I think we had a chance to change things, make them better, and we let a whole bunch of loudmouths and special interests frighten us into abandoning that choice. We let cries of socialism, of constitutional breach and all that convince us that changing course, at least towards the left, would be an even greater disaster. I got this guy on my sight who talks about Obama doldrums, as if the reason that were in such crappy shape is that we did something about the economy, rather than letting the whole crappy mess sit where it fell and smell up the place. Supposedly, letting the economic consequences of the worst collapse since the Great Depression play itself out would have had us growing like the dickens by now! What we have is a group of elites who have decided that their accommodation to us is a necessarily evil at best, that they are not obligated to leave behind a better country than they were given. More and more theyve been encouraged to believe that their personal fortunes and their special interests ought to be first priority, and the rest of us just have to make do with the scraps that fall from the table. Theres a word for such a situation: dismal. We didnt found this country to refound an aristocracy on the other side of the Atlantic. I dont believe in an all-out divestment of the rich of their wealth. But I do think its time we bind them with obligations to do well by the rest of us, and to preserve the public good for now and the future. When folks had a better sense of that, America was happier. The lives, liberties, and the pursuit of happiness of each person should be held equal to one another, and the vast majority should not have to sacrifice need so that a few can glory in greater comfort. We need to be more assertive, stand up for ourselves. The good news is, we can do this. The bad news is, were all too often convinced to do things that are against our economic interests, for one reason or another. The irony is, the encouragement many people are given in order to ignore their interests regard things that Congress, for the most part, leaves people free to decide for themselves: faith, political alignment, social mores, etc. So, we follow these people into fruitless battles over things we cant force people to believe or accept, while we get poorer and less upwardly mobile, and while the things we cherished about this country, from its infrastructure, to its space exploration, to its industrial dominance, get sold out from under us, or allowed to rot. Its time to stop fighting culture wars that are doomed to fail. Its time to admit we cant force people to do what we want them to. Its time to look out for ourselves, look out for the kind of society that will make the most people happy in fact, rather than just the few lucky enough to be able to purchase the political influence. Im a hopeful person as far as this goes, because the plain truth is this: once we put our minds to this, we can do it. The only thing that can stop a movement like this is fear of the future, a fear we do not have to continue to paralyze ourselves with.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 01:55:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015