They want that

Last week I wrote about ranking, in particular about how the powerful people in America are crafting and executing policies to make sure their position at the top cannot be challenged. Part of the reason for those policies is because around 2042 America is likely to no longer be white majority. For those who rank white people over all others this must be prevented.

One way this is playing out is through the nasty guy’s travel ban and increased efforts to deport illegal (non-white) immigrants. I’ve heard there is also a push in Congress to restrict legal immigrants, likely the most restrictions for immigrants from non-white countries. All part of the same plan.

Another facet of this was a tweet from GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa, which said in part: “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” Notice who is meant by our civilization and somebody else’s babies. Though many GOP lawmakers dismissed the comment with, “Oh, that’s just Steve being Steve,” I recognize their dismissal as agreement. King was challenged by others and doubled down, “I’d like to see an America that’s so homogenous that we all look the same.” Many a dystopian novel has this plot.

Melissa McEwan of Shakesville digs into those vile comments to explain how ranking – in this case white supremacy – influences other policies.

The white birth rate in America has been falling. Educated white people tend to understand that overpopulation is a global menace or they sense a general scorn of big families, so limit their numbers. Poor white people understand they can afford only so many kids.

So how to raise the birth rate?

* Restrict abortion. Make sure those white women produce more white babies.

* Praise large families, such as the Quiverfull movement (God is pleased by lots of kids) and the huge white broods, such as the Duggars, shown on conservative TV.

Well, yeah, restricting abortion also restricts abortion for black and brown women too. The GOP hasn’t yet figured out how to make restrictions on only white women palatable to voters. So this is where other GOP policies play out.

People of color are more likely to live near factories and other sources of pollution, which affects their health and longevity. And the nasty guy is compounding the problem by slashing funding for the EPA and its environmental protections, including environmental justice programs like removing lead from water systems – has the lead removal program in Flint been properly funded yet?

Men of color are have a much higher incarceration rate. This is both a way of asserting raking over them and a way of keeping them from producing babies of color.

I concluded long ago – and I’ll say it plainly now – when the GOP and other supporters of white supremacy and ranking in general fail to meet a desperate need, they *want* that outcome.

Detroit schools a mess? They want that.

Flint unable to replace lead water lines? They want that.

The Congressional Budget Office has issued its assessment of the GOP health insurance plan: 24 million will lose insurance over the next decade and 52 million without insurance by 2056. Substantial premium hikes for older people, significant slashes to Medicaid (which allows them to trumpet that they will be decreasing the federal deficits by $337 billion over ten years).

Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta of Michigan Radio note that the new GOP representative from northern Michigan is in a bind. This region went strongly for the nasty guy but it has the highest per-capita enrollment on Michigan’s Medicaid expansion. Fulfill your promise and your supporters lose insurance. Somebody is going to be angry no matter what he does.

Crafting a health insurance plan that dumps a lot of poor and likely a lot of elderly and causing a lot of pain and death? They want that.

Insufficiently funded social safety net? They want that.

Making higher education unaffordable to all but the wealthy and white middle class? They want that.

A financial system that preys on the poor? They want that.

Refusing to provide child care so a woman can’t work? They want that.

Refusing to provide adequate public transportation so the poor can get to jobs? They want that.

Refusing to keep infrastructure in good repair? They want that.

Trashing the EPA so we aren’t protected from substances that harm us? They may say the want to remove regulation to boost job creation. Don’t believe them. They want that.

An overburdened jail system filled primarily with people of color? They want that.

Blocking policy to lessen climate change? They want that.

Another way to say all this: The GOP is so bound to ranking they are willing to poison people, including themselves; allow people to die of preventable diseases; impoverish other people; let people languish in jail; and even damage the climate, which also affects themselves as well as the world. Ranking is that strong.