Wherein I launch a series of diaries on different aspects of what our right wing brethren would make of America.
Short form: It would be a society where only good Christians of sufficient material means get to vote and enjoy the benefits of citizenship. For most people, rights would depend on staying employed (sorry, being in business for yourself doesn't count), staying in good with one's approved congregation (following one's own spiritual path is out, too) and staying out of trouble (with an aggressive security state actively prospecting for infractions of any kind).
And most Republicans would hear this description and go, hey, sounds golden. When can we move in?
So... seriously. What would the Republitopia look like, that perfectly realized fantasy of their agenda? More importantly, how would it really play out, if the right got everything it wanted?
This question has captured my imagination off and on for many years. I arrive at the same conclusion every time, that the Republicans have no idea what all of their mutually exclusive 'wants' would give them if they got everything on their wish list.
Yet what would that world look like and feel like? Not in the short run - that's a bit too chaotic to map out effectvely. Yet let's try and work through (a) what are the most sustainable pieces of the current-day GOP agenda based on trends, (b) what types of transformations in national and world politics would have to take place to get these aspirations fulfilled and (c) what could we really say about how such a society would function?
First, we tackle the bedrock issue on which Republitopia will be based: Dealing with the dysfunction of too many people voting in elections.
Those Things They Clamor For
Voting Rights For The Deserving. Many see this as an administrative or procedural battle. I disagree - I think the Republican Party openly argues that only deserve to vote should vote. That's a pretty unobjectionable statement, right? I mean, who wants the undeserving to vote? (Right wingers ask this, and then eye the left wingers suspiciously.)
That framing is persistent, powerful and becoming pervasive across the land. The news in 2012 is full of GOP governors and legislatures rolling back early voting, voting hours, imposing voter ID requirements and purging voter rolls. Florida. Ohio. Pennsylvania.
Note that none of these states are robustly red or blue. They're purple. They're battleground territories. Republicans are just fine with easy voting in states they control easily. In blue states, they can't even get their plans going. Yet in the battleground states, Republicans whenever and wherever they get a temporary edge look to make those gains more lasting through imposing franchise limitations.
Oh, I almost forgot the touchy issue of re-enfranchisement of convicted felons. That's not going anywhere in the red states. Disproportionate enforcement of laws that all races break at the expense of minorities has turned the prison system into a permanent revocation of citizenship system. Since those whites that catch the business end of a taser tend to be poor, their being caught in the same net of disenfranchisement is not a problem for Republicans, either. And 'no true conservative Scotsman' would ever commit a felony, by definition.
So far I am discussing the procedures of voting restriction. What's the ethos being served? Simply put, people who 'naturally' vote Republican should get to vote. People who 'naturally' don't, should not. To the extent that non-Christians, nonwhites, the poor, gays and women vote Republican, they are welcome. To the extent they do not... "Oh, sorry. This form of ID is invalid... but you can fill out a provisional ballot. We might count that if the overall tally is close (snicker)."
That's darn nihilist, and that's hardly the basis for a sustainable society, even a conservative. So we must dive deeper. What are the conservatives seeking to conserve, if there's too much democracy afoot these days.
Ah... and there you have it. There's too much democracy. Too many undeserving people are voting. This goes far past whether or not said persons are supporters of the GOP. Too many of THEM are voting, per the GOP ethos. Franchise should go to those with a stake in society, not only a material but a cultural stake.
The material wealth factor is quantifiable and increasingly restrictive. Imposing even a modest net worth requirement (or something like an 'employment credit score') would calve off a LOT of currently qualified voters. Don't scoff - these ideas get floated by our right wing brethren in real time.
What about an education, say, a literacy or language proficiency test? Or both? Or simply have the ballots in English only? Again, these ideas - never mind the constitutionality and legality of them under the current code - are floated.
Last but not least, how would one decide on cultural stake in society? Well now, there we get to Big Kahuna of franchise restriction: religious membership, at its most restrictive membership in a Christian community in good standing with...Republicans.
We will discuss that in more detail of the alliance of state, party and ecclesiastical power structures next.