Can you imagine how much better the debate would have been with someone like
Nader who could cut through such slogans?
Jim Devine wrote:
> Bush's main ideological point -- that the people can make decisions better
> than government bureaucrats -- was never answered by Gore. Gore could have
> answered in two ways:
>
> (1) that when Bush talks about "the people", he's talking about the rich,
> since these are the folks who would get the lion's share of the tax
> breaks. Gore hinted at that, but never followed through, since it suggests
> that having more income and wealth gives one more power (which goes against
> the dominant ideology). Gore almost said that he didn't like the government
> bureaucrats making decisions for people concerning the issue of abortion,
> but never clearly linked this up with an attack on Bush's main ideological
> point.
>
> (2) that it's not the government bureaucrats who are making decisions for
> people, but instead that the government acts as a representative of the
> democratic will of the people. I think that he didn't make this point
> because (a) he likes the idea of technocracy, the "father-knows-best"
> attitude, especially since he, Gore the super-wonk, knows so much; and (b)
> to talk about the US government responding to the democratic will of the
> people would be absurd in this era of government for the dollar, by the
> dollar, and of the dollar.
> Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~JDevine
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
