Friday, September 03, 2010

What Needs To Be Fixed!

September 3, 2010
What needs to change…

There are times I really worry that my increased reading / learning is doing little more than increasing my frustration and shortening my life. The more you learn about George Soros (The Shadow Party by David Horowitz & Howard Poe), Progressives (Theodore Roosevelt, The Progressive Party &... by Sidney Milkis, The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes, The Progressive Presidents by John Blum, and Liberal Fascism by Jonas Goldberg), the New Deal and FDR (New Deal or Raw Deal by Burton Folsom Jr.), Anarchists (The Coming Insurrection by The Invisible Committee), and the Obama Administration (Culture of Corruption by Michelle Malkin), the more frightening the world seems.

Whenever I read these books I keep in the back of my mind ‘careful you’re not getting sucked into some kind of ‘new world order’ conspiracy theory. But when I actually read the statements of the individuals (like Soros, Hillary, Van Jones, Cass Sunstein, et all…) I realize there are some very, very powerful individuals with very anti-American (anti-Founder’s) ideals. There are truly groups and individuals who honestly feel Americanism, and Capitalism, are bad things. They openly admire Mao, Chavez, Stalin, Marx, Castro and other totalitarian despots. These individuals really want to ‘fundamentally transform’ the United States into a class-less Socialist ‘utopia’. And let’s get this straight right now – OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST! It’s not a matter of opinion, it’s a fact! Merriam -Webster’s definition of “Socialism” is –

"1: any of various economic & political theories advocating collective or government ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
2: a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property. b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage in society of Marxist theory transitional between Capitalism and Communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done"

Considering what Obama did with Chrysler (overturning years of contract law by giving Unions the lion’s share of bailout when secured bondholders should have been the first to be paid back), AIG, Student Loans, the Auto Industry, Goldman Sachs, GE’s CEO actually one of Obama’s top advisors… and all the other collusions between Government and Business… Socialism in America since Obama took office (in two out of the three definitions)IS A FACT, not just some hyperbole thrown out as political fodder!

So, for someone like me, who absolutely LOVES America and the ideals on which it was based, I can’t help but seeing how far we’ve built away from our foundations. And it’s not just some problem I have with Obama – we’ve been moving away from our ideals since Teddy Roosevelt, and haven’t had a REAL conservative President - who holds to the founders’ ideals - since Calvin Coolidge. Yes, I really, REALLY admire Reagan, but his immigration policy stunk (as did GW Bush’s), and I appreciate GW’s attempts to put power back in the hands of the people (with his attempt to partially privatize Social Security, as well as other policies) but again, the immigration policy was lacking – that... and he totally sold out to the Democrats when they took control of Congress in 2006.

So, what exactly, needs to be fixed? With the elections 60 days away, candidates are promising a whole plethora of ‘fixes’ from repealing Obamacare to restoring fiscal responsibility… such a list of small adjustments would require hundreds of bullet points. So, instead, I will present three (only three) broad aspects that need to change in America immediately. These will filter down into all the other minutia and things will get fixed in turn. So my master list of what needs to be fixed –

1) Ethics and Morality: This not only needs to be fixed in our politicians, but in us. WE need to stand up and say representatives who lie, cheat on their wives (or taxes) or engage in unethical behavior will NO LONGER BE TOLERATED! We demand integrity, honesty, morality, and all the traits we used to admire in Superman and other heroes – both real and fictional. We can start with the ideals the military still holds true – Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor (and honesty), Integrity, and Personal Sacrifice. We must insist on these traits in our elected representatives and in ourselves! Only when we purge ourselves of our own ‘little white lies’, spins, hedging the truth, taking advantage of others, and cheating the system can we expect as much from our elected officials. We MUST elect 535 “Mr. Smiths” to go to Washington… and we can only do that when we are nearly blameless ourselves.
2) American Exceptionalism: We must once again recognize that America IS ‘special.’ This isn’t some prideful nationalism or Americentrism – it’s a FACT! We are still the only country that is based on the philosophy that “all men are endowed BY THEIR CREATOR” with their inalienable rights. This makes us the ONLY country that places such an importance on the individual citizen and contends he/she controls the government, and not the other way around. This isn’t some small matter… it is EVERYTHING! It is the very basis of our liberty and freedom. When we lose this, we lose our liberty and freedom – because once we lose the idea that freedom and liberty are OURS BY GOD-GIVEN RIGHT, then the government can hand them out and take them back willy-nilly. This truly would make us like every other ‘free’ country out there. We must recognize this uniqueness – this exceptionalism – and return to it. We must give freedom back to individuals and yes, even to companies – by taking it AWAY from the government! Either the people are in control of the government, or the government is in control of the people – YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS – they CANNOT coexist! We must recognize the wisdom the Founders had in pitting individuals’ self-interests against one another… total and unabashed freedom… and let the system work as it was intended. We’ve tweaked and fiddled with it for over one hundred years – no wonder it’s not working! We must RETURN AMERICA to what MADE it exceptional in the first place – it worked before and it will work again!
3) We must learn to trust our fellow Americans. We all know that none of the people we associate with would allow a child to starve, or go without a roof over their head, or do without. Neither you, nor your friends would cheat someone out of their retirement. So, basically we are all good folks – it’s always the unknown ‘them’ who would do all these cruel things to others. I contend that these evil ‘them’ are nearly non-existent. We outnumber them! Yet the government spends billions upon billions of dollars to protect us from the horrible ‘them.’ The government needs to have a Welfare program because without it ‘they’ won’t take care of the poor and unfortunate. Obamacare is being pushed because ‘they’ won’t give the unfortunate health care. Government needs to step into Wall Street because ‘they’ will squander your investments. Yes, there are unscrupulous individuals who will take advantage of others, I freely admit that. But consumers can ruin a company through bad press (just ask Kathy Lee Gifford!), through stockholder meetings, through internet and press… the millions upon millions of consumers and private consumer advocates can be much more effective than ANY government program. RID YOURSELF of the phrase ‘we need the government to….” and realize that you, me…. WE can do a much better, more effective, and less expensive job! You have bought into the false belief that we need the federal government – it’s a LIE! THEY NEED US – WE DON’T NEED THEM!
Just rethink and re-examine exactly what you believe. Do you really need the government to take care of the poor? Even with the confiscatory taxes that are taken from us… we, individually, each and every one of us, are STILL the most generous of any civilization in the history of the planet! We give more, personally, to earthquake ravaged, hurricane destroyed, famine infested people than any government could possibly give! Do we REALLY need the fed to do it for us? NO we don’t! Do we really need the federal government to tell us to engage in fair business? Would you honestly cheat someone? I don’t think so! I have faith in you… after all… you, unlike the government… believe in those archaic rules, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you” and “love one another as I have loved you.” That’s what comes from having something the government doesn’t have – faith in God.