Posted on 12/19/2009 5:48:08 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
I just finished reading Sarah Palin's excellent book (number one on the New York Times bestseller list), "Going Rogue - An American Life." In one of the last chapters, I came across a passage in which Palin references the writings of Thomas Sowell. Thomas Sowell is a well-known syndicated columnist and academic economist. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford. Palin writes about Sowell's book "A Conflict of Visions." In this publication, Sowell explains how "visions" shape our opinions and the way we look at social and political issues. Sowell calls these visions the "unconstrained" and the "constrained." Palin elaborates a bit further on Sowell's definitions. After reading what both authors have to say about the political views in our country and what helps to shape them, I had to share a few paragraphs with my readers.
"People who adhere to the unconstrained vision (the label applied to them is "liberal" or "left-wing") believe that human nature is changeable (therefore perfectible) and that society's problems can all be solved if only the poor, ignorant, disorganized public is told what to do and rational plans are enacted. And who better to make those plans than an elite bureaucracy pulling the strings and organizing society according to their master blueprint? No one can doubt that our current leaders in Washington subscribe to this unconstrained vision.
Conservatives believe in the "constrained" political vision because we know that human nature is flawed and that there are limitations to what can be done in Washington to "fix" society's problems. Commonsense Conservatives deal with human nature as it is - with its unavoidable weaknesses and its potential for goodness. We see the world as it is - imperfect but filled with beauty. We hope for the best. We believe people can change for the better, but we do not ignore history's lessons and waste time chasing utopian pipe dreams.We don't trust utopian promises from politicians. The role of government is not to perfect us but to protect us - to protect our inalienable rights. The role of government in a civil society is to protect the individual and to establish a social contract so that we can live together in peace."
EXACTLY!
Liberals believe that human beings are basically good (unless you are a conservative or Republican). While that may be nice and sweet, it simply is a very childish notion and is not true. Evil does exist . There are evil people out there. Liberals believe that everyone can be changed to behave a certain way - the way that liberals want them to be. This will be achieved with the help of government - big government. Government needs to dictate to us how we should live our lives! Liberals believe that with the guidance of those who know best - like Barack Obama & Co., people can become peaceful, loving, generous, etc. Everyone will be equal - in all aspects of life. Many of us realize that this wish is not grounded in reality. It is an immature pipe dream. All people are not benevolent, desiring to help others, and kind-hearted. Many people are evil or lazy or self-centered, and could care less about their fellow man. Many people refuse to abide by the rules of society. And they will not change. Our prisons are full of such people. Criminals. Terrorists. Those who kill and harm others without a second thought. Who try to take from others what they haven't earned (oops! that could describe the government under Barack Obama....). Who do not follow the laws and rules of society and have no desire to - no matter how hard the so-called "compassionate" liberals believe in the undiscovered goodness of such evil ones. In the same breath, liberals are the ones who continue to show more compassion for criminals than their victims. Who tend to be disenchanted with America and critical of our superior standing in the world. America is a great country, yet many on the left do not want to acknowledge this. Our own president seems happy to bash the United States and apologize for what he perceives to be all our wrongs. Why no optimism about America? Why not champion the positives, rather than try to tear our country down? And therein lies a big difference between conservatives and liberals.
Conservatives realize that there are good AND evil people in the world. People cannot be changed to fit a certain idealized mold of peace and flowers and smiley faces that some in society envision. People are individuals - with opinions, likes and dislikes. Different interests, desires, and goals. Like Sowell states: "human nature is flawed." Conservatives accept this and realize what needs to be done to ensure a safe and prosperous society. Laws to protect the innocent and that punish the guilty and remove them ala prisons so law-abiding citizens are safe. We believe in the ability the any individual can achieve great things when left to their own devices. We believe that less government is best. The government needs to get out of the way and allow us to prosper. We also desire a strong national defense, and for that we realize the government should be working to make sure America remains the strongest country on the planet. And, of course, another theme that conservatives strongly support - cutting taxes. We also believe in the greatness of America. We realize we live in the best country on the planet. We have faith in ourselves as individuals. As Ronald Reagan once stated, (and Sarah Palin quoted in her book): "America was more than a place in the world; it was a world-changing idea, founded on principles that had weathered many storms." Many Americans still adhere to these very principles - and are fighting right now against our own government and president to keep these principles alive!
