Breaking Down Beck: 9/12 Principles, Part 2

Before we conclude our overview of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Principles, the first half of which we covered in Part 1, let’s take a quick look at 2009′s Misinformer of the Year courtesy Media Matters.

Principles 6-9 after the jump.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

There is nothing wrong with this statement in what it says, but what it doesn’t say. Like many of those who share Beck’s political leanings, there is no concept of positive rights as opposed to the negative rights they always mention. It is completely understandable how a person could believe anyone could, with hard work alone, simply build a family farm with their muscle in the vast expanse of 1789 America. However, this fantasy wasn’t true then, and it’s even less true now. If we lived in a state of nature, pure simple negative natural rights are fine, but when people exit that state with the creation of States and systems of government and economics, the rules change. For many, the social contract leaves them with the short end of the stick, losing both life and liberty because the right of others to have all the property is valued most.

People of Beck’s persuasion, and there are many of them, believe in ‘blaming the victim’ when it comes to poverty. Poor people, especially unwed minority mothers, are the scape goats in this country. Welfare is ‘bad’ because it just rewards their bad behavior, and the country is justified because they are solely responsible for their own choices. “Proof” of this is just one allegory away; the one kid out of one hundred who makes it out of the ghetto did it because he worked hard and didn’t give into temptation, while the other kids joined gangs, did drugs, or got knocked up, thus throwing their lives away instead of doing good in school like they should have. It’s their fault and no one else’s. They deserve to be poor.

These people are different from those ‘normal’ people who sometimes hit hard times cause their small town economy went downhill or something similar. They need our help, because they ‘look’ and ‘sound’ like us. They are poor because of bad luck, or worse, liberals messing with the economy or worst of all, illegal aliens who of course deserve to be poor because they are not American like we are.

Simply put Beck, there are societal and systemic causes for poverty based on gender, race, culture, location, and political power. Yes, hard work is important. In fact, it is the most important thing an individual in a poor position can do, their only way out is to work ‘twice as hard’ as the more fortunate ones, but we as a society can’t cast a blind eye to the fact our economy creates winners and losers unfairly and nonrandomly. History acts on the present, and saying ‘try harder’ or ‘wash your face’ won’t solve poverty and won’t stop the gap between rich and poor from growing like it has for decades.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

Pronouns and word choice can go a long way. If you start from the premise that everything you own and have in this world comes from just your work, then it does make sense that you would be against taxes of any kind. On the other hand, if you realize that your success was also built upon the benefits that society gives you from safety to education, as well as the opportunity for prosperity of others who in turn support you, provide a service for you, or purchase your goods etc., then it is easier to be in favor of taxes that support that society. Furthermore, if you realize that the system  society creates is not perfect and in fact hurts many people’s level of opportunity compared to your own, you could easily realize that there is a rational behind progressive income taxes and social programs.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

Does this include not agreeing with the principles, which seem to want to define what a true American should uphold? Probably not, but it should be encouraged to ask questions and use dialogue to express ideas and make changes. I don’t recall anyone using the term un-American except towards liberals and by those questioning Obama’s birth certificate. So disagree all you want, just try and do so intelligently.

If we are to raise our form of government up as superior we must be able to justly dismiss anyone who says our public discourse is nothing more then a popularity contest filled with prejudice, inuendo, and bumper sticker slogans.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

The quote Glenn puts under this is:

I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation. – Thomas Jefferson

In theory, the government is supposed to be of the people by the people and for the people. If that was the case how could the government answer just to ‘me’ instead of ‘us’. The government should work for the whole nation not just for those on the top of the political and economic ladder from the halls of power to New Haven, Connecticut.