Sometimes I get a little pat on the back from one of the “managerial Elite” over at Treehugger. I’m generally the guy that is orthogonal to most of the folks there. Like Bruce Currie is here but with one big exception – I don’t disparage the information that is brought up and I don’t call them names.
After all, Treehugger ISN’T my “house” like GraniteGrok is – there, I’m an “allowed guest” and I try to act that way.
That said, amid what seems to be Berni-Bros that have donned a green facade, I’m the one talking about Individual freedoms and the Free Marketplace (well, it used to be Free until Progressives captured it because EVERYTHING needs to be controlled (snicker)).
Treehugger makes it clear – Government knows better than the rest of us especially when those wielding the Levers of Power don’t take well to those of us that won’t listen. From the post (“Good News for the Rich: Their Fancy Showers Can Waste More Water“) that has already spawned three posts of mine (here, here, and here) proves my Collectivist and “Govt knows best” points about them:
These kinds of regulations have driven some libertarian types crazy for years – “First they came for our toilets, then our light bulbs, now our showers.” But these regulations have all made a big difference, and the toilets flush, the lightbulbs are pretty good, and the showers aren’t so bad. Really, just go with the flow.
Cute line – until you realize it is patting the back of Govt as well as showing subservience to it that is unwarranted; there is no notion by them of leaving people alone. And that’s the main difference between them and we who trust the Founders more: an unwillingness to Trust Govt. Sure, it is “by the People” but the Socialists amongst us haven’t figure out that when we talk about “We the People”, it’s about Civil Society and NOT government; again, that phrase that sticks hard in my craw of “Government is the only thing to which we all belong” as it has nuances that run completely counter to our Founding. But I digress…
And yes, this post is the last one from that Treehugger post. But it is one that is unfinished because I was given a challenge by the Pooh-Pah over there, Lloyd. The challenge (reformatted, emphasis mine):
Lloyd Alter: I missed this, given that this post is older, and I always appreciate you being here even when I do not agree with you. But I do agree with you about the fact that TANSTAAFL. Living in Canada, I find none of these things are free, I pay lots of taxes to cover the cost of health care and good water and decent education. And I have a fancy new water meter that the city installed that sends a signal to them via cellphone monitoring every gallon I use. I have no problem with that.
What I do not understand about the USA is that nobody wants to pay for anything, they don’t wanna pay taxes, they don’t wanna pay for the real cost of water or of roads or of anything, they want the free lunch.
Well, as a limited Government kind of guy, there’s a lot that I don’t want to pay for because Government is no longer limited. All that other stuff that Govt does that doesn’t fit “limited” has a cost and it gets higher and higher all the time because the politicians and bureaucracies keep expanding what is to be done by Govt to “justify” what it all ready does. So here is my answer to Lloyd and understand that it is only a partial list:
GraniteGrok:
I always appreciate you being here even when I do not agree with youOnce again, thanks for allowing me entree into your “home” here. In posts like this, it forces me to sharpen both my philosophy and rhetoric.
What I do not understand about the USA is that nobody wants to pay for anything, they don’t wanna pay taxes, they don’t wanna pay for the real cost of water or of roads or of anything, they want the free lunch.
Not a simple question to answer – there are a number of long standing root causes that are now coming to fruition: the emphasis of entitlement over hard work, the emphasis on NOW versus delayed self-gratification, the success of the Left’s emphasis of multiculturalism instead E Pluribus Enum (our motto: out of many, one).
Also, the changing of the championing of the Individual and the Rights therein to a Collective view (with its “forcing”) which, for all the talk of minorities lately, demotes the smallest of minorities – that of the “one”. Add to that the change in culture in which traditional American norms (starting in the 60s with the advent of the Pill and the philosophy of the New Left) were overturned for the “Love the one you’re with” (with its intended / unintended ramifications) and “if it doesn’t hurt anyone, go ahead” which also has had a deletory affect on Society.
Speaking of Society, the encroachment of a more and more Socialist governance that has all but crowded out the “Civil Society” component that our Founders in which most of our interactions as Individuals was to occur and acting as a buffer between the force and intrusion of Govt and Individuals and it has all but withered away.
I’ve gone long but if you roll all that up (+more), it starts to answer your question. You could have a whole blogsite to answer that…
…oh wait – I DO! I’ll tie up the loose ends there and report back
And yes, back to GraniteGrok where all of the pixels here are bought and paid for by me. I certainly was constrained by time and space there but certainly, have it here. And I do have more on my plate in which to go back and flesh out my answer to Lloyd but I have a bleg for you all that requires thoughtful answers:
What did I miss?
I tried hard to cover some of the major things – there certainly are more. And a lot of “lesser” ones to those but of importance in their own right. But I’m just one ordinary schlub from Central New Hampsha – there has to be a lot more.
Y’all Commenters are smaht – some smahter than I. Lay them out if you would, please, and I’ll bring them back. I’m quite sure that there will be those rather upset with your answers because I’m thinking they’ll be diametrically opposed to the normal drift there and CERTAINLY not on the same ideological plane. But I was asked and I want to deliver – but help is appreciated!
