• the217
• Life
• What do you think of the Tea Party Movement?

In the past few years, a new political party has started to take root, and not so surprisingly, it’s growing. Ignited in part by a desire to fight back against government spending, the Tea Party Patriots have since united behind three core values, which, according to their mission statement, are Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets. With a name inspired by the Boston Tea Party, which helped start our country’s revolution over 200 years ago, the party clings to the principles outlined in the Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights that shaped the nation. With what seem to be American values at heart, do you believe they are moving in the right direction?

“I have a knee-jerk reaction to it, which is like they are a bunch of idiots. Although I am a big fan of Noam Chomsky, and people asked him about it, expecting people him to make fun of it, and he goes, you know, those people have some legitimate things to be angry about. It might not be directed the right way, and it may be misfounded, their information may be off, but a lot of what they’re angry about is legitimate stuff. They might be barking up the wrong tree, but there are a lot of things to feel a little disenfranchised about. I used to be just like, what a bunch of bozos. But I get that they are angry, and they are angry for a reason. I don’t agree, and I think they’ve been misinformed, but I would have made fun of them two weeks ago. Now, I get it.”

—David King, Resident of Urbana

“I just spent, two years ago, the entire year in France in a system where everyone has health care, and you come back to a privatized health care system, and it seems a little ridiculous. I don’t quite understand how they could be so hardcore against it. Because the homeless people have health care [in France], if something is wrong they can go in and be helped. It doesn’t make sense that you can’t do that here. So many people suffer from not having health care.”

—Alanna Elinoff, Resident of Urbana

“They don’t really understand, or they haven’t or they need to take another history course. I think they’ve interpreted a lot of things wrong, and they don’t really understand what socialism is.”

—Emily Ewers, Graduate Student in Slavic Languages and Literature

“I don’t think they’re moving in the right direction. The Tea Party movement wants to take us back to a time that basically predates the New Deal. I don’t think that’s what people want in this day and age. I think it’s a far right approach that will ultimately have a limited appeal to people in this country.”

—Fred Siewers, Visitor from Kentucky