...you are taking one piece of the pie (tax cuts), and saying that is the entire problem, thus ignoring the problem completely.
The problem is that as a nation we have gone from not trusting our government as far as we can throw it, to entrusting to it our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.
Why, after all the evidence to the contrary, do we continue to let government (at all levels) run our infrastructure, educate (if you can even call it that) our children, provide our health care, fund our retirement (if you even believe that), and "fix" every little boo-boo we ever get. Not to mention providing mortgages to people who shouldn't have them in the first place, and giving tax money to "artists" who think crucifixes in jars of urine are somehow uplifting to the human spirit. And don't even get me started on elephant dung.
And what has all this governmental largesse gotten us? Beyond the obvious budget deficits that our great-grandchildren will still be paying off, it has gotten us self-centered, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, covetous, nincompoops as citizens, who see successful people as the enemy instead of someone to try to emulate, and who don't understand the simple fact that not everyone can be a billionaire, and there is no dishonor in being a farmer or a plumber or a garbage man, even though those people don't have a billion dollar net worth. But being lower on the income ladder doesn't give you the right to take (through your elected officials) one penny from anyone who is above you on it.
We have gotten here because of one hundred years of social engineering by people who thought they were smarter than everyone else who ever lived, and who thought they, through their own intellect and their own ideas, could change the laws of economics and of human nature by government decree (and oh, by the way, control). And now we are faced with the distinct possibility of a committed socialist and his sycophantic henchmen and henchwomen in Congress legislating out the last vestiges of what has made this country great. All because a few hundred thousand mindless knucklehead voters are willing to give up what has made them unique in the history of the world - their God-given liberty - and embrace the vision of a socialist utopia that never has been and never will be, because they think they will get lower taxes! To use the Biblical example - they are selling their birthright for a pot of stew.
Does this mean I think John McCain is the answer? Not at all. No Politician is the answer. A year ago I would not have voted for him, and I vote for him now reluctantly at best, because he isn't too far removed from what I have spent this post railing against. He makes me very nervous indeed. But in some of the most important areas of American life, he gets it. If he follows through on a fraction of what he promises about cleaning up the corruption in Washington, I will be happy. If he appoints another originalist justice to the Supreme Court, I will rejoice greatly! If he continues to cut taxes and reduce the size and scope of government, I will stand up and cheer.
But the change that really needs to happen is that the hearts of the citizens of this country need to change. They need to get over this need to punish success and reward mediocrity. We all need to cinch it up and make what we can out of ourselves without having the government pull down others to do it. We need to get back to the realization that government exists to protect our rights (as enumerated), and not to cater to special interests. It exists to prosecute wrongdoers, not make new laws and strain at gnats from the bench. It exists to be our servant, not our master. When we start electing representatives (not politicians!) who understand these things, then we will be getting somewhere.
So vote for Obama if you think you must, but understand what you will be getting if he is elected, and understand that your liberty is worth infinitely more than the few dollars more you might get on any tax return.
No comments:
Post a Comment