 by Chris HayesStory of the Week, Up w/ Chris Hayes |
Since Paul Ryan was announced as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, many progressives and even mainstream media outlets have noted that there's a fundamental tension between Ryan's belief system and his biography. Ryan is beloved by the conservative base because he is, by all accounts, a true believer, deeply influenced by the hyper-individualistic philosophy of romance novelist Ayn Rand. His speeches and talking points and the lengthy preamble to one of his first big budget documents paint a picture of a world divided into makers and takers, those who produce and those who mooch. To Rand, the ultimate good is freedom and all attempts to weave together a social safety net, to alleviate misery caused by misfortune are incursions on that freedom and thus suspect, even contemptible.
And for Ryan, there's a biographical dimension to this philosophy. Ryan suffered through a horrible tragedy in his teenage years when he discovered his father dead of a heart attack in his house. The death shook Ryan and he, says, changed his outlook. It changed the finances of the household: his mother went back to school and they took in his grandmother. Ryan says he concluded that "I've got to either sink or swim in life."
There's a deep existential sense in which that's true for everyone. As conscious, human agents we are all ultimately responsible for our own conduct and the choices we make. But that does not mean we sink or swim alone. In fact, it's almost never the case that we do. And this is where we start to see the deep tension between Ryan's philosophy and Ryan's biography. In Ryan's case, while there's no question the experience of his father's death must have been wrenching and devastating, Ryan and his family were not left to "sink or swim" on their own.... they availed themselves, as they should have, of various flotation devices which helped them not only to survive, but to thrive, preserving their freedoms, rather than diminishing them.
First there's the Social Security survivors check the government started sending the family upon his father's death, which would help pay for his college. There's also the family made well-off in part by government spending, that Ryan was lucky enough to be born into, one of the most prominent in his hometown of Janesville, owners of a large, successful construction company, which got its start in 1884 in railroad construction—which was heavily subsidized by the federal government. The company continued to prosper as it moved into the business of building roads... public roads. It's the same family company that would later hire Paul Ryan as a marketing consultant, giving his political resume a little private sector experience burnish.
Then there's the government paycheck that Ryan himself has drawn for much of his adult life. In the Randian division between makers and takers, those whose living is provided by a government paycheck are squarely on the taker side of the ledger. This dependence on the state while simultaneously castigating and condemning it isn't limited to Ryan. In fact, Rand herself, who famously inveighed against parasites and warned of the deep, corrosive moral threat of sucking at the teat of the state, pulled off the same trick. Accepting government intervention, she wrote in The Virtue of Selfishness "is delivering oneself into gradual enslavement."
But never one to lack for hubris, Rand also authored a hilarious justification of people like herself taking advantage of the fruits of that enslavement. On the question of whether her devotees could morally justify taking government scholarships for school, Rand offered comforting advice: "The recipient of a public scholarship is morally justified only so long as he regards it as restitution and opposes all forms of welfare statism. Those who advocate public scholarships, have no right to them; those who oppose them have."
Rand was true to her words: in her later years she collected both social security and medicare under her married name of Ann O'Connor.
My favorite example of this particular kind of contradiction, is when right-wing billionaire Charles Koch attempted to convince economist Freidrich Hayek to move to the U.S. in 1975 in a letter promising that, "You are entitled to Social Security payments...[and] automatically entitled to hospital coverage."
"For your further information," Charles Koch writes, "I am enclosing a pamphlet on Social Security."
Liberals like myself, of course, delight in pointing out these inconsistencies and leveling the charge of hypocrisy: do as I say, not as I do. But I'm not sure hypocrisy is really the right word, here. It's a little like when right-wingers point out that folks at Occupy Wall Street were using iPhones which are, hey! a product of the same global capitalism they distrust. The response for both Occupiers and Rand devotees is that we are all embedded in the world as it is, a capitalist economy with a system of social insurance (inadequate as it may be) and few of us can individually withdraw fully from either.
So it's not hypocrisy that bothers me so much as the ridiculous self-serving selective vision of those who have benefited from personal privilege, social connections, family name and, yes, the welfare state, constantly hectoring others to swim or sink on their own and taking determined, effective steps to destroy policies that give other folks some of the same cushion they had.
That's a problem much bigger than Paul Ryan. One of the most insidious aspects of the culture of success in the U.S. is the way in which it invites those who are successful to write for themselves a story of their own personal overcoming of the odds, their own sink or swim moments, the ways in which their success was produced by some very special, personal individual achievement, conveniently erasing the role that privilege, luck, connections and society played in all of it. That's exactly what Mitt Romney did at a debate earlier this year:
"My dad, as you know—born in Mexico, poor, didn't get a college degree—became head of a car company. I could have stayed in Detroit, like him, and gotten pulled up in the car company. I went off on my own. I didn't inherit money from my parents. What I have, I earned. I worked hard, the American way."
