Here’s another book I picked up through an Eric Alterman recommendation via his site (altercation.msnbc.com).
Return of the L Word isn’t too different from Robert Reich’s Reason. They lay out the marching orders, talking points and facts for Liberals to use as their fighting words against the Right-Wing Echo Chamber. Their approaches to delivering the rebuttal do diverge. Reich’s book had more personal anecdotes regarding his family, upbringing, education and career in Washington DC. His writing style is quite engaging too. Massey leaves himself out of the book and goes on the attack with facts, strategies and numerous footnotes. Sounds dull. Agreed. Alterman’s preview showing where the Liberals went wrong in the Seventies is what convinced me to buy his book. More hand wringing over past mistakes? No. Massey bluntly points out the past arrogance (hubris is overused) when Liberals had the helm and it resulted in the 12-year Reign of Error starring Reagan. He then turns it around to becoming the best ammunition Democrats should use to refute the Republicans’ so-called tax reforms.
Why are the Seventies the turning point? Most would reply “the Reagan Revolution began in the Eighties thus the Seventies were the end for the Liberals, end of story.” Not really. Massey’s argument goes like this: The financial costs of the Vietnam War started to be felt through double-digit inflation and then the OPEC oil embargo squeezed working Americans. Salaries rose to keep up with the expenses yet everyone but the rich lost ground. Why? Because income and property taxes remained at their past rates and there was no adjustment for inflation, thus many working people were pushed into the higher brackets reserved for what were affluent incomes a generation ago. Liberals, Conservatives and Moderates let it continue since these were stealth tax increases. When you can increase taxes without legislation, media coverage and voter outrage, it’s the perfect plan for elected officials. More government revenue without blame. Eventually, the financial pinch became too much and it led to disastrous responses; Proposition 13 in California is the most famous “remedy.” Then along came Reagan cutting taxes through smoke and mirrors. Liberals continued to be caught flat footed on the ongoing tax “reforms” enacted by the Conservatives and Republicans. By looking back on the Seventies, the smarter counter proposal is not to cut the taxes but to correct the rates to the real-dollar values after adjusting for inflation post 1973. People would find those rates much more palatable. The Reagan through Bush II tax cuts have only widened the income gap between the rich and working people. And when the knee-jerk rebuttal of “class warfare” is uttered, the response is “Damn right! You’re the ones who declared war on the working people and the numbers show you’re killing them.”
Meanwhile, Massey says many of the same things Reich and Alterman state. With Reich he’s in agreement of why Liberals need to embrace Globalization, Free Trade and let go of the Secondary Economy (manufacturing). Here he’s an apologist like Thomas Friedman about its inevitability, how it will really help Americans (other Westerners too) and eventually raise the standard of living worldwide. Really? Last time I checked, NAFTA has been in effect for 11+ years. Mexico is still an economic toilet. Only now they have even more bankrupt farmers, remittances accounted for $20 billion in 2002 to their economy (making them the second biggest source of revenue), the amount of money sent back in remittances has nearly doubled since NAFTA’s ratification, Mexico’s GNP is still equal to Los Angeles and millions of their citizens live here illegally. Massey argues that the means of globalization such WTO, GATT, so on can still be brought into line with the right elected officials. I’d say it’s too late now, the damage is done even by his own admittance through the deeds of the Chicago Boys during the Eighties. I’m still not convinced because globalization has only succeeded in its race to the bottom. Wages in Third World nations haven’t truly improved while unemployment, insecurity and fewer benefits grow in the West. I also don’t buy his reasoning that rejecting globalization could lead to a World War-level conflict as it did in 1914 (Serbian terrorism and European militarism) or 1939 (US-based MNCs led by Henry Ford and Bush’s grandfather selling Germany the means to become a menace had more to do with it).
With Alterman, Massey repeats the points of What Liberal Media? on how the Right’s long-term plan rising from the ashes of Goldwater’s drubbing now coming to fruition with the coronation of Bush II. He also shares the VARWICON (VAst Right-WIng CONspiracy) argument branded by Hilary Clinton through lists of tables, tables and more tables connecting all the dots to the numerous Right-Wing think tanks, organizations and their leaders. I agree they are much more organized on the Right but I subscribe to the number one rule about Evil Forces from Monte Cook (a great D&D designer); Evil isn’t monolithic, it fights amongst itself as much as it does against Good. Besides, the Right and its allies aren’t Evil, they’re just deluded, selfish, immature and when they’re not wealthy or powerful, stooges. He is correct on his documentation of the VARWICON’s depth which means the Liberals have much to do. At the same time, it’s depressing. The opposition is formidable with its resources, 30-year head start and constant assistance from a lazy media that they now own thanks to Reagan and the horrific Telecommunications Act of 1996. He gave me a moment of comfort when he pointed out how incestuous the VARWICON’s organizations are. By his math its members and followers are only 20 percent of the US population. They’re only “winning” now by very slight margins (remember the 2000 election) and dirty tricks [Diebold anyone?]. If that’s the best they can do in 30 years, then it’s not too late to turn back the tidal wave which is really a noisy duck fart.
In the end, I agree with Massey more often than I don’t. For a Liberal, his book is a great companion to Reich’s Reason to make a one-two punch against the bullshit from Ann Coulter, Michael Savage and Sean Hannity. Liberals have plans that don’t involve strangling Capitalism. Hell, when FDR was elected he saved Capitalism from itself with the Liberals’ assistance. Meanwhile Conservatives attacked from the sidelines or continued to preach the failedlaissez faire policies. However, I think Massey’s points withstand the stronger, thoughtful opposition from the Right publication I do read from, The Economist or the contrary, lazy SCLM. I don’t have any interest in reading the Right-Wing’s fiction to counter this. Life’s too short and I’m already bombarded with the Right’s lies every day of my life living in Texas, the National Laboratory for Bad Government. Once again, Massey’s book won’t change many people’s minds. I think the American people made their choices long ago by the SUVs they drive. His book is ammo to fight back the myth and lies about what the Liberal Agenda for the 21st century is. For Liberals, this is a book to use in the fight to regain control of the House and Senate (not guaranteed to happen in my opinion). For Conservatives, you’ve made your choice, this won’t change your opinions even though true Conservatives agree with true Liberals more often than you’ll admit. For the fence sitters, you’ll see your self-interest has more in common with the Liberals than the Republicans, Neo-Confederates and DLC Democrats.