HARLAN RICAHRDS
February 6, 2018

Republican Conservatives are The Philosophical Descendants of The 19th Century Southern Slave Holders

One thing that stands out in my reading of stories about slavery is the utter disregard owners had for the well-being of slaves. For the most part, owners expended as few resources as they possibly could in maintaining their slaves: feeding them barely enough to keep them alive, clothing them poorly (or not at all), and housing them in buildings unfit to live in.

The owners were indifferent to how much suffering the slaves endured and made no effort to allow them any comfort or joy in their lives. They often took steps to crush slaves' spirits and create an area of hopelessness and defeat among them. Owners would declare loudly their believe in liberty, freedom, and equal rights as promised in the Constitution—but only for white people. They were callous and unfeeling about the mistery they created in the lives of their slaves.

Modern day Republicans have much in common with 18th century slave owners. Republicans are mean-spirited toward poor people. They don't care if the poor have health care, a minimum wage they can live on, or a chance to crawl out of the poverty in which they have been held for generations.

It is the same mindset every elitist has—that the only thing that counts to them is their own comfort and well-being. Every man for himself. You see it all the time when Republicans enact legislation. The mentality seems to be to make poor people suffer for being poor—as if there is a moral judgment against them because they were unable to succeed financially in our capitalist society. Republicans will not hesitate to grant millions of dollars in tax breaks to wealthy individuals while at the same time cutting back programs that provide health care or nutritional assistance to children of poor families.

I am not surprised that there are people like this in our society. What surprises me is that so many people who are suffering from Republican-initiated policies vote for Republicans. The Trump election was such an example. Working class people voted Trump into office because he promised to bring their jobs back. Anyone who is knowledgeable about manufacturing knows that it is being automated and that those previous highly paid jobs for essentially unskilled workers are never coming back.

Coal miners voted for Trump under the delusion that coal mining would prosper. Coal usage is in decline and there is nothing Trump or anyone else can do about it (why would anyone want to increase coal usage when we are in the midst of a global warming crisis caused by burning fossil fuels like coal? This is typical "me first" Republican thinking that will harm everyone just so a few people can get ahead).

My point is this: the slave holders acted with selfish disregard for the welfare of their slaves, heedless of the suffering that caused others. Conservative Republicans act with selfish disregard for the welfare of others, heedless of the suffering they cause.