The Tyranny of Words – “Wealth Redistribution”

Humor tickles the soul by poking at those spots we can’t normally reach by ourselves. Often it’s the fact that something doesn’t seem to make sense that makes it so funny. That’s why it’s difficult to remember more than a few lines after seeing a good comedian perform; the humor’s perverted logic is difficult to file using the mind’s normal organizational structure. If you can’t file it, you can’t retrieve it. It’s what makes Babs so funny from time to time. She rarely makes sense.

The American public is a great wellspring of humor. For an English speaking people, how is it Americans can be so completely befuddled and confused by any of a number of words and phrases that they’ve been programmed to instantly define as either good or evil? It’s like their brains are put in a state of suspended animation and some mindless robot takes control of their thoughts. Blowhards like Rush Limbaugh utter one of the magic phrases and the minds of 10 million otherwise intelligent people are instantly anesthetized and all rational thinking stops. The zombies chant in unison, “It’s socialism (or communism or the welfare state or liberals or blah blah blah)” and they actually believe what they’re saying.

The word doesn’t have to be “socialism”. It can be any one of a few dozen words or phrases that immediately evoke a negative reaction while totally bypassing the thinking part of the brain. There is an equally lengthy list of “good words” that no matter how or when they’re used are automatically perceived as noble by the zombies. “Democracy”, “freedom”, “free elections” are good under any and all circumstances. At least until something happens to drag the words through the conscious part of the brain. When Hamas gained control of Gaza through free and fair elections, suddenly the Limbos were singing the blues and saying, “Well, we didn’t mean that kind of democracy.”

The phrase that seems to be growing in popularity amongst those who inhabit zombie nation U.S.A. is “wealth redistribution”. You can almost feel the spit migrating to the front of your mouth when you say it out loud. It conjures up images of Lenin and Marx, Chairman Mao, Castro, Chavez, Guevara. It’s naughty, evil, disgusting. No red blooded, apple pie eating American would stand by while some pinko did anything amounting to (and say it with a snarl) “wealth redistribution”.

Not surprisingly, this term is now being mass produced by the Limbos and other hate mongers in our society. They’re preying on the gullible and susceptible and saying that the policies of the Obama administration are centered on the concept of wealth redistribution. It doesn’t have to make a lot of sense; it just has to bypass thought and hit the right buttons.

If the zombies would only take a step back and engage the brain, they might be able to put the expression in its proper perspective. Give it a try. Answer this question.

Do any of the policies of the Obama administration result in any wealth redistribution?

Hell yes. Absolutely – no question about it. The policies of any and all governments involve a measure of wealth redistribution. Big deal! Get over it.

When the government taxes my earnings and spends those dollars on no-bid contracts with Halliburton, does it amount to wealth redistribution? Of course it does.

When the government prints money to cover the debts incurred over the past eight years and it results in inflation and a significant reduction in the value of the money you’ve saved, is that wealth redistribution? No question about it.

If the government bails out GM or AIG or any other big company is it wealth redistribution? Obviously it is.

When the government or someone colluding with the government manipulates the stock market, is it wealth redistribution?  Absolutely.

When the state government puts hundreds of millions of dollars into widening a major freeway so people can get to and from a new housing development does it amount to wealth redistribution? Only a fool could say no.

Why is it that some form of wealth redistribution has gone on continuously since the birth of this and all other nations and it’s barely worth a mention, but when taxes are increased on people in Rush Limbaugh’s income bracket, it suddenly becomes a great communist conspiracy to redistribute his wealth – a wealth that was stolen fair and square?

Why is it so many Americans get suckered into an ideological war by falling victims to a nonsensical slight of verbal hand?

If Bush the Younger greased the wheels of financial abuse and theft so that we witnessed the greatest concentration of wealth in the hands of the few in our nation’s history, why wasn’t the question raised then? Now we have an administration that is finally trying to save if not rebuild an American middle class and it’s wealth redistribution.

Choose your words well. An incorrect selection can instantly turn you into an angel or the devil himself. One of our great heroes of legend took from the rich and gave to the poor. Note that he didn’t “steal” from the rich; that would suggest he was taking something that didn’t belong to him. Through the judicious selection of words, he returns to the poor what the rich have wrongfully stolen from them. Can you imagine the version of Robin Hood that would have been told if Limbaugh had been in the position of Friar Tuck? Robin would have been a damn liberal trying to take the hard earned money from the hands of those barons who earned it. Robin was a hood, Limbaugh’s a windbag and I’m entertained.