This is all part of the grand American ethos of meritocracy, a land where people rise and fall on their own pluck, drive and intelligence. A land where we neatly divide equality of opportunity from equality of outcomes and then say we provide equality of opportunity, the mythical level playing field, and whoever comes out the winner in the actual competition, well, then they're the deserving ones. In fact, Paul Ryan himself made precisely that point during his first speech as VP candidate on Saturday.
"We promise equal opportunity, not equal outcomes... And this idea was founded on the principals of liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self-determination, and government by the consent of the governed."
But of course even if you accept this as the mandate of American fairness, equality of opportunity not outcome, how, exactly does cutting food stamps for poor kids preserve equality of opportunity? Or cutting Medicaid by a third, leaving thousands of poor sick people without care? Ryan tells a story of equality of opportunity as the necessary precondition to evaluate individual performance as wholly produced by those individuals—their drive or laziness, their brains or stupidity.
But Ryan, and those who share his worldview, don't prioritize that equality of opportunity in any meaningful way, they don't show any signs of a serious commitment to it. What they are committed to is maximizing the freedom, especially economic freedom, of those who most benefit from society's outcomes at the expense of the freedom and opportunity of those who don't.
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Chris provides another superb commentary that I have little to disagree with. My one issue is to point out that virtually all people are, to a varying degree, are hypocrites. We each place other individuals into categories - progressive vs conservative, far left vs far right, Democratic vs Republican. This becomes expressed in differing forms, but, just as it is hard for us to peg exactly who we are, it is exceptionally difficult to peg the position of others. The sad part is that in these busy and complicated days, people tend to peg others and even themselves, in general terms. If I am in favor of a generous safety net, am I to assume that I must also embrace gay rights and abortion? Can I say the same thing about others, based upon which one issue that I wish to identily you? When we spend the time to reflect on our own positions, we know that, in the majority, we are not clearly pegged.
Again, we are not in normal times. These days it seems, the majority of people will accept positions that they, upon reflection, would be gray or negate, and jump on board with whatever pegged position, we have decided, best decribes us or others on at least some positions. Seems that this creates an environment where people gravitate towards narrow conversation and more towards the extreme of that pegged groups positions. Result, creation of the Tea Party and, now, evolution left of the liberals.
In terms of government, the result gravitates towards no compromise and an ineffective, if not impossible, governing process.
Ryan signed 20Mill.stimulus Fund than claiming that the same was wasteful spending?He also stated that he would phase out Medicare slash education raise taxes on the middleclass and poor.However slash taxes for the Millionairs.Well there you have it the true Ayn Rand Follower ,both stand for selfishness is VIRTUE!Ryan go but your Mother back to work....
I was remarking the other day about how some people feel they made “that” all by themselves, that they alone built something. And I came back to just how silly that notion is. They had a lot of help, including the accident of their birth. If they had been born in a roadside village in Bangladesh with no running water or electricity, could they have still built “that?” Chances are not.
The first thing anyone who can read this blog post should be grateful for is the accident of their birth; that they were born with such access and purpose that even enabled them to be able to read this post. A minority of the seven billion people on this planet have the skills and security that enable them to read what you are reading right now, perhaps with a cup of coffee and a loyal dog by their side. If you are one of them, for that alone you should be immeasurably grateful.
You know that you are a Mouth-Breather who talkes fast like a Duck's Ass. Slow down like Maddblo does, I like a Show that is Slow and Stupid. And for the reporting's sake, read the Issues before making false statements. You are like the many Air-Head Female reporters
who read instead of think?
KISS(keep it simple stupid) YES! I remember the aftermath of the DEPRESSION, for the Republicans Hover, "I'll put a chick in every pot"! For many it is referred to as the GREAT depression, I don't remember it being SO GREAT it was HELL! One former President said trust but verify! I'm from the TRUMAN era VERIFY FIRST then trust! To trust the R&R Railroad would be plain foolish!
I thought Ayn Rand was someone you read when you were young, became enthralled by the story of individualism, but fairly quickly opened your eyes to the realities of objectivism. I thought when you lived, and experienced you threw away those ideas as madness. (Remember reading Kafka?) I had no idea that a huge swath of conservatives revere this author, This flawed, woman. Ryan Paul=Ayn Rand? These people who had tragedy in their early lives and become believers-creators of dangerous dogmas.
Wow! Chris delivered an opening editorial that was absolutely awesome. I went to his website and copied it and emailed it to all my friends in case they didn't get up early enought today to catch it. Really zeroed in on what makes the Ryan choice for vp so frightening. Our country is a tipping point as Aaron Sorkin said--we are looking at a decision of whether we are a country where we are all out for ourselves, or we reach for something higher and moral--helping both ourselves, but lending a hand up to those who need it at times. The idea that we all start from the same place is totally crazy. We may never all end up at the same good place, but, isn't striving for that far more worthwhile than walking past the sick, the hungry, the elderly and saying, "I've got mine. Sorry."
