The Grudge

Perhaps I'm overgeneralizing, but I have the impression that a lot of conservative's motivation seems to stem from the feeling that the poor are getting away with something. I often try to engage conservatives in some dialog about what I perceive to be injusticies in our system (like the enormous tax subsidies given for private jets), but the conversation usually concludes with some rejoinder about how people are buying truffles and caviar with food stamps.

Is this response is the result of the very successful campaign of the ultra-rich and their minions (Cato, Heritage, Fox, Rush, et. al.) to divide Americans against each other, or is it just the natural human impulse to blame someone weaker than oneself? It certainly assorts oddly with the tendency of so many conservatives to call themselves Christians.

A teacher I know claims I'm oversimplifying. The kids on free lunch at school sometimes show up with expensive athletic shoes. It's natural, she claims, for a parent who can't afford to buy a computer to want to splurge on something for her kids or herself. Maybe even caviar.

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