Sadly, at the present time, we have a president and administration that is intent on making the American people more reliant on government. It seems as though not a day passes when Obama & Co. aren't trying to enact some legislation that will raise taxes, require citizens to depend on government for health care, ruin our economy, put us more in debt, and force citizens to pay more and lose more rights due to the farce known as "global warming." Thankfully, the politicians in Washington D.C. will soon be leaving on their Christmas (oops! gotta be politically correct here) "Holiday" break. At least when they are out of Washington D.C., the American people have a breather from having to endure more ridiculous bills and socialistic ideas being shoved down our throats at a rapid pace. Does the White House even know what it is doing anymore? Obama and Co. seem to be trying to do everything at once - and none of it well. Chaos -at home and abroad.
The four best gifts this "Holiday" season that the American people could receive from Obama would include:
1) Cutting taxes! - the economy would immediately start to right itself.
2) Scrap the socialist medicine bill and start over.
3) Send the number of troops to Afghanistan that General McChrystal originally asked for in order to really get the job done and win! (Maybe Obama could even say the word "win!" What a stance for the Commander-in-Chief to take!)
4) Stop spending money we don't have - (especially on all those earmarks that Obama promised he wouldn't allow in legislation.). The first "Stimulus Bill" was a disaster. It didn't work. Anyone with any economic sense knows that one cannot spend more money they do not have to get out of a recession. Stop ensuring that generations of Americans will be saddled with massive debt for decades.
I believe that Conservatives have more faith in their fellow human beings than liberals do. Liberals seem to think that way too many people are helpless and just cannot make do for themselves. They believe reliance on the government is the answer. And in trying to assist them by providing for their every need (through taxpayer dollars) - they are perpetuating a life of dependency. Which actually seems to be encouraged these days, since it tends to result in more votes for the Democratic party....Liberals and Democrats want Americans to be reliant on the government.
Conservatives like myself hold true to the idea that every person has an equal opportunity to achieve their goals in life. Every person is an individual - with different ideas, abilities, intelligence, and experiences. How they put their talents to use is up to them. What choices they make in life are their choices. We do not want to have to rely on the government to tell us how to live our lives and provide for us. We do not want a nanny state. This belief is quite the opposite of what we see happening in our country right now.
Now before all the usual liberals who comment on my blogs blow a gasket, I am not saying that conservatives do not believe in lending a helping hand. We do. We believe in helping those who have fallen on hard times. We believe in donating to our favorite charities and having the choice of donating to our favorite charities. The government doesn't provide us, as taxpayers, a choice as to how we want to help our fellow man. The government in every case is just a "middle man" - taking from the taxpayers and blurring the lines of where the money really goes and how it is really used. Time after time we read and hear about social welfare agencies absconding with funds. Spending taxpayer dollars meant for the poor on themselves and lavish lifestyles. Cut out the government. Let us give directly to the charities of our choice. And it is interesting to note that studies have shown that conservatives and Republicans give more money to charities. Just like Democrats falsely claim to have cornered the market on promoting civil rights (it was the Republicans that made the major efforts to pass civil rights legislation), Conservatives and Republicans do more for those who have less than Democrats and liberals. Yet another one of those pesky facts that the mainstream media doesn't care to point out.
An always contemporary explanation of American politics in 2009 English. How strange will this sound to the readers of, say, 2050? That is, if they can read. I don’t think the govt will read THIS to them.
Put simply, libtards believe “Man is basically good.” (Paraphrasing) Jesus said, “All the evil in the world comes from the heart of man.” Who do you believe?
Furthermore, the traditional notion that liberals are more optimistic about human nature than conservatives is pure bunk and needs to be overturned. You can tell liberals aren’t optimistic by the fact that they basically reject liberty. They want the central authorities to manage people’s lives, not the people themselves. They don’t trust people to make their own decisions. Does that show optimism? Nope.
Actually liberals think man is fallen and doomed. The only hope they see is in putting massive power in the hands of the state to coerce people into behaving. Liberals believe big liberal-run government is good, not Man.
“There are evil people out there.”
I believe, without a doubt, that liberals are evil. I believe that our society will go down the drain unless we obtain a divorce from liberals and liberalism.
I believe that we are doomed to penury and slavery if we do not evict the liberal mindset from our country.
I know that liberals will not go away on their own and leave us alone. They insist on intruding into every aspect of our lives, telling us what to do and how to do it.
There are two choices we have. Submit or resist. There will be no live and let live with these people.
In my opinion this is the true split in today’s political arena.
The democrats would have us believe that the struggle is between the haves and the have not’s.