Is Paul Ryan a hypocrite? You betcha!
Much of what Chris wrote about Paul Ryan I was already aware of, but he left out the fact Ryan has always been know as a 'Brown Noser', he would say and do anything to win favor with those individuals he hope to impress with a history of his life that is mostly made up.
Of course Ryan's family got survivor's benifits, but they didn't spend the rest of their lives on them. The went to school and got jobs, instead of just sitting around collecting benifits for the rest of their lives, like some do. But he is a better example then our current president that blast him for trying to kill Medicare, while he takes out $714 billion dollars from the fund, to put in his Obamacare. Talk about a Hypocrite. I think he directed his hypocrite topic toward the wrong person. The President would have been a much better person to talk about reguarding this topic.
This statement is nonsense: "But he is a better example then our current president that blast him for trying to kill Medicare, while he takes out $714 billion dollars from the fund, to put in his Obamacare."
Hmmm, it seemed to not accept the weblink. Anyway, Politifact as well as other fact-checking organizations has examined Romney's medicare attacks on Obama and determined them to be at least "mostly false."
abovenyquist,
It is because you have not made enough posts - keep posting and the problem solves itself.
Here are a couple of links that support your point.
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/05/ryans-budget-spin/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/aug/15/checking-facts-700-billion-medicare-cut/
By the way - welcome to the NBCNews blogs - watch out for the trolls over at Last Word - they are not house broken - the ones at Maddow are somewhat more polite.
Adam_Selene
If you knew absolutely anything about the cuts Obama made to Medicare or the insurance field, you would know that there are providers such as hospitals, doctors offices, and pharmaceutical companies which provide services. These are where the cuts come from; money to 'providers'. There are no cuts to beneficiaries, otherwise known as sick people, or people seeking preventive care. The money saved from these cuts then go back to provide better services and more preventive care for more people. The Ryan 'Medicare' plans incorporates Obama's same cuts (wow), but instead of going back to help people, the money goes to insurance companies. Please take a moment and view both Ryancare and Obamacare before posting ignorant comments. Thanks
There's a fundamental difference here. Chris buys into a false equivalence. Occupiers are portrayed by their detractors as anti-capitalist, when largely they are not. It's a strawman the detractors wish to use to undermine. iPhones and other media get used to organize therefore they must be attacked to delegitimize the movement and undermine its ability to communicate and organize. There are anti-capitalists and there are anarchists, but that's not what it is about. Those are moths to the porchlight.
On the other hand, Randians actually do profess those anti-welfare beliefs themselves. It's nice of Chris to keep Occupy in the public's mind, but unhelpful to perpetuate lies.
Sure, that's exactly how Chris rolls! He is liberal puppet perpetrating lies on the American people. Or...
I enjoyed Chris comprehensive take on Paul Ryan. Mr. Ryan is a fraud and dishonest. He only cares about himself and power.
Chris comprehensive background on Paul Ryan was very informative. Paul Ryan is a fraud and wrong for America.
@300Michael you are just quoting the latest smear. It can be easily proved my myself and other senior retirees. Ask someone you know on Medicare if there benefits have change at all under president Obama. Flat out no! The $716 Billion that's been blown up, is entitlements that would have gone to providers and insurance company's. Mr. Ryan's plan and it is clearly document (though every time he is asked he keeps talking about Obama's 716 Billion-please review the interviews.) the $716 Billion he is calling savings will come directly from those receiving benefits. It okay to knock the president. But don't let people make you play yourself. Stop echoing these blips--just ask people who receive benefits now, have they lost benefits ($716 Billion has already been taken out of the hands of those who are already ravishing we seniors already), and that terrible president has now gone and provided eight new preventative health care measures for women and this silly man has made it possible for people with existing illness (some from birth or earlier stages in life) to get health insurance. For the moment some insurance company's are fighting back, because they are purely profit motivated by raising rates. That will subside. If you and I had the medical insurance our elected officials had especially congress and the senate enjoy for life. You might not give a damn either. (I hope not) so check on that fact and here's a link to the Affordable Care Act it's public Make up your own mind. Back to the original premise: $716 Billion has circumvented and it was, from the providers hands to the subscribers benefits - Benefits would have been reduced not increased
Is Ryan a hypocrite? Is the pope Catholic? Does the sun rise in the east? He's a Republican.
And I have to say that the hypocrisy is what gets me everytime. Did you see this cartoon?
January 4, 2009, CNN
BLITZER: President-elect Barack Obama is talking about a $750 billion economic stimulus package. He wants it to be passed as soon as possible. It's unclear if whether it can be passed before he's inaugurated on January 20th. What do you think about this proposal?
