What we believe in makes us blind to what we do, which is exactly why we need democracy and the vision of our founders. In William H. McNeill's 1976 book, 
Plagues and Peoples, a new way of looking at the defeat of the original Americans was introduced. It was not the superiority of technology or the belief that the Spaniards were 'gods,' or even the superiority of Christianity or Western Civilization, it was the lack of resistance to infectious disease. Because we believed in our superiority Euro-Americans thought their success was a result of divine intervention or the natural consequences of evolution. But McNeill's study shows us it could not have been accomplished without an important and unknown ally, infectious disease to which the natives had no immunity.
Today we believe our 'superior' technology, economic and political systems make us inheritors of destiny. We deny we are forming an empire even though we are acting as though we are the new Rome. I recently read Tariq Ali's collection of interviews that gives a sense of how those outside 'the empire' see us. He says America is beginning to admit what it is doing, behaving like the new world empire. He says, "Perhaps it is better . . . We know where to kneel." But our leaders today have not really admitted their intentions, they claim that the events of Sept. 11, 2001 have caused us to pursue a 'war' against terrorism, which makes me suspicious this war is no more than an excuse for this administration to impose its imperial desire on the world. Because rather than acting like one of the nations of the world, forming coalitions and using treaty organizations to proceed, this administration leads our nation to act unilaterally and insist others follow our lead. Why? Because rather than looking to ourselves to control our destiny this administration looks to controling Middle Eastern oil or our other economic interests across the globe through military intervention or our support of unfair trade agreements.
This 4th of July causes me to contemplate many sobering thoughts about our great nation including the diverse visions we citizens have of our origin and purpose that may well relate to our divided political scene. We've gone from war on poverty in the New Deal and the Great Society to war on the poor in America and across the globe. A world from Iraq to Venezuela, Afghanistan to Africa, where we are told that unregulated private enterprise will provide the things we have come to expect from government. Those who still believe we need government intervention to assure that generated wealth finds its way to all those contributing to societies welfare and not just the privileged few who control it, are troubled by this unquestioning new faith. This is why we are so deeply divided and why it is so difficult to have compromise even at our state level. I am proud of our democratic ideals, traditions of citizen involvement, and protection of individual rights; our suspicion of unfettered privilege and power, and our democracy based on compromise and distribution of power that protects minorities and the disenfranchised. I recognize that these beliefs and their success also led to the Reagan revolution a reaction against what many were told was the 'tyranny' of special interests over what was 'good' for the majority. In turn this has led to an unwarranted faith in the power of the 'free market' and brought about things like the current Supreme Court decision to rule in favor of eminent domain claims for private interests because they 'may' bring jobs and increase tax revenues. Something governments are increasingly reluctant to do on their own as they succumb to the pressure of those with power.
In our own county we are seeing the behavior of government officials, elected and appointed assuming they are acting in the interests of all as they ignore and abuse the rights of citizens and residents. We have a problem when the concern of citizens, for the environment, and their own wellbeing is termed insignificant or obstructionist. Proposed development along I-35 in Northwest Rice County as promoted by the County Planning Commission and the County Board does exactly that by refusing to hear testimony and discounting public input.
How can we have progress in our state government when elected officials are more interested in gamesmanship and pointing blame than they are in finding solutions to difficult problems of their own making? When a local legislator calls the principled action of a political leader 'a joke' after proclaiming himself a model of bipartisanship, how can any one believe what he says. This same legislator seems unaware of Minnesota legislative history. I am glad he is finally reading his 'alleged' hero Elmer L. Andersen, but he seems unaware that his unbending support of Governor Pawlenty and House speaker Sviggum is in direct opposition to the things that Elmer Andersen believed in, which is why Andersen (as does Gov. Carlson) opposed Governor Pawlenty's agenda. An agenda that is attempting to change the tried and true governing principles of our way of life and replace them with a 'huckster's' promise of prosperity for all. Elmer Andersen believed Minnesota's business climate was good because it operated under the assumption that people mattered. Today we have business leaders who assume that it is more important to know a man's price than to know what a man is.
Equally irksome to me is our representative's claim that he has no extreme 'right wing' agenda, when he so ferociously defends those who promote the agenda he claims not to own. Who is he kidding? How can he defend the Governor without supporting his agenda of outrageous reforms. One thing he is clear about is his defense of protecting the wealthy from taxation. He argues that he won't support taxing one group over others referring to the DFL Senate proposal to increase the income tax on Minnesota with incomes over $400 thousand, even when that tax plan is aimed at equalizing the total tax as a percent of income people pay, as substantiated by the last Minnesota Tax Incidence Report and the important work done by Joel Kramer of Growth and Justice.
By the way a quick read of this report also shows the affect of shifting the weight of commercial and business property taxes to residential property tax enacted under the Ventura administration. The drop in commercial tax revenue has led County officials to argue that more commercial development is necessary on the re-zoned I-35 site, in order to balance the trend toward residential growth. Though it may be that some commercial growth should be encouraged why not protect environmentally sensitive wetlands and agricultural land and put this development in urban areas.
For those interested in the moments leading up to the government shutdown, for what it's worth, I found the following article from the Virginia Minnesota paper interesting:
Senate DFLers adjourned with 'set-up' afoot
Bill Hanna
Mesabi Daily News
Saturday, July 02nd, 2005 11:02:16 PMST. PAUL – When it comes to baseball, "Inside Baseball" means those little things about the game that only those on the field and the most ardent fans would understand – a balk; the signal sent by a coach putting his finger to his nose; a pitch called a "cutter"; the intentional walk.
When it comes to the Minnesota Legislature and the countdown Thursday to a midnight first-ever state government shutdown, "Inside Baseball" means that DFL Senate "intelligence sources" reported back to the party's caucus members that a "set-up" was afoot.
The "set-up," according to state Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, one of a handful of DFL Senate leaders who convinced other caucus members that adjournment at 10 p.m. Thursday was necessary.
"When you know the inside game, we had no choice. We made a decision. We could not take a chance," Bakk said.
To read more click here.
On this 4th of July I hope you too are prompted to think about what kind of democracy our founders brought into existence and what kind of democracy we want to preserve.