That blessed day when 50% of the country bends over and grabs its collective ankles for the other 50%... and not only do we not get dinner first, we have to pay for theirs...
Allow me to rephrase that. My anger appears to be misplaced.
It is not the 'other' 50% that I take issue with. Hell, I pay a significant amount more in withholding taxes every year so that my pain is incremental..
The 50% that don't pay income tax don't pay it because they don't have to.
Simple, yes - but instructive nonetheless.
What do we expect?
We could say, 'hey guy, I know the economy sucks and all - but could you please pay your fair share of taxes...please'? (and in on a related note, Americans are essentially split as to whether income tax payments are 'fair' - big effing shocker there...)
I'm sure that would go over as well as Rosie O'Donnell in a Maxim spread...
No one is going to voluntarily give up funds to the government.
Which makes sense, why give money to a hopelessly corrupt, bloated and inefficient organization that steadily (and as of late, at a frighteningly fevered pace) robs us of our liberties and freedom?
I know that this may come as a shock to you, gentle reader - but my anger is squarely directed at...(wait for it)... the government. (and you always thought I was their biggest fan..)
But what about 'social justice' 'compassion' and 'equality'?
and for that matter, what about the 'middle class' that our class-baiting president loves to pay lip service to? Nice piece on that one here... but I digress..
In that classic Mel Brooks movie 'History of the World, Part I' the Roman Senate was set to vote on expenditure of funds on palaces or the people - the response of the Senate was 'Fuck the Poor' in unanimous fashion.
And that kids is how Conservatives and Republicans have allowed themselves to be painted (and let's be honest, not entirely inaccurate in describing certain politicians or other business leaders who falsely label themselves as conservatives and have lined up over the years to support .... then again, Democrats have also taken huge sums of money from the coffers of the corrupt, but I digress..again)
Here's the rub. We live in the most generous nation on the face of the earth. It is incumbent upon us to help those who cannot help themselves. Assertion to the contrary is (in my view) unacceptable (and one of my larger arguments to Objectivist Theory visa vie Ayn Rand.. not that she outright argues against it, but she certainly did not feel it was a wise use of resources)
Tell me, what is more compassionate - providing a system of relative comfort that essentially chains one to a life of mediocrity, preventing any chance of realizing even of a fraction of their true potential.. effectively a slave under the yoke of soft tyranny - or the chance to succeed as far as your desire, talent and effort can carry you - in a system that has made us the envy of the world for far longer than any of us have been alive? Of course, that same system will permit failure - but the extent and duration of that failure would squarely and certainly fall upon your shoulders?
Sadly, the former system becomes more and more entrenched in our psyche - thrust upon us by a government whose satiety knows no end - and the latter.... a fading dream from that Shining City Upon the Hill..
We The People have been incentivezed to suckle at the teat of government, not to produce - and this will destroy the American Dream as surely as if the dreamer itself was killed
Where then is the 'social justice' in this?
Are we all made equal by mediocrity and false promises of a Utopia that exist only in the minds of those who would call themselves our betters?
Meh.
Unsustainable. The word gets lip service - but I didn't quite grasp it until I spent 1/2 hour listening to this. View and weep my friends.
Sure, tax those big bad rich people. Won't even BEGIN to touch our debt.
$210,000.00 per person, or something like that...and it continues to climb at astronomical levels.
Realize, of course, that this is not all the fault of our Celebrity in Chief (although, by orders of magnitude, he is more to blame than any other president in recent memory - outspending even FDR.)
As I am fond of saying, Bush spent like a drunken sailor (cutting taxes = good, increasing expenditures = bad, doing both simultaneously = stupid). Obama, on the other hand, is spending like a fleet of drunken sailors on amphetamines. Damn it anyway, I am digressing again...
But since I am on a little Obama rant here..
I have heard arguments that he is a socialist.
I have heard others that he wishes to turn us into a European style Social Democracy.
I find both comparisons to be largely irrelevant.
Haven't we fought wars ostensibly to prevent the spread of socialism / communism?
Didn't we fight base the Revolutionary War because we, in part, didn't want to be part of Europe?
Just a thought..
Government has become ubiquitous. So enmeshed are they in our daily life, that we can't even notice them anymore. Something tells me, this is not what the founders had in mind.
Entitlements (needless ones) are destroying the fabric and industrious strength of our nation.
Overly burdensome regulations place the U.S. #61 in countries rated in ease to do business.
Our corporate taxes are the highest in the world.
Institutions are bailed out, as too-big to fail.
Government jobs grow in size and paycheck as the private sector continues to shrink and constrict under the weight of increased burden and decreased reward.
And this same government has the gall to tell our children that we 'cannot expect to be #1 in science and technology forever'..... is this the Audacity of Hope we were promised?
So.
Where does this leave us?
Republicans? Track record is not good. In fact, it sucks. They scream fiscal conservatism when it suits them, nothing more. They will need to act consistently and decisively in order to regain a modicum of trust.
Democrats? Not bloody likely. Especially this iteration of a once proud party seems hell bent on forcing us headlong into decline and keep us there. They are easily the most dangerous internal threat the country has ever seen. Inflammatory? Perhaps, but not inaccurate.
Is the enemy of my enemy my friend?
Can all we hope for is a stalemate? Equal representation of stupidity and corruption to gum up the works and slow our inevitable collapse?
No.
I will not leave my daughter to this fate.
Her generation paying for our mistakes, it cannot be allowed.
We The People, must get off of our collective asses.
Vote.
Support those candidates who will focus on limited government
a balanced budget
drastic reductions in unnecessary social programs and restructuring and reform of those necessary ones
less restrictive corporate regulations
a FAIR system of taxation (and a swift junkpunch for anyone who ever even thinks about a value added tax..
an energy policy that promotes national independence from foreign interests
and actively work to replace those who do not.
Just a start.
Just a thought.
The Tea Party is off to a good start - but they need help.
As my friend the professor has pointed out, some visible outreach to minorities would help. Too many forces are aligned against it to make it appear racist. Sadly, it is not enough to be race-neutral as it were - we need to actively court a diversity of like minded people.
Conservatism has allowed itself to be painted as white-only. This must not only be stopped, but the perception MUST be reversed. The message must be made clear that conservative principles will do more to raise the standard of living for all people, regardless of race, color, creed, gender, orientation, unibrow or manicured or even Baltimore Raven's fans than liberalism ever can hope to. Ours is a problem of communication, not content.
But the biggest problem we face is one of apathy.
To which, there is only one solution... a couchectomy.
This entails removing the meaty portion of the gluteus maximus from your favorite sofa.
Vote.
Engage.
Do not shy away from arguments.
Ignorance and stupidity cannot go unchallenged.
The status quo cannot be allowed to stand.
A Sam Adams once said
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."And in this, the majority has not prevailed - and brush fires continue to burn.
The silent majority can no longer remain silent - 0r essentially, we are screwed.
The Shining City on the Hill will be relegated to legend and our children will suffer under the yoke of soft tyranny and a continual decline towards perpetual mediocrity.
The choice, as always, is ours.
