Politics: Rhode Island's Doom

Rhode Island is interesting from a political science point of view. Historically, we were founded on freedom and liberty. We were the first State to declare independence from England*. It seems a natural fit that we would be a bastion of individual liberty. However, for better or worse, we were also the location of the birthplace of the American industrial revolution. This meant that we were also the place of tedious wage-slave labor. The work was easy, so the pay was low and the hours were long just to barely make a living. Then arose the idea of protecting the little guy from unsafe conditions through labor unions. Unions are not a bad idea. They give power to the powerless, which can be used to protect those powerless people. However, I'm going to throw in one other important historical factor. Prohibition.

 

Prohibition led to the rise of the mob. Need some liquor? The mob can help you. Need protection from the law to conceal your liquor use? Hey, the mob's got a guy for that. Need protection from the mob? The mob can do that too. Wait, what?

 

So, back to unions... Power to protect the little guy is great. Power to abuse the little guy or the big guy or anyone who gets in your way? Not so much. Combine the power of the unions with the power of the mob and you've got a problem. Sure, prohibition ended and the mob was rounded up. However, the culture of corruption and abuse of power remains.

 

The General Assembly in RI has ALL the official power. More specifically, the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader have the power. They usually are elected by less than 5000 people and often by only a few hundred people. In recent years, after 5-10 years in power, they get thrown in prison or are so disgraced that they have to step down. In almost every case they are Democrats. It's couldn't really be otherwise because we have had single-party rule for more than 75 years.

 

Party aside, the real issue with our current political environment is that people who vote, do it for the wrong reason. It's rare that someone votes FOR a person. Usually, the are voting AGAINST the other person. And when they do vote FOR a person, they are usually doing it because of their physical appearance (e.g. Obama's skin color, Hillary's gender, John Kerry's hair, etc.) or some other triviality. Probably half (if not more) don't even know the first thing about their selected candidate, which brings up the worst offense of all... Voting for the letter next to someone's name. People blindly do what they are "supposed to do." If Hillary wins in 2016, it will be because of her gender and the letter next to her name. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't even vote for herself, given how horrible she is.

 

Every election season, I have some hope that things will change in Rhode Island. Every election season I am disappointed. Now that a number of candidates have declared their intention to run for President, it is the start of the new election season. Hence, the new hope rises again. This could be the year. How do Cubs fans do this every year? It's hard enough to do every four years.

* - I was told this all my life, however, there is some debate on the internet over which State was actually first and what it means to "declare" independence. However, our declaration was taken seriously, which is why RI was immediately occupied and suppressed before we could join the Revolutionary War.

Politics: Will RI Wake Up?

If I was a betting man, I would guess not. The residents of the state are all too happy to keep feeding at the trough. Meanwhile, the bill for the feast keeps being passed along to their children. Inevitably, the loan sharks will come looking for their money. Who do you think will pay it? The top of the economic food chain has already left. The upper middle class are on their way out now.

Actually, unless something changes, state bankruptcy and liquidation are in our future. When the rest of the world is back out of severe recession, we will still be limping along. I know nothing will really change after next week's election. Even if every elected position in the state goes as good as possible, we're still in for at least a decade or two of pain.

My only real hope is that Bob Healey will win the L.G. office. I would take that as a sign that the state isn't entirely lost. The position of L.G. in this state is a joke. Bob Healey is the only one who has the balls to say that.

Aside from Bob Healey, I really hope we don't end up with Linc Chafee as our Governor. I don't know if the man is clueless, a complete idiot or actually mentally handicapped. He really seems like all of the above, yet because of his last name, he has a pretty good chance of being our next Gov. How does one promise to raise taxes in the state with the highest taxes already? Even still, he's leading in the polls. The results of this election may cause us to seriously consider moving out of state.