In
case you've been fortunate enough to have avoided the US news cycle over the
past fortnight, you've probably heard at least something about a man with the
slightly odd name of Cliven Bundy. For those who don't know: Bundy is a rancher
in Nevada who has been using federally-owned land to graze his cattle for the
last two decades. The government claims that he owes millions of dollars in
unpaid fines for doing so, and with Bundy showing no signs of paying up – not least
because he claims not to believe in the authority of the US government – they
sent the authorities to clear the area of Bundy's cows. Bundy was ready for
them, as were a large number of supporters, all heavily armed and apparently
ready to engage in an armed standoff with the government if necessary. In the
face of the threat posed by these armed renegades, the government has backed
down for now and allowed Bundy to continue grazing on federal land while also
not paying his fines.
Cliven
Bundy has now become something of a cause for celebration in right wing
circles, who see the standoff as a great victory for freedom-loving patriots
against a corrupt and oppressive government. Perhaps the strangest thing about
this is that the right wingers actually have something of a point for once –
there is indeed a discussion to be had about the fact that much of the land in
the western United States is technically owned by the federal government. This
land was, after all, stolen from the original Native American populations of
the region, and we would be well-placed to start discussing who really 'owns'
it.
But
that isn't the point that Bundy actually wants to make, it's just a byproduct
of his argument. It also isn't the issue for which Bundy will be remembered. Instead,
Bundy will go down as a perfect symbol of the dark psyche of the American right
wing. All of the classic tropes are there – an instinctive turn to guns and
threats of violence whenever things go against them; a claim to be patriots
while at the same time attacking the government and refusing to pay the taxes
that support their fellow countrymen; and a belief in the superiority of white
males and their right to do whatever they feel like doing without interference
or the need to consider the rights of others.
This
last point was amply demonstrated by Bundy himself in the days after the
standoff. In an interview with the New York Times, Bundy essentially
told reporters that black people were better off being slaves – they had a
better family life, and some good honest work to do, he said; they didn't spend
all their time on welfare. How does Bundy know about the lives of black people
in today's America? Why, he once drove past some of them sitting outside a
housing project, of course. A true expert, you'll no doubt agree.
And this illustrates a great problem with America – it
still hasn't found a way to talk about land without getting it mixed up with
issues of race and fear. White people who have owned their land for centuries –
but only because of a legacy of slavery of black people and genocide of Native
Americans – are scared of newcomers, scared of the way in which the federal
government seems to accept such newcomers, and scared that the end result will
be 'their' land being 'taken' from them. This lead to people arming themselves,
clinging to their guns as a means of safety, and eventually – or so it seems –
engaging in armed standoffs with the government in an attempt to defend their
privilege. Sooner or later, America will need to discover a new language for
discussing these issues of inequality and entrenched wealth and ownership, or
moments like the Cliven Bundy standoff may become more and more common as the
country continues to change faster than wealthy white people with guns believe
it should.
[ Cliven Bundy, unpaid fines, US government, native american populations, american right wing, New York Times ]
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