For as long as I could remember, my father and my mother hated Communists and Democrats in almost equal measure. If anyone said the word “Roosevelt” or “Truman,” they were sure to get a double dose of socialist and “fellow travelers.” While I could not have defined either of those terms, I recognized swearing when I heard it.
My parents found the perfect place to express their politics in the John Birch Society, a brand-new (in 1958) anti-Communist, anti-government organization dedicated to “taking back the country.”
Anti-Communist was the first thing Mother and Dad said, but the internal threats to the country soon became their rally cry. Their main attacks focused on the federal government where socialism was “taking over the joint,” as my Dad would say.
For my parents and their Birch allies, that evil socialism took the form of every government program not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. The only cure was to end them all, as quickly as possible.
They gleefully anticipated the end of Social Security, the demise of all welfare programs and the elimination of federal funding for anything. They insisted that regulation was such a threat to business that it all had to be done away with, even nuclear regulation, all environmental regulation and anything that could, in anyway, limit free enterprise.
All monetary policies passed after the Great Depression had to be undone along with that pesky Sixteenth Amendment (allowing for income tax), and that scary Seventeenth (allowing for the direct election of Senators).
The resulting utopia, according to my parents, would free business and individuals to do anything, unrestrained by regulation while dismantling labor unions, ending the safety net and cutting corporate taxes and taxes on the wealthy to almost nothing.
“What happens to the poor, the old, the unemployed, the disabled if you succeed?” I asked my mother.
“It doesn’t matter, not at all,” she told me. “It’s all about the Constitution.”
“The Constitution doesn’t feed a hungry child,” I said.
“That’s not my concern,” she answered.
5 comments
Balpreet Kaur says:
February 2, 2012 at 3:19 pm (UTC -4 )
It takes courage to do what you are doing. Having been at some of the family parties, everything always turned to politics and a few members were in control of the propaganda. I remember being appalled at some of the rhetoric, so scathing and superior.
Claire Conner says:
February 2, 2012 at 3:34 pm (UTC -4 )
Thanks, Balpreet. Your support and encouragement are appreciated.
Brent Wambold says:
March 17, 2012 at 12:53 pm (UTC -4 )
While I agree that extremes in either direction can be dangerous… there is nothing wrong in fearing the current administration or any group who wants to take more and more from the working class to give to those who “can’t seem to find anything to do”.
I resigned my teaching position 13 years ago to move home to care for my mother, after dad died. I found a position in my hometown high school. The liberal establishment drove me nuts….finally mother needed me more and I resigned that position. Mother died two years later. I have been out of work for almost six years. Because I saved and received a small enheritance, I qualify for no government safety net programs. Soon I will lose my home and be on the street.
Somehow many of the illegal aliens and most of those in the social safety programs, haven’t lost homes, cars, college educations, food stamps, voting, etc. Because I was taught to be conservative and live on less than $15k a year, I cannot get health care, cheaper utilities, free cell phones… Somehow the ones that spend everything can.
Do not throw out all your parents taught you…Much of the foundation is worth… yes, some of the rooms of such a house can be frought with hatred…but many can be safe havens in the storm that we are currently experiencing.
Claire Conner says:
March 27, 2012 at 9:23 am (UTC -4 )
Brent: Thanks for the comment. I can hear the pain in your words. Obviously, you’ve walked a rough road and I can appreciate your anger. I hope you’ll continue to look at the roots of the far right and consider that a house built on anger and hatred is a house that can not stand.
Elizabeth says:
April 1, 2012 at 10:51 pm (UTC -4 )
Thinking part fo the reason so many fringe participants are so fearful is their inability to be fully responsible for themselves on multiple levels .. your mother’s very self referenced comment just wreeks of compassion, eh?! This all sounds so similar to what I heard from the alcoholics at my dinner table! And by God, they had their beer and whisky!