He who does not trust enough, will not be trusted. – Lao Tzu

We have heard and read a lot concerning the so called Tea Party conservatives. From vituperative language to questions about their mental stability to their motives. I do not think that anyone has actually looked too deeply into to this particular group though.

Just look at this data. Over half are men, own guns, are very religious, have has at least some education beyond high school and over 45 years of age. And nearly completely non-Hispanic white. And nearly all hate and fear the federal government.

Look at the charts. Guns, religion, age and the government. This is NOT about money and never really has been. It’s about CONTROL. Conservatives have always been control freaks but these people are off the scale.  According to Dave Masco they are viewed as Rich Bullies who are very insecure.

Tea Party viewed as rich bullies who want it their way

According to the New York Times/CBS News poll, “the Tea Party movement burst onto the scene a year ago in protest of the economic stimulus package and its supporters have vowed to purge the Republican Party of officials they consider not sufficiently conservative and to block the Democratic agenda on the economy, the environment and health care.”

At the same time, the poll noted how the Tea Party supporters’ have “fierce animosity toward Washington, and the president in particular, is rooted in deep pessimism about the direction of the country and the conviction that the policies of the Obama administration are disproportionately directed at helping the poor rather than the middle class or the rich.”

Also, the poll showed that the overwhelming majority of Tea Party supporters say President Obama “does not share the values most Americans live by and that he does not understand the problems of people like themselves. More than half say the policies of the administration favor the poor, and 25 percent think that the administration favors blacks over whites — compared with 11 percent of the general public.”

The poll is shocking in its findings that Tea Party members “are more likely than the general public, and Republicans, to say that too much has been made of the problems facing black people.”

But I think it also goes deeper than that. They fear government in their lives in any way shape or form because they fear the government.  They hate the idea of government providing anything because they fear and hate any dependence on it.  It’s absolutely about loosing what little control they feel they have over their lives.  They do not trust the government and most likely do not even trust themselves.   And they feel victimized and paranoid.  So the tea part is very supportive of the military and the wars in general. just no “Obama’s Wars”.

I do wish however that I could find an even more detailed view oh those who consider themselves staunch tea-party conservatives.  Whether they are overly concerned with personal security. That they are more likely to have guns would suggest this.  Whether they are more likely to be self employed or have a small or smaller business.  The religious factor suggests a deep seated fear of the future and their anti-gay stance shows to me that they are very sexually insecure as well.

Their statements and willingness to destroy an economy that is already causing them financial distress appears to be irrational.  People who react almost totally emotionally will be irrational since emotions nearly always block out any rational thought.  As Bill Cosby once observed – Scared children are very difficult to get along with. I would like to add angry children as well.