Defining Paul Ryan

by Madeleine Kando

Everyone is trying to define Paul Ryan, the young, ambitious Republican Congressman that Romney chose as his running mate in the 2012 Presidential elections.

Romney himself has portrayed Ryan as ‘a reluctant budget warrior who went to Washington to change the status quo’ (conveniently forgetting that Ryan is the ultimate insider. He never ‘went’ to Washington, he was always there).

Paul Ryan is the Tea Party’s hero. He is one of the ‘Young Guns’ in the Republican Party. He is also the author of the proposed budget plan ’A Roadmap for America’s Future’, a plan that would essentially do away with most of the social welfare programs in this country. He is a true ideologue who believes in Social Darwinism: ‘Reward the rich, penalize the poor, let everyone else fend for themselves. Dog eat dog,’ as Robert Reich so aptly says in his article ‘The Ryan Choice’.

Paul Ryan’s hero is Russian author and philosopher Ayn Rand. She is best known for her novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’, a story about the morality of rational self-interest. Rand was a fervent atheist and she supported rational and ethical egoism, and rejected ethical altruism. She opposed all forms of collectivism and statism, instead supporting laissez-faire capitalism, which she believed was the only social system that protected individual rights.

An excellent article in The New Yorker by Jane Mayer: Ayn Rand Joins the Ticket, describes Rand’s views on the virtues of selfishness: ‘In his début today, Ryan stressed that “We promise equal opportunity—not equal outcomes”—a philosophy that telegraphed a tough message to those who are worst off. Ryan also signalled a Rand-like celebration of the winners, and dismissed complaints from the losers, saying, “We look at one another’s success with pride, not resentment.” Rand’s language was tougher still. She used words such as “refuse” and “parasites” to describe the poor, while celebrating millionaire businessmen as heroes. She abhorred government social programs, such as Social Security, at least until she reached the age of eligibility, and reportedly signed on for both its benefits and those of Medicare.

I would like to add my own definition of Paul Ryan: For those of you out there who have seen ‘Chinatown’, a 1974 Roman Polansky movie, you might remember that it was based on the California Water Wars of the early 1900’s, when Fred Eaton was mayor of Los Angeles. Eaton appointed William Mulholland, a self-taught engineer, as the head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He was the guy who built the LA Aqueduct, leaving much of Owens Valley up north without enough water.

When asked if it was fair to divert the water that flowed from the Owens River south, leaving the farmers and ranchers dry in the process, Mulholland is known to have said: ‘If you don’t give them water, they won’t need it’.

That is Paul Ryan for you: a proponent of unfettered capitalism. I can easily hear him think: ‘If you don’t give them social security, health care or food stamps, they won’t need it’. leave comment here