The Flat Earth Economic Society is back at it again in red states across the nation.
Yes, that fiscal wing of the New Conservative Neanderthal Party (NCNP) abides by the motto “A Head in the Sand Is the Rich Man’s Promise.”
Surprisingly, a whole batch of working-class Minnesotans seems to ascribe to the hollow rhetoric as well. Plenty of average Minnesota voters proved that last week as they cast their support toward beliefs suited better for the Economocracy than the Democracy.   
Once again the belief that you can cure economic woes by starving the patient has found its way into the heads of various Minnesota legislators and those campaigning for political office. I really didn’t believe that Minnesota Republicans would so easily lock step with all the other conservative loonies from across the nation, but in many cases state lines don’t seem to hinder poor thinking.
I really thought we were a little different here, and that included the notion of being Republican.
They just don’t make Republicans like they used to. The Elmer Andersens and Dave Durenbergers, the Arne Carlsons and Al Quies of the political spectrum have fallen from grace with these new kids who would deny health care and fair wages to the commoners and instead hand the spoils to the top one percent of society because they control the wealth and thus the have the capacity to create jobs and turn around whole economies in a single bound.
Those old guys understood that as long as we share a society, a social contract exists between a state and all the people, not just some of the people. And that contract isn’t mutually exclusive between state and people, it is one thing, a shared state of being.
The new kids of the Flat Earth Economic Society would cut spending at the same time they are cutting revenues by reducing taxes on businesses and the wealthy, a surefire method to cripple all the things we share in this state and nation.
As I wandered the deer trails this week, I thought about William F. Buckley, the old conservative thinker with the rolling wide eyes and dry wit. I imagined the fun he’d have if he were still alive, hosting his weekly show on PBS with this latest bunch of Republicans roaming the landscape. Even though I didn’t agree with the guy much, he made reason, with a capitol R, as much a part of the show as his guests. I can imagine the fun he’d have skewering the thoughtless gestures of a Paul Ryan or a Ted Cruz or a Scott Walker.
William F. Buckley, where are you when we need you, a conservative who has reason?  
The new kids on the block truly believe in the hollow economic rhetoric that you take from the poor and give to the rich because they own everything already. Yes, even though it has been proven time and again that tax breaks grow wealth and not jobs, they continue to ignore the need a society has for revenue if it is going to exist in a state of equilibrium.
The mantra of competition is hollow. The economy has been steaming along full speed ahead for decades in full competitive regalia, and we end up cooking our own goose through greed, that dirty little secret of unchecked capitalism. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Adam Smith never imagined such greed as we have seen when he wrote “Wealth of Nations.” Man’s better nature was to have lifted all boats in the economic tide, according to Smith. He’d flip a lid and turn the table of the moneychangers if he happened to drop in on Wall Street and the boardrooms of our corporate state in 2014.
Don’t even tell him about the Great Recession of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014…
Even though Smith promoted his belief in the self-interest of the individual, he warned of the “collusive nature” of business interests as they form cabals or monopolies, fixing the highest price “which can be squeezed out of buyers.”
According to scholars like William F. Buckley, Smith also warned against true laissez-faire economies that would quickly become a conspiracy of businesses and industry against consumers, as well as scheme to influence politics and legislation. He warned of the gluttony of the rich and the unproductive labor of excess that does not further the end of the system and society.
Sounds familiar.
He couldn’t have imagined the size of today’s corporate and global house of cards.
Smith also wrote “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” in which he examines moral thinking that included a belief that conscience comes from social relationships, not monetary, and he proposed a theory of sympathy, one based on people’s observations of others and an awareness of themselves and the morality of their own behavior.
Enough of Adam Smith.
The Flat Earth Economic Society is simply ignorant of the way a civil society operates.
Ask the wealthiest taxpayers to help defray some of the budget woes or to close a loophole that shields companies from paying taxes on foreign profits? Are you kidding, the Flat Earthers ask. Even though overall profits for this state’s largest businesses are at an all-time high, the Flat Earthers claim that Minnesota’s tax climate has been a burden for too long. Let loose the reins of regulation and taxation! Growth, innovation, and jobs will emerge as we cast aside the burdensome care of the poor and the environment. Everyone must live within their means, except those who can afford it!  

Forrest Johnson has been writing for over 20 years and was editor of the Lake County Chronicle in Two Harbors.