1 - It Has Nothing to do with Actual Tea
I am surprised at how many people think this is a movement to fight tea. This article from NPR lists reasons why we shouldn't protest the price of tea, which would leave any average Tea Party protester scratching their head. The movement does involve some individuals who use tea bags in their protest, but it is (obviously) symbolic. I really don't know how this misunderstanding can happen in country where most of us learn about simple symbolism from reading T
he Great Gatsby at a young age. (In the comment section of that NPR article you will see how their readers are humorously responding to this mistake.)2 - Members of this Movement do not Regularly Call Themselves "Tea-baggers" (And, yes, they know what that means.)
Another thing that would leave the average Tea Party protester scratching their head. Some members of the movement have claimed that they are involved in the act of "tea-bagging." It's a tongue-in-cheek reference to the juvenile prank of the same name but this is not an official name for this group. The media thinks that this grassroots protest actually calls itself the "tea bag" protesters, but they are wrong. Most of those in attendance at a Tea Party will never know how this term became associated with their movement and would probably never use it.
3 - It is a Grassroots Movement with No Central Leadership (Yet)
A few news articles have run this statement:
The tea parties don't represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They're AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects," economist Paul Krugman wrote in Monday's New York Times.
The failure of the media to actually name these individuals is a clue that they are wrong. Calling them "the usual suspects" is a sinister way to cast them in a negative light. Why cast them in a negative light if they are just peacefully demonstrating their opinion? Are all protest leaders "suspects" of some kind? This is hate-talk from the media and it's shameful. Since there were 800 protests yesterday across all 50 states, it's obviously supported by more than a few Republican's behind the curtain.
Some leaders probably will emerge to centralize this movement, but it has not, yet, happened. Read this if you want to know how it all got started.
4 -This Movement is not Friendly to Republicans
In fact, some Republican politicians have been turned down when they asked if they could speak at these events. These protesters consider the abuse of taxes to be a long standing problem that has nothing to do with only one party. To be fair, Republicans like Newt Genrgich have supported and spoken at some of these events and many signs have been waved protesting Obama's actions, but the protests are not Republican in nature and are certainly not a good place for the average Republican congressman to be. It's more Libertarian than anything else.
5 - Making Fun of the Term "Tea Bagging" is Not the Same as Understanding the Movement
Did you see a TV show where someone made fun of these guys for being called "tea baggers"? That is not a discussion of their ideology - it is a smear tactic. Be sure you are disagreeing on their politics and not just laughing at the name the media has given them. Many Americans believe that government spending is out of control is some way (national debt, bailouts, paying for failed mortgages, anything along those lines...) and have chosen to get together to make this sentiment known. If you don't like them, argue with their stand on spending instead of quoting a clown on TV.
Conclusions
If you just started hearing about the Tea Party movement in the last two weeks (or, if all of your news come from people who make fun of them) you may want to research older articles on the issue. The media is usually mistaken about the facts (or it simply distorts them) when first reporting something.
For example, synesthesia is a mental condition that was originally reported as the exact opposite of what it really is. I am a synesthete and meet people who still have a backward understanding of it because of the media's mistakes. After unconvering numerous problems like this by the mass media, I decided to stop trusting them. (However, they are usually right when it comes to news about celebrities, go figure.)
For more information, Wikipedia's article on the phenomenon of Tea Party Protests is quite good, or, at least it was when I last checked it. (And, bear in mind that I'm not asking you to agree with these protesters, I just wanted to clear up some very obvious confusion.)
Some leaders probably will emerge to centralize this movement, but it has not, yet, happened. Read this if you want to know how it all got started.
4 -This Movement is not Friendly to Republicans
In fact, some Republican politicians have been turned down when they asked if they could speak at these events. These protesters consider the abuse of taxes to be a long standing problem that has nothing to do with only one party. To be fair, Republicans like Newt Genrgich have supported and spoken at some of these events and many signs have been waved protesting Obama's actions, but the protests are not Republican in nature and are certainly not a good place for the average Republican congressman to be. It's more Libertarian than anything else.
5 - Making Fun of the Term "Tea Bagging" is Not the Same as Understanding the Movement
Did you see a TV show where someone made fun of these guys for being called "tea baggers"? That is not a discussion of their ideology - it is a smear tactic. Be sure you are disagreeing on their politics and not just laughing at the name the media has given them. Many Americans believe that government spending is out of control is some way (national debt, bailouts, paying for failed mortgages, anything along those lines...) and have chosen to get together to make this sentiment known. If you don't like them, argue with their stand on spending instead of quoting a clown on TV.
Conclusions
If you just started hearing about the Tea Party movement in the last two weeks (or, if all of your news come from people who make fun of them) you may want to research older articles on the issue. The media is usually mistaken about the facts (or it simply distorts them) when first reporting something.
For example, synesthesia is a mental condition that was originally reported as the exact opposite of what it really is. I am a synesthete and meet people who still have a backward understanding of it because of the media's mistakes. After unconvering numerous problems like this by the mass media, I decided to stop trusting them. (However, they are usually right when it comes to news about celebrities, go figure.)
For more information, Wikipedia's article on the phenomenon of Tea Party Protests is quite good, or, at least it was when I last checked it. (And, bear in mind that I'm not asking you to agree with these protesters, I just wanted to clear up some very obvious confusion.)
6 comments:
Thanks for laying these all out, Adam. The ridiculous misconceptions I've heard regarding TEA parties have been annoying. Now I've got a single place I can direct such people to educate themselves.
That's why I'm here!
Adam, I didn’t know you are a synesthete. I’m one as well (at least I was more so as a kid). It wasn’t so much with music as it was concepts with me; like I would associate green with left and red with right. I am curious to here about your experience with it.
It is funny that this is the issue that you cite that disillusioned you with mass media, because it was a radio program on NPR that made me aware that there was anyone else like me. (just thought it was interesting, not defending mass media on the whole of course)
Thanks for this, Adam.
While I do think the numbered point about protesting coffee over tea was absurd and largely missing the point, I didn't come away from that NPR article thinking they misunderstood tea being a symbol, but that they considered tea a weak symbol. On the other hand, what are the protesters going to do, throw their cars in the river? Maybe copies of bank statements or I don't know, what else is being bailed out?
At any rate, regardless of the fact that I consider the whole Tea Party metaphor a bit grandiose, I really do appreciate what you've posted here. It is, as usual, rather comprehensive, and as Jared noted, an excellent one-stop-shop.
If these people are really concerned about protesting wasteful government spending, they should've started in 2003, when we started pouring 2 billion dollars a week into Iraq.
Justin T., the Tea Party movement is about protesting the "improper" use of federal tax dollars. Regardless of one's views on the Iraq war, it was not a (Constitutionally) inappropriate application of our taxes; however, I'm not disputing that one could view it as "wasteful" appropriation (as you clearly do). Nevertheless, the Tea Party movement serves to protest the myriad examples of inappropriate federal government intervention, per the 10th Amendment.
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