Whom the Progressives Count as “We”

Mark Binder, a children’s author and sometime progressive candidate for political office in Rhode Island, starts an RIFuture post attacking RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity CEO Mike Stenhouse with five paragraphs about his difficulty publishing it.  He couldn’t place it in the Providence Journal; he couldn’t get GoLocalProv to pay him for it.

Frankly, I’m not surprised.  It’s increasingly difficult to be paid for political commentary, and within the genre, Binder’s offering isn’t very good.  It’s little more than a string of negative assertions, statements of faith about policy, incongruous declarations about the importance of “facts, figures and realities,” and an advertisement for a book that his company published.

What makes it sufficiently interesting to merit any comment at all is Binder’s statement that the piece “does reflect [his] thinking these days.”  He’s probably not alone in having these thoughts, and I suspect I’m not alone in finding his statements baseless and confused, and even a little dangerous.

So, Sten is “a shill for the wealthy,” and he “and his band of so-called experts spout nonsense.”  Binder doesn’t address the economics of tax policy; he just calls one side “bull.” He acknowledges that “our government stinks at ‘job creation,'” but relies on government to shape our economy and our society.

That last part is the important one, because it probably gives the best inkling of what Binder really wants.  The specifics amount to quite a list.  Apparently, “we, the people” want to pour more money into failing school systems (despite evidence that increased spending doesn’t help); “we” want more money for “public and alternative transportations”(despite evidence that building it doesn’t make them come); naturally, “we want corporations to pay to keep our environment clean; also on the list is “universal healthcare.”  Of course, to accommodate this list and more, “we want our government to raise taxes.”

A reader may begin to wonder “who are ‘we'”?  “We” sound a bit like a very narrow range of progressive activists.  Don’t “we” want jobs?  Freedom?  They aren’t on the list that Binder ascribes to us.

There’s a dark side to this “we” talk.  The wealthy aren’t “we.”  Business owners aren’t “we.”  Sten’s a “shill.”  I’m part of a “band of so-called experts.”  If you’re reading this, you’re probably not “we”; if you’re agreeing with it, you’re almost definitely not “we.”

Frankly, it appears that the single criterion for being part of “we” — that is, being among the “people” — is agreement with Mark Binder.  And if you’re not “we, the people,” you must be something else, something less.  You’re “them,” not even “those other people.”

I wonder if Mark has ever thought about the consequences of this aggressively dehumanizing rhetoric.  I bet if he spends a little time thumbing through a history book (even one that amounts to progressive propaganda), he’ll find some examples.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in The Ocean State Current, including text, graphics, images, and information are solely those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of The Current, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, or its members or staff. The Current cannot be held responsible for information posted or provided by third-party sources. Readers are encouraged to fact check any information on this web site with other sources.

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