Reaganism
From RationalWiki
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“”In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.[1]
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| —Ronald Reagan |
Reaganism was a political perspective in the United States based on a friendly-seeming, grandfatherly-type ex-actor telling us that government could do no good, and then proceeding to become the head of the executive branch of the United States government, drastically expanding the public debt as he saw fit. Why anyone believed it is beyond us.
Prominent lies promoted by Mr. Reagan include:
- The "free market" is always more efficient than the government at providing solutions to problems. (See universal health care)
- The "government" is incapable of solving a country's problems (See Hurricane Katrina)
- Some woman somewhere on welfare had a Cadillac and a color TV. (He made this up[2])
- Hardworking blue collar Americans should hate suffering poor Americans for eating their tax dollars instead of working their asses off for giant corporations themselves. (See trade union)
- The "rich" are a beleaguered and overtaxed suffering demographic. (Who pay well for political campaigns!)
In Britain, there was a very similar political movement referred to as "Thatcherism," named for the Iron Lady who advocated the same principles. The impact of this was slightly less than that of the States.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Ronald Reagan Wikiquote. Reagan-ites like to leave off that first part about "In this present crisis."
- ↑ The Mendacity Index, Washington Monthly