Zombie Apocalypse … GOP Style

From the epic World War Z (and I mean epically bad) to the comedic Shawn of the Dead and The World’s End (kind of) to the romantic Warm Bodies to the downright terrifying 28 Days Later to the wildly popular Walking Dead, zombie apocalyptic visions have become a genre unto themselves over the past decade or so. They seem to indicate two visions of the West at once: 1. a sense that the future is wrought with peril and that there is little hope of turning things around (particularly if we expand out to include the endless lineup of dystopian films in recent years) and 2. the idea that technology, television, the spectacle society, consumer culture or some combination therein has taken away our individuality and made us into unthinking consuming machines metaphorically walking the street eating the brains and hearts out of those around us. From the very beginning, this has been the subtext of these films, with George Romero always sending his zombies to the mall at some point along their reign of terror.

And it occurred to me as I considered the current GOP-led government shutdown that this is also the unspoken strategy of the Republicans. Constantly speak of apocalypse right around the corner and feed on the unwarranted fears of their zombie-like constituency. From illegal immigration to gay marriage to affirmative action and government intervention, any attempt to improve the lives of some, or most, Americans is sold as eliciting a crisis the moment it is implemented. The most obvious of these appears to be gay marriage with the absurd argument that it will somehow destroy one of the oldest institutions in the history of civilization – marriage itself. Never is there an explanation of how in the world two men or two women being allowed to marry would somehow lead to others abandoning the practice altogether, but plenty of people believe it anyway. In economic terms, it’s called an identification problem, where cause and effect are confused with correlation, but has the divorce rate even risen since “gay marriage” was allowed in several states. I doubt it, and even if it has, it is hard to believe that men or women will suddenly give up their own marriages simply because others are allowed to share in this critical rite of passage that serves social reproduction and stability so well.

The same can be said of “illegal immigrants” and the rather obvious subtext that too many of them – from Mexico and South America, to make specific what is rarely mentioned – will undermine what American culture is and means. Over time this may be true, but while the Irish, Italians, Jews and other non-Wasps that have stormed our shores over the past 180 years have certainly influenced our culture, it is hard to argue it has not been in positive ways. The equally absurd argument that they steal quality jobs is belied by the reality of their economic and vocational status and the fact that this is the essence of the fading American dream from our very birth.

On the question of the shutdown specifically, Republicans warn that more people having insurance will lead to the very destruction of American culture. But what is this based on? Presumably it is the tired old argument that government influence of markets in any instance is implicitly bad and auguring of future despair. And yet a careful analysis of the past 100 years tends to show exactly the opposite. When government intervenes in the market, as they did most obviously in the Great Depression and then through to the Great Society of LBJ, there is more equality, a larger middle class, more stability, less economic crisis and a better quality of life for the many.

At the most basic level, healthcare defines the skewed thinking of so many Americans. While we hear terrifying tales of educational systems across Europe and their “socialized medicine,” the reality is that America has the lowest life expectancy, highest infant mortality rates and largest expenditures on healthcare of any industrialized country in the world. And Obamacare is not socialized medicine. It is simply an attempt to provide reasonable rates for all Americans to get coverage. Why contest something that seems so just and democratic? Well, it will hurt the insurance companies. And the Republican Party today is little more than spokesperson, advocate, lobbyist and legitimator for the corporate takeover of America. If we continue to act like zombies, that apocalypse will find us!