The Great Bear is Angry

If the Republicans are Elephants and the Democrats are Donkeys, then I see the American middle class as a Great Bear, mellowed by decades of ‘elephant ear’mark treats, but now wounded by globalization and no longer tamed by either political party.

The three beasts have been thrown into a grudge cage and are gnawing and clawing for survival. Gone are the glorious decades of one party supremacy. The Great Bear gave the Donkey two years to strip irresponsibility from the wealthy elite, but instead the Donkey wasted its political capital on special interests. With one fell swoop, the Great bear has thrown the Donkey against the rope, and is giving the Elephant the chance to take down the excesses of the Donkey’s social welfare desires.

But while the Bear may not have the memory of an Elephant, it has the anger of a Bear, and after the Ass’s clock is cleaned, the Bear will gnash at the stoic excesses of the Pachyderm, taking back the tax break that was so selfishly placed at its feet as a token of appreciation for subduing the Donkey. The Great Bear has been caught in a steel trap of trade deficits, tax deficits, and technology transfer deficits, and is fighting to free itself.

It is not wrong for America to reduce its social programs. We cannot eat what we have on our plates. It is not wrong for America to reduce its government size. We cannot carry that much social administration. It is not wrong for America to reduce the burden of its entitlements. We did not create a future generation large enough to carry it. It is not wrong for America to insist that the wealthy pay more to move our country forward. They have gained true wealth for the last three decades while the Great Bear has lost true wealth in the same period. It is wrong for the Elephant, the Donkey, and all their special interests to force the Great Bear into a grudge cage just to see a future for its cubs.