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JR Dieckmann
Some Want Their Freedom, Some Fear It
January
24, 2011
The conflict between liberals and conservatives in America is an ideological
one. When our Founders came to this continent, they created a country where all
men could live free and unimpaired by an all-powerful government. But living
free also requires every adult to accept personal responsibility for his or her
own lives and well-being.
This is where conservatives and liberal part company. Conservatives still
believe in those original and constitutional values that are unique to this
country. They are what make America exceptional. Conservatives are willing to
accept the responsibility of running their own lives without depending on
government bureaucracy for their care and assistance. This is an essential part
of living life as a free person.
It has been said that conservatives just want to return our country to the days
gone by. There is no interest among conservatives to return to an earlier age.
Conservatives only want the politics of the country where ideals and values have
been degraded and perverted by the left to be restored to what they were before
the progressive decline - to preserve the principals and values that America was
founded and built on.
Society always progresses forward in keeping with our science and technology,
but social progress must be guided and tempered by the moral and spiritual
values that established this great country. Just as important, it must retain
the spirit of freedom and liberty that made America grow into the most
industrious and powerful nation on the face of the planet. A status that has
been rapidly declining over the past couple of decades thanks to the influence
of global socialists and Fair Trade agreements.
There is, however, a faction of our society that refuses to accept their own
personal responsibility for their lives and seems to need a custodian to take
care of them, make decisions for them, guide them through life, and protect them
from themselves. They choose to surrender their freedom for security.
These people generally vote Democrat and identify as liberals - a term that
means the complete opposite of what these people represent today. "Liberal,"
derived from "liberty," used to mean freedom from the oppression of government
rules and regulations.
Now it has morphed into dependence on government control and regulations applied
to all citizens - more accurately known as socialism.
The people we refer to as "liberals" are not liberal at all anymore. They are
socialists and communists. They prefer to go by the title of "Progressives" now,
but the progress they have in mind is not intellectual, scientific or
technological, it is progress towards big government socialism and the
destruction of the founding principals and values of our country, which include
the obliteration, and transformation of our Constitution - the very backbone of
freedom in America.
These people don't want the freedoms guaranteed to us by the Founders. They
wouldn't know what to do with their freedom or how to use it. They want to be
taken care of like children. They don't want to have to think for themselves
about how they are going to pay their bills or provide for their families. The
just want to know that everything will be provided for them as long as they do
as they are told and continue to be obedient to their masters. In essence, they
want to be slaves to their owner, which in today’s America is the U.S.
government.
The statists think we all have the minds of children, that we need someone to
take care of us, that they know better than us, and how better to spend our
money. They must think that we are all just like the liberals that they care
about so much. Trouble is, the Constitution was crafted to protect us from
people like that.
I suppose it is perfectly natural that in a society that you will have those who
can appreciate freedom and liberty, and those who cannot. It is really a
difference in values and priorities - and to some extent, abilities - that
separates the two sides. While most of us relish freedom and liberty, some fear
it as though staring into an abyss from the edge of a cliff.
It is not a question of intelligence. It is not a question of good versus evil.
It just comes down to personal priorities, philosophy, and ambition. You cannot
educate a liberal out of their values and priorities - that is something they
will have to do for themselves. In addition, they will need to have the will and
the courage to accept personal responsibility for their own lives. At the same
time, they feel that it is society’s responsibility to care for those less
advantaged through government assistance rather than private charity.
This is important for us to understand if we are to win the battle for the
survival of our people and country. We all know that the path of socialism that
our country is currently on is unsustainable. That means that eventually, that
segment of the population that has been depending on government to take care of
them will be left out in the cold.
Those who have made a practice of depending on their own initiative and
inspiration to manage their own lives will survive - they will know what to do
when the government can no longer be depended upon to be their guide and provide
for them.
Our country is now at a crossroads. Either we will sink further and further into
socialism resulting in the collapse of the nation, or we can reverse course and
force those who depend too much on government to start accepting responsibility
for their own lives.
This is only achievable in Congress with serious cuts in domestic spending over
the next few years. If we do that then the country will survive and get back on
track to American prosperity.
Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. For Americans to be self-dependent,
they will need jobs and a strong economy. The only way we are going to be able
to provide that is to cut back on government regulations of business and
industry, stop unions from dictating policy to employers, and bring back those
jobs that have been outsourced to China and the rest of the world.
Employers have the God given right to set wages and conditions for employment.
It should be the role of unions to provide the workers to fill those jobs, not
to tell employers how to manage their business and what benefits to provide. The
union business model needs to change so as to work with employers instead of
against them.
American workers today now have a fair deal with their employer - guaranteed by
law. If they don’t like the deal, they are free to find another job. When union
demands drive employers out of business, union workers lose their jobs. It makes
no sense at all.
Union strikes called by self-serving union bosses must be banned by law if there
is to be union reform and economic recovery.
Until those changes are made in union policy, there will be few new jobs created
for their members. Union demands have made American manufacturing unaffordable.
The decline in union jobs in America is proportional to the rise in outsourcing.
If we want those jobs returned to America, then they will have to be made
affordable both to employers and to consumers.
Today we have a choice that will determine the future of our nation. We can
continue into this pit of destructive and unsustainable socialism, or we can
return to the American dream of freedom and prosperity. The choice is now in the
hands of the current legislature in Washington and ultimately in the hands of
the American people in 2012. Let's hope Congress and the American people are
smart enough to make the right choices. |
