Posted on 04/07/2007 10:44:10 AM PDT by PlainOleAmerican
After some 230 years of first hand experience with the American human experiment known as freedom, individual liberty and self-governance, it turns out that such notions look good on paper but don’t actually work well in the real world. As a result, many Americans now seek a “new direction” and Democrats have promised to rid them of the untidy and sometimes inconvenient nature of personal freedom.
The founders should have provided a “How to for Dummies” manual along with our constitutional rights of self-determination. They told us all about the upsides of freedom and self-reliance, but forgot to mention the natural consequences of bad choices made of our own free will.
Economic Freedom
Let’s face it. In a world where everything has a price tag and everything always will, if one is not free to determine their own worth and financial condition, to make their own economic choices, then what other freedoms are even possible? In the end, we find that poor use of our individual freedoms means that we can’t really afford to be free.
So, economic freedom is growing more and more unpopular by the day as more and more discover the inescapable high cost of poor economic choices.
(Excerpt) Read more at smallgovtimes.com ...
If people are so spoiled that they don’t cherish their freedom and aren’t motivated to make their lives feel as great as they want, what can be done?
That's a upside to immigration, it adds some passion to the milquetoast status quo.
I was agreeing with you Vision... What attitide?
And I would agree with this comment too, although, I’m sure it is unpopular to point out that some our illegal citizens make better Americans than many of the spoiled bunch born and raised in the land of the free ride...
Basically America says “Hey come here and make yourself as happy and Godly as you want”.
What more can be offered?
Sorry for the confusion, sarcasm is in my nature... especially these days.
It is my personal belief that it is exactly these things you speak of, that cause folks to want to call America home, IF, they are leaving behind a home that offers none of these things.
For those born here, many take these things for granted or even as an inconvenience and that’s a crying shame!
If only I had people that are better and smarter than me tell me how to live my life. Not.
Pick a Democrat of your liking...any of them will be happy to accomodate.
Pick any leftist movement to shove people into voting themselves third world tyranny you like... All of them are a threat and combined they are a much greater threat to America than all the worlds terrorists combined...
I think the only way to counter this is to make them laugh and know they are in control of their lives.
It's because that darn Sixth Commandment keeps getting in the way.
'Thou Shalt Not Kill' can be a real impediment when you have scruples.
They see "the village" as the uber-family. It's really a fundamental philosophical dispute over which is the fundamental unit to which rights and responsibilities attach: the individual or the society.
The way to seriously cut back on government begins with a faction in the republican party. For convenience, call them the “17s”, which means
“17% government cutback and 17% flat tax rate.”
The simplicity is what sells. Not just a 17% reduction in the RATE OF GROWTH of the government, but a REAL 17% cut from the budget.
And NOT “across the board” cuts, either. For example, eliminating the US Department of Education can save about $70 BILLION dollars each year. And that goes a long way to cutting the about $450 BILLION dollars out of the budget that would be 17% of the total.
And it would sell with the American public. “17 and 17!” as the rallying cry. A two issue campaign, with “business as usual” for all other issues. So NO radicalism other that a 17 percent flat tax rate and a 17 percent reduction in the size of government.
And like with the Contract With America, republicans could sign on or not.
But the idea is to finally break the back of the Washington belief that government can forever grow, and that our federal taxes can always become greater, and more complicated.
Kinda good article until the end when the writer gives Republicans a pass.
Oops.
Sure, most liberal/progressive/leftists are godless F!!cks with completely perverted worldviews. Asking them to “get” America is a waste of breath.
Unfortunately the writer forgets that putting the Constitution and Bill of Rights in front of most Republicans will only get one response: “How dare you ask me to follow the rules.”
He who controls the flow of information controls public sentiment and thereby public opinion.
In any democratic society, this makes the press the most powerful institution in that society.
If they are truly free, independent, honest and impartial, that’s a good thing. If they aren’t any of these things, you have what we have in America today.
Where did you read a pass for Republicans?
I just reskimmed article. perhaps i'm missing sarcasm, but it seems to me he's ready to throw dems under bus but doesn't so chastise big gov repub's.
And, i'll admit, I am so freekin fed up with repub's in general, that i'll go off against em with slightest excuse.
I'm sick of the attitude that republicans have adopted: It is okay if good people hate our founder's principles as long as they are good people. Well, no, that's a load of crap. Just because a mainstream repub is not a godless, craven, world view twisted piece of crap and just because that mainstream repub may actually get some parts of good vs evil doesn't mean that mainstream repub should get a pass on understanding the basics of limited govt.
I'm very glad repub's generally get the notion of western civilization vs medieval islamic scum. I just wish repub's would get the notion of limited govt.
/end rant. Time to go chill w/ friends.
In a few sentences you have laid it out. But WHY WHY WHY in a nation of three million people today, does no politician, or statesman, or essayist, do it similarly? Are we that totally shallow, or cowardly? Didn't Socrates, Erasmus, Luther, Camus, Jefferson, etc. all raise the distinction publicly? What is going on here?
I believe its a genetic predisposition to a partricular psycho-social profile. It's only seen in humans, because only humans are capable of supporting a significant population of dependent adults.
bump ping
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