Upcoming elections - choose
The more that I blog in the political sphere, the more I realize that voters' choices are not Democrat vs Republican; rather it is individual freedoms vs group pre-eminence. It is not about a throwaway vote (as seen by the affirmation of the individual's right to bear arms by the Supreme Court); it is knowing the ideals of this country (as posed by the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights) have to be defended against the Nanny Staters.
I found the following over at Blackfive and Uncle Jimbo nails it with plain speaking - the lowest common denominator or reaching for excellence:
Popular culture and the liberal conventional wisdom teaches that America is a fundamentally rapacious victimizer and that your status as a member of this criminal class is something to be ashamed of. The left sure is. They weep into their pillows every night as they consider the crimes of the Bush cartel, which as citizens they are complicit in. Remember the losers with their we are sorry signs. they really are SORRY!
All of the major ideas of modern liberalism have been shown to be miserable failures starting with the incarnation of all that was modern socialism, the Soviet Union. This model of "from each according to ability, to each according to need" turned out just as Ayn Rand had predicted. The weak [I'd put in "lazy", but that's just me -Skip] would ride the backs of the strong and the state apparatchiks would live like kings until the whole Potemkin state collapsed.
People like to denigrate Atlas Shrugged as pompous, grandiose and over the top. Ya' think? But it remains the perfect predictor of your political bent. You are required to choose individualism or communalism. The book should lead you to curse something at the top of your lungs. If that things is the greedy, selfishness and lack of care for fellow man, welcome to the left. If it is the parasitic nature of the state and it's minions seeking to harness the power and ingenuity of the strong for the purported benefit of the weak, while actually crushing innovation and productivity, welcome to the right.
The modern welfare state was liberalism's answer to poverty and a safety net for those unable to make it. The law of unintended consequences popped up to show that what it actually did was drive up illegitimacy rates among poor folks. Baby's mommas have Uncle Sugar to pay their bills so Daddy isn't needed. Boy that has really turned out great eh? What's that, you have a better idea, Universal health care? Hmm i wonder how that is going in Canadia and Europe. Oh yeah years long waiting lists for anything more complicated than a band aid and pretty soon no health care for you if you have any non-PC habits. Smoker, no health care for you. Drinker, None for you. Eat fried foods, under the bus. They know better than you how you should be living and g****m it you will comply.
The right is stuck with the values of self-reliance that built such a powerful stable society that we can have parasites living among us and survive. But the cost is eternal vigilance, as the left believes in progressivism like a religion. They lack an actual God like the right, so they deify Gaia. We must stand firm against their wailings that we are killing the planet (pretty arrogant thought I believe) because they actually seek regression not progression. They want fewer humans, having fewer kids, eating less meat, burning less carbon, developing less land and basically turning into the beta creatures the left believes humans are.
This next sentence pretty much sums up my mood a lot of the times - somebody has to be number one and I do not ascribe to the theory that we all have to have equal outcomes in life (after all, we are not all equal in talents, capabilities, and motivations).
I strongly disconcur and truly enjoy my spot at the top of the global food chain, both as a species and a nation. Someone has to be there and i much prefer us to the Russians or the Chinese. For all the talk of America the relentless devourers of earth's bounty, there is precious little recognition of the overwhelmingly positive influence we have on the modern world. Since WWII we have been the free world's only reliable defender. Absent the US Navy there would be no global commerce as pirates would operate from the dozens of failed states. Absent our evil Big Pharma industry life expectancy on the planet would be significantly decreased, absent our steadfast opposition of the expansionist Soviet Union large swaths of the planet would have enjoyed the pleasures of totalitarian rule.
The hard thing to do is to credit the other side for good intentions. At the most basic level the left and right both want a safe, free world, the difference is in what policies will achieve that end. That means that although I believe that the policies of an Obama Presidency will be dangerous for our security and likely to greatly increase the power and intrusiveness of the state, I must not demonize those who believe they are simply doing the right thing. They are wrong, but not out of evil intentions, simply because they fundamentally misread human nature. They think you can get everyone to all pitch in and pull their weight. Won't happen and some will always take advantage. The right counts on the ingenuity and productivity of the strong to rise all boats like the tide, with a healthy dose of charity for those unable to take care of themselves and complete contempt for those who choose not to. As I have said, I like our team better.
Did you get that? The money lines are:
- They are wrong, but not out of evil intentions, simply because they fundamentally misread human nature. They think you can get everyone to all pitch in and pull their weight. Won't happen and some will always take advantage
- The right counts on the ingenuity and productivity of the strong to rise all boats like the tide, with a healthy dose of charity for those unable to take care of themselves and complete contempt for those who choose not to.
This is, in large part, why the Left (collectivism) and the Right (supremacy of the individual) will always clash. While there can be compromises at times in the middle, I have to laugh at Obama at his promise to unite the nation with politics unusual. With great grating of steel on concrete, he has shown himself lately to be just an ordinary Liberal. We also see, like John Kerry before him, an uncommon ability to try to be on both sidesof an issue at the same time (but I admit, Obama is much more likable than Kerry, which makes him much more dangerous).
There is no choice to opt out - choose for your family.
