2020 Divide: Producers vs. Parasites

In 2015 I posted on the US socio-political climate after Trump entered the contest.Animal Farm and Climate Change. The introduction went this way:

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a masterpiece of a simple story suggesting so many realities of societies. Among many things, it shows how a basic dichotomy mobilizes people (or creatures) for social or political action. The image above expresses the heart of the story whereby some animals took power over the others out of fear of humans.

Consider another dichotomy: Producers Good, Parasites Bad.

Bumper Sticker

People who are astounded by Donald Trump’s candidacy are overlooking how widely and deeply felt is this distinction between those who produce and those who take, and not only in the Tea Party but far beyond. The power arises from the emotional investment in the branding, no matter how illogical or mistaken it may be. Those who don’t feel it, don’t “get it.” Add in the envy of someone so rich he can say anything unbounded by Political Correctness, and Trump becomes a force to be reckoned with. It remains to be seen whether his followers are voters beyond being fans.

2020 Update

Against all odds, and to his own surprise, Trump went on to win the Presidency and survive a fierce resistance from entrenched partisans who voted for his opponent. Now that effort to unseat him is intensifying leading up to this year’s general election. The rioting triggered by George Floyd’s death shows that the Producer/Parasite dichotemy is now overlaid with racial bigotry: Black Lives Good/ White Lives Bad. Premium brand items were targeted in the looting, justified by saying: “People deserve to have nice things.”

The Parasite claim comes through the the Black Lives Matter manifesto calling for freebies. #BlackLivesMatter movement bizarrely demands: “Reparations for…full and free access for all Black people (including undocumented and currently and formerly incarcerated people) to lifetime education…retroactive forgiveness of student loans, and support for lifetime learning programs.” See When a Hate Cult Took the Streets

The producer/parasite divide also appeared in governors’ priorities during lockdowns: Public Workers Essential/ Private Workers Non-essential. As some observed, employees paid with tax dollars didn’t miss a check while taxpaying workers were laid off. See Bad Idea: Politicians Decide Essential Business

And this gets at the heart of the contradiction between socialists’ focus on redistributing wealth vs. capitalists’ emphasis on producing wealth. It is remarkable that the ideological divide is opening up at all levels, Federal, State and City, including national policies and election positions, state post-covid programs and city policing priorities.