I believe you have highlighted the true struggle between the believers of man are inherently good or that man is inherently flawed.
As a Christian myself, I believe the latter.
In the minimal education I have had regarding apologetics the one thing I find most useful is; in order to sway or to enlighten someone trapped in false belief, use must use their own book, text or list of principals to educate them to the truth.
It is very difficult to use your set of values, morals and precepts as they are generally to “foreign’ to the unbeliever. This in my opinion is why Jesus used parables to enlighten the people of his day.
Some good examples of this today are seen in “Affirmative Action Bake Sales” that were held on campuses in recent years where baked goods were priced for sale using the same formula used for admittance in that particular college. Although this infuriated the power people, I believe it had a lasting effect of educating students and faculty to the hypocrisy of Affirmative Action.
We need more of this reasoned thinking in our effort to take back (political) America from the left.
I think we need to refrain wherever possible from looking at the left as the enemy and to think of them as lost brothers and sisters.
Let’s “re-educate” them by using their own hypocritical policies and thinking and as Jesus did when He asked “Come follow….” We need to keep walking toward the future.
Merry Chrismas
We are Doomed,
We Had a Good Run.
Enjoy What You Have ,Revel in Your Accomplishments,
But Know This ,From Here on It is a Fight of Biblical Proportions.
The Dem party has quite a few liberals, but it also has quite a few leftists. What is the difference? Why the distinction? From a distance they look and act nearly the same. In brief, liberals subscribe to the flawed world view as described in the article. Leftists traded their world view for power attainment. Leftists either discovered that their world view is shared by a perpetual minority or is simply untenable or whatever. They sold their Liberal souls for the power that Liberals can bring to them - these are usually politicians and activists. They walk and talk like liberals but in the end they heard the whisper “ye can be god-like” and seek power for power's sake.
These leftist rely on the tactics of their political forefathers, the communists and the fascists, to move their agenda - propaganda, coordinated demonizing, etc.
I believe the leftists are largely in charge of the Dem party and not the liberals!
For democrats - yes. For liberals - sometimes yes, sometimes no. For leftists - no.
They are called DemonRATS.
My Christmas wish is that all liberals, leftists, statists, bureaucrats, academics, celebrities, union leaders be rounded up and dropped on a remote island and forgotten.
After 20 years, anthropologists can visit and see what kind of utopia they have created for themselves.
This in my opinion is why Jesus used parables to enlighten the people of his day.....I think we need to refrain wherever possible from looking at the left as the enemy and to think of them as lost brothers and sisters.
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Very interesting post! I just read your post to my young adult daughter.
I pray for this nation every day....Actually, I pray **frequently** throughout the day. Hopefully through God’s intervention we can save ourselves from tyranny.
By the way.... A Christian’s **most** important mission field is own children. A Christian’s second most important field is the children of his own congregation. So?...Why do we allow our children to go to Marxist dominated government schools where they are taught to adopt a godless worldview, and enticed daily to join the camp of the lost souls?
Marxism is our nation’s most serious threat. Schools are the Marxists’ most powerful weapon.
Speaking for myself I’ve always felt that conservatives are adults while liberals are children. Stunted adolescents really . Putting liberals in charge of anything is akin to allowing the kids to be in charge of your beautiful(and hard-worked for) home while you, the adults(the parents) go away for the week-end. I think we know what happens next.
"They are called DemonRATS."
Sorry, no. Too simplistic. Political philosophy cuts across the subset of those who are curmudgeons.
"All people are not benevolent, desiring to help others, and kind-hearted." (From the article.)
Nor should they be or should we expect them to be. If charity were universal, an act of kindness would be nothing exceptional.
They say it takes all kinds; truth is, we simply have all kinds, and we will have to struggle along with the crew we've got at least until we get to the next port.
Democrats are not monolithic in temperament, nor are Republicans or Conservatives. We all have our share of people who want to be left alone. Generally, we have a different view of what it would take to accomplish that.
Thank you.
I agree the Public School System has become the main recruiting arm of the socialists’ movement.
My 16 year old attends K-12, virtual school at home. Like you I believe in first things first.
If I was to disagree with you it would be with your last point. The most serious danger facing this country is apathy.
Socialism can only succeed where people refuse to do anything about it.
some liberals are naive, but most are purely evil and use that hopeychangy thing to amass power, simplistic in an evil sort of way...
kill the weak and embolden the murderers around the world to wield the axe of compliance to their tyranical ambitions...period...
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