In general, I don’t like people who think the world is a big dark secret on the verge of going belly-up. They’re most definitely incorrect the majority of the time, and they’re terribly difficult to communicate with.
Even worse, however, are those in the opposite camp. I have no tolerance for people who allow their neighbors’ freedoms and liberties to be taken captive because they’re too busy watering their happy-happy-sunshine garden of unattainable ideals.
In the extreme political left of the United States, I am endlessly frightened and annoyed by an entire society of happy-happy-sunshine gardeners. These superliberals play too violently with the delicate fabric of our political culture in their short-sighted attempts at obtaining utopia.
When I was a teenager, one of my favorite authors left a deep mark in my political consciousness. Just under the surface of one of his entertaining works of fiction, he made it clear that he believed the citizens of the United States would gradually give up their freedoms. One by one, individual liberties would be sacrificed on the alter of tolerance and social idealism. As in the great empires of our past, he suggested, increasing wealth brings gluttony. Gluttony would create laziness among the masses. In the end, laziness brings about the death of discipline, maturity, and wisdom. Virtues would be lost to the overwhelming desire for an effortless existence. In the name of “the good life,” the population turns to their government to act as a candy-giving nanny.
Soon enough, the Nanny has more control than any nanny ought. Although they are heralded as the golden road to easy living, these utopian intentions meet with a dystopian end.
At this point I need to clear my name of two possible misconception:
First – I am not against progress. In fact, I try my best to live on the cutting edge of technology, and I’m a big fan of modernization. I am a firm believer in the economics of modern finance, I think we should ween ourselves away