In 2019, the IRS estimates that we lost $470 billion due to tax cheats and possibly as much as $1 trillion in 2021. Yet, the GOP slashed IRS positions and works to impede the Biden Administration from hiring upwards of 80,000 employees to correct this injustice. Additionally, the GOP push a false narrative that these would be armed IRS agents who would show up at the door of the average American. This is an outrage with dire consequences for the wellbeing of our country. The average Fox watcher is not shortchanging our coffers to a great extent, it's the wealthy, and ultra-wealthy, the donor class. This latter group has benefited immensely over the decades via stock prices rising as corporate rates have fallen mightily. Let's not forget that Trump cut corporate rates from 35% to 21%. The average GOP voter loses interest in these non-telegenic events, better to show marauding black kids in the inner city ripping off CVS for peanuts than explain the difference between a million and a billion. And I'm not excusing theft by anyone but there's no perspective or basic understanding of what could be done with the additional tax revenue (paying down the debt, funding healthcare, housing assistance, etc. ). The GOP is so skilled at flashing the next shiny object (frequently a culture wedge issue), to distract from far more significant problems.
Violent video has been cropping up lately on my Twitter feed, and I am drawn to it. I know I'm caught in the algorithm's tractor beam, and yet I watch. Perhaps it says something troubling about me. I watch these videos and often wonder what I would do in the situation. I see commonalities like impaired judgment due to substances consumed, violence for its own sake, violence for money/property, or instances where one party feels that disrespect was shown and that face-saving assault is warranted. Mostly I feel fortunate that I don't live in the places where these horrible actions take place. On another level, I realize how skillfully right-wing media has an inexhaustible demand for these images because they cynically mainline them into the amygdala of its viewers. An endless stream of shiny object violence can distort one's feelings of vulnerability. Most people poorly assess risk and have no understanding of basic statistics or probability. And again, I'm not condoning or trying to minimize the real horrors on some streets and I acknowledge my good fortune that I don't live in such places. I can't fathom how terrifying it must be for decent people to try to cope amongst such crime. Right wing media would starve for viewers were it not for this telegenic video. Aspiring demagogues demand such video so they can puff out their chest and vow that they, and they alone, will crush the rabid barbarians who threaten our cities, and possibly one day, our suburbs!
Lastly, here's a great quote from Steven Pinker that applies to everyone, but especially the consumers of right wing media who pine for those good old days of yesteryear, where everyone knew their place, especially women, minorities and gays.
"Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory. "
Peter T.
