Initially, I found this teabagging thing to be pretty funny. I mean, far be it from me to say you don’t have the right to protest. Hell, if you want to get out there and protest wearing white socks, or jump up and down about having to obey gravity, then by all means, don’t let me stop you. So while I may ridicule the movement, I definitely believe in their right to have an opinion.
I did no, however, expect to drive home this afternoon and see them throwing one of these tea parties, right here in my town. Though, after thinking about it, maybe it isn’t quite as surprising. Let me explain.
I live in a relatively small town. It’s a nice area, moderately decent housing, low crime, and decent proximity to local markets. We even have a Walmart, go us. However, I wouldn’t exactly categorize the area as high class. Middle class, maybe, definitely leaning towards lower middle class. Incomes are on the low end, with many residents on welfare and receiving food stamps. While some of the people in this area are educated, I’d wager that less than 50% have a college education. Overall, it’s a typical small town in rural America.
After looking at what kind of town I live in, you may also find yourself amazed that people are out there protesting raised taxes. The only taxes raised at this point are taxes on those making $250,000 or more per year. And those aren’t tax raises, but rather an expiration of the tax cuts that Bush put in place. There are very few people around here who can claim to have been able to take advantage of those cuts, and I doubt very much that they’ll be out there protesting, especially in the rain. In fact, if you look out across the country at all of the protestors, the only ones who are possibly making that much will be the news people covering the news, and even then, only if they’re the high powered anchors. So why are these people out protesting?
I’ll hazard a guess as to why. Fear. The economy is in a tailspin, jobs are scarce, and people are looking for someone to blame. Blaming Wall Street has quelled them for a time, but now they want more. Wall Street is more of an abstract idea and it’s tough to stay focused on. Obama, though, is a single person, and in the most powerful office in America. Obviously he has the power to fix things, and since he hasn’t done it already, then he’s obviously planning to make it worse. He’s out to tax everyone to death so that only the rich are left! Obviously!
Seriously, though, taxes suck. They do! I hate taxes. I hate paying taxes over and over and over again. I pay sales tax, local tax, county tax, state tax, federal tax, school tax, school real estate tax, county real estate tax, and there are probably others I’m missing. At the end of the day, I spend more time paying taxes than anything else! I’d much rather keep all my money and spend it the way I want to. However, I’m also well aware that the government needs money to function. They provide the roads I drive my car on, the schools I send my kids to, the protection to live in a country like the USA, and more. To do all this they need staff, who like to get paid too. In short, they need to collect taxes in order to have the money to function.
So what’s with all of this tax talk? Is there a legitimate reason to be upset? Are we missing something that the tea baggers aren’t? Well, yes and no. Obama has a fairly large agenda, detailing healthcare reform, clean energy, tax reform, and more. These things all cost money, and that money has to come from somewhere. So, in a way, these people could be protesting what’s to come, rather than what has already happened. Though, I’m not sure they see it that way.
One thing can be said, though. Times have obviously changed. When, in the last 8 years, have you seen a demonstration of this size, or any real size at all. Especially a demonstration against the government? You can bet that any such demonstration would have been declared illegal, or a threat to security, or some other nonsense. People would be arrested and gatherings would be disbanded. Need examples? How about all those people arrested at the Bush rallies when he was running for re-election? Now, go read Little Brother.. Yeah. That’s where we were headed under Bush. I’m happy Obama’s here, and while I don’t always agree with what he’s doing, overall, I support him. How about we demonstrate against something that actually affects us, rather than being lackies for the upper class.