It seems Our Megan is not the only one who was paid to spread the Poverty-Is-Moral meme. In this meme the economic crash that enriched a few elite and decimated the middle class is a good thing. Forget about the elite who just robbed you. Forget about the reasons for the crash. Certainly, don't think about revenge. You've just been shot in the face, and now they want you to apologize for it.
There is no other reason for this attempt to tell people that suffering is good for them. Religion plays that hand of course, as do parents. It's a lie. Just because greed is bad doesn't mean suffering is good.
Michael Gerson writes one of the most sickening, hypocritical articles I have ever seen. He says economic crises lead to a better, more moral life. The details don't matter. The premise is so full of shit that I have no desire to look at the semi-digested particles. Basically Gerson plays his audience like a violin, using the language of faith and politics to manipulate opinion. It's all there--god, do they have a list?
Choosing to control, crime and illegitimacy (sex and violence), suffering and renewal, vice and social stigma (shaming), personal virtue, and finally the pope. Gerson sums it all up neatly, giving kudos to the free market capitalism that created the economic crises but which he calls self-correcting. Finally he drags the Magic Word in by the scruff of its overused neck: Grace. Belief that is a gift from God. Just believe in recovery and you shall be rewarded. Somehow.
There's a good chance the crises will continue to degrade. The elite are covering their backs. When that no longer works they'll pit us against each other. When that no longer works they will start to fear us. And that will not be a good thing.
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Gerson's premise is ridiculous, since the logical extension of his argument is that government should go out of its way to create crises from time to time, given the moral benefits that would accrue to the general population (as a result of their suffering).
Actually, that sounds a bit like the Shock Doctrine.
A lot of people love the idea of suffering, especially if someone else is doing the actual suffering. You can get away with a lot that way.
Shorter Gerson: "This will hurt you more than it does me. And you can thank me for it later."
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