There are some books that one enjoys reading. There are others that one reads because they have to know the contents of it, whether the journey is enjoyable or not. Thomas Frank's The Wrecking Crew is definitely in the latter category. It is a book that is not a pleasant read, but one that should be read nonetheless. I've had it in my possession for years, but I long held off reading it because I still thought myself a conservative at the time it was given to me. The subtitle (How Conservatives Rule) and my own biases made it all too easy to push off to the side. When I was no longer a conservative--or at least when those who claimed the name conservative in the public sphere had grown so offensive and ignorant that I could no longer share the label--I suspected that the book would not be a joy to read, rather along the lines of Crimes Against Nature by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. I was right on that account, but I should have read it sooner nonetheless.
The Wrecking Crew is, to put it simply, the definitive expose of conservatism in action. Frank investigates the public persona of many members of the conservative movement, with a focus on the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Grover Norquist of the no-tax pledge fame, seeking to understand the modern conservative movement in theory and in practice. The result of his inquiries is the most damning indictment of what passes for conservatism that I have ever read.
At its heart conservatism is about limiting government, operating under the dogma (and dogma it is, for it never falters in the face of any contrary evidence) that no matter what the case in question is, the private sector is always more qualified than government to handle it. Government bureaucracies are considered to be incompetent at best and criminal interferers at the worst, taxes are considered to be theft no matter what they are used for, and, according to several conservative thinkers, having qualified, bright people in government amounts to a theft of their talent from the private sector. The only good regulations are those that are never passed at all or those that are unenforced. The ideology of modern conservatism, beginning before the election of Reagan and reaching perfection under the Bush Administration, wants to see government out of the way of business, and desires quite a bit of business in government. All other issues are secondary to this goal--those who vote for conservative politicians because of their views on gay marriage, evolution, or abortion are merely useful idiots who help advance the main purpose of the movement, to handicap government and let businesses have their way in every matter.
And perhaps it may be said that, while one might disagree with this idea as I certainly do, there is nothing inherently wrong with the idea itself. It is how this idea is put into practice that makes the whole thing an abominable philosophy. In example after example, Frank demonstrates that when self-proclaimed conservatives are in charge, deliberate misrule results. Government does not get smaller when conservatives rule, government gets hijacked in the service of business. Services that the government once performed are privatized, often to companies with no knowledge of how to perform the service. These companies then sell it off at a profit to other companies, thus greatly inflating the cost of that service. Taxes are cut in devotion to the religion of supply-side economics and deficits are run up at record pace. All of this is done to benefit corporations and at great cost to the taxpayers. But the taxpayers are not an important consideration in this conservative algorithm--what matters is that businesses get more money and more control and that government is weakened. Most perverse of all, government is deliberately made incompetent; conservatives proclaim that government is dysfunctional and can do nothing right, and once in power they work to ensure that this is so by gutting agencies, placing political appointees in positions that they are distinctly unqualified for, and crushing the morale of the civil service to ensure that the bright and qualified are out and only the demoralized and incompetent remain. This is, in Frank's words, "win-win incompetence," as the failure of political appointees only reinforces the anti-government message of conservatives. FEMA was a prime example of this strategy, though mercifully under the current Administration that particular agency is being built back up to the level of effectiveness that it once had. The actions that these operatives have taken to destroy the reputation and efficiency of government are nothing short of criminal, and having read the book I could list example after sickening example of deliberate misrule. But why do that when I can merely say this--go and read the book, and see for yourself what the fruits of this faux conservatism are.
Once you've read the book, once you've seen what has been done, you'll be better equipped to understand where we are now. Even though the book was published in 2009, reading it has helped me to understand why conservatives act the way they do--still working to advance the same agenda even while decrying the supposed "betrayal" of conservatives by George W. Bush. I have no doubt that the situation has improved, even if only slightly, with conservatives out of power, but the damage is so extensive that it will take a long time to recover. These people haven't gone away, and they still make every effort to undercut the effectiveness of the government. Read this book, and then pass it on. This is a story that deserves to be heard by everyone.
I'm nearly finished with a one-volume biography of Eisenhower, by Michael Korda, and it proves to me that he may well have been the last good Republican. And he, too, was surrounded by greedy right-wing nutbags, like Joseph McCarthy and his "red scare" abuses of far too many people (btw, Eisenhower did NOT approve of nor agree with McCarthy...I think he actively loathed the man). He WAS conservative and I disagree with many of his policies. But this book, and a few others that I've read, suggest he was an honest pragmatist who cared for the well-being of the country and not in the glorification of the powerful and wealthy.
ReplyDeleteFrank's book IS a depressing read, for it shows the current crop of Repugnicans to be far worse than those immediately after WWII...the coterie of conservatives that Ike had to deal with. Willfully ignorant and patently mendacious, this group seeks little less than the destruction of representative democracy and the installation of a oligarchic plutocracy.