ROMNEY: Well, I frankly wish that the last Congress would have dealt with the stimulus issue and that the president (Bush) could sign that before leaving office. I think there is need for economic stimulus. Americans have lost about $11 trillion in net worth. That translates into about $400 billion a year less spending that they'll be doing, and that's net of additional government programs like Medicaid and unemployment insurance. And government can help make that up in a very difficult time. And that's one of the reasons why I think a stimulus program is needed.
I'd move quickly. These are unusual times. But it has to be something which relieves pressure on middle-income families. I think a tax cut is necessary for them as well as for businesses that are growing. We'll need to be investing in infrastructure and in energy technologies.
It is remarkable that Ryan's mythical image and motives can be promoted and maintained by the Beltway media for more than a decade, but it took less than a week of casual media inspection of Ryan to expose him for what he is.
If the media had done its job in the first place, not only wouldn't Ryan be a VP nominee, but maybe he wouldn't be a congressman, and the voters of his district might have someone in Washington who actually represents their interests.
What was the MLK quote? Something about how wrong it was to tell a man with no shoes to pull himself up my his bootstraps but worse to tell him to do so while standing on his boots?
There are people in this world who, despite evidence to the contrary, are certain that they and they alone are responsible for whatever successes they have achieved and who have contempt for most others - the free stuff people - who are nothing like themselves. Paul Ryan is one of those people and he is the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate for 2012. "Birds of a feather" and the perfect choice by Romney.
Good luck with that.
Chris Hayes is nothing more than another GUTLESS mouthpiece for Obama and his "brilliant" VP-Biden, sheesh. Why, Hayes, are you not talking about Biden and his "Unchained" comment directed at inflaming the African-Americans? Why haven't YOU and the rest of your "IMPARTIAL" "reporter" colleagues at NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN etc etc - followed up on any and all of Obama's screw-up's - mainly "YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT...."?? The American people, in a recent and barely publicized survey of course, stated that the "NEUTRAL MEDIA" was in Obama's pocket by a margin of over 85%!! Hell, if it wasn't for FOX news, the Republicans would never get fair media coverage! "People" like Hayes, who have NEVER served in their nation's military, yet have all kinds of BS to rant and rave about, need to suit-up sometime - but then that would be "beneath" him, right? It amazes me that someone, like Hayes, who tries in every imaginable way to portray himself as some kind of sage or scholar would be so absolutely IDIOTIC to state that we actually need four additional years of his "GOD" - Obama! Not only that but just think - if anything happpens to the DINK from Chicago, our nation will be in the "capable" hands of the walking lobotomy victim, Joe Biden, OMG! Is there any wonder why the rest of the world looks at the U.S. and just shakes it's head and laughs? I cannot wait to watch Hayes crying into his tissue - when Romney walks away with the election this November - WITH Ryan by his side...what are you gonna say then, Hayes? Na-Na-Na-Na, Na-Na-Na-Na, Hey Hey Hey - GOODBYE, Obama/Biden, Good Riddance!! I LOVE IT!
Chris, you disappoint me. I really believe both sides want the same things: jobs for anyone wanting to work, a quality education for everyone, a safety net that helps those in need leading to a independent life, healthcare for everyone etc....The biggest difference is how you get there. I watched Up with Chris Hayes this morning, and wish you would spend more time explaining the plan each side has for moving us forward. Instead you spend your whole show reinforcing the notion that the right is filled with hypocrites who are either stupid or out of touch with the real issues. You have great guests...I found myself filled with questions. Unfortunately there was no questioning to their points of view. Im an independent and would love to hear someone in the media respect the positions of people on both sides and encourage dialog that could result in solutions. Both sides care, both sides are filled with smart people. The problems facing us are complicated. I think it would be helpful and interesting to really discuss opposing points of view without twisting past misstatements. It easy to present a snotty one sided point of view. The bias in all media is tedious and is the biggest roadblock to finding solutions. No one wants to compromise for fear they will be labeled a hypocrite or flip flopper.
Romney/Ryan have a snowball's chance in heck of winning this election. There are not enough backhanded-backdoor tactics or PAC monies to make it happen. Common sense and morality govern politics; not ideology. Na. . . . . . . . . . , whatever!
the tape showing ryan's aproval of stimulus is golden!!! it should be made into a commercial by the Obama team!!!!
Yes Chris !.... Paul Ryan is a hypocrite, and a LIAR TO BOOT !
JUST SINCE YESTERDAY, when this man made his comments....
The Republican party are now doing everything UNDER THE SUN to pull him out of the race. After he has clearly won the Missouri GOP primary race to run against Claire McCaskill. But if they do that, I believe she should win by DEFAULT ! And no one should be allowed to just take his place. After all the Missouri voters, voted Todd Akin as their choice, not some Johnny come lately, or GOP choice !
The People of MO chose Todd Akin in their primary Election, not some RUNNER-UP !