My biggest problem with the Tea Party is that they are the entitled now trying to end entitlements for others.
My read on it is this, by-in-large tea parties are baby boomers who have grown up benefiting from modern social welfare state of the 60-70-80s. When they weren't the ones footing all the bill life was great. Now that they're earning the high incomes and having to pay taxes to support it do they start complaining that the social welfare state is too expensive and those benefits that they enjoyed should now be reduced for others.
I see tea partiers not as a broad social movement but another veiled attempt of identity politics in this case for older, richer, whiter people. Keep more for us in the way of low taxes and give less to others in the way of income support, medicare, education, job training, etc.
|