This is the theme that has propelled the Republican domestic and, to a certain extent, even its international agenda. The term ‘Undeserving’ crosses all racial and ethnic barriers and refers to black welfare Queens of the Reagan era,the white underclass,the newly arrived immigrants etc. These people are supposed to be a drain on our mighty economic engine because they are not flashy enterpreneurs but instead need services like health, education, and yes, welfare to make ends meet.They are the ones singled out for the tirades from Rush Limbaugh,O’Reilly and the WSJ editorial page.
If you carefully read the articles by rightwingers on the New Orleans ordeal of the Undeserving People, you will note that they are called shiftless, lazy and unable to take the initiative to save their own lives.
In the international arena a similar attitude prevails among rightwingers.Sometime ago, I posted a note on another blog a letter I received from my three daughters who went to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India to help the victims of the Tsunami.Their first hand accounts of the courage and suffering of some of the poorest people on earth touched many but I was also told by some that we should not waste our sympathies on these Undeserving People because they will make fodder for Bin Laden!
What this shows is that the carefully constructed view of America as a compassionate nation is under assault by the right wing.Instead they want to turn this country into a heartless nation on a par with some of our older enemies so that the demonization of the Undeserving people can continue.
If the notion that helpless people are undeserving of our attention and/or help gains a foothold, we are done for.
At bottom its all a code for racist beliefs and bigotry.
Race is the major impetus driving these attitudes but money and class also has a lot to do with it, IMO. The American Elite has no problems whatsoever dealing with Chinese and Indian billionaires or entrepreneurs who know how to turn a buck, but people of these ethnicities in the path of the tsunami come under criticism because they are undeserving.Go figure that one!
It is not kosher in this country to believe that you can be a victim of life circumstances beyond your control.That would violate one of the cardinal myths dear to the American belief system,i.e. you can mold circumstances to your benefit if you try hard enough.The corollary to that belief,of course, is that if you are unable to cope, the fault lies with your character.
Its the new political correctness. Your worth to society is rated solely on how much money you have. Welfare is synonymous with cheater or slacker. The rich like Trump and Gates are worshiped as wonderful role models solely because they are rich. We need to get back to making society better, not richer. If people are going to be judged on their net worth then we need to level the playing field again. Lets start by stopping the repeal of the estate tax. We are creating a ruling class of rich who are spreading the word that they are rich because they are better.
As someone who was raised in a winger family of the fundamentalist christian variety, I know that they have a nice little frame that absolves them of any responsibility to those less fortunate than themselves. My dad once told me that my work with chemically dependent young people was a “waste of time” (his exact words) because these kids were all going to hell anyway and that my work with them was just making that journey a little more comfortable. And a theology professor of mine at a fundamentalist college told us that we shouldn’t try to raise the self esteem of people who aren’t saved. They are all going to hell and shouldn’t learn to feel good about that. So all we need to do for folks experiencing any kind of hardship is just evangelize them, and all of their troubles will disappear. Then our work is done! Nice little box for them to sit in – isn’t it?
Yes, I know that NONE of this bears any resemblance to what Jesus actually taught and did – but lets not get ourselves distracted with that little detail when we’re talking about sin and hell.
And by the way – this is a bit of snark in case you can’t tell. It absolutely ENRAGES me!!!