slowly descended as a country into a situation very near what we faced in the 1760s . Once again we have a very small group of very wealthy elites running our lives through control mechanisms that their lackeys in government and industry have imposed on us. I am not advocating a revolution or anything like that. I am pointing out that our freedoms have been usurped. I will also point out that we have the tools to turn the country back to a track of freedom which in turn will bring prosperity. But we have to use these tools. We must run good candidates and vote them into office.

If the thought of Terry Branstad deciding whether a woman he does not know must be forced to give birth and then raise that child with little or no safety nets in place is as repugnant to you as it is to me – get off that couch and get active while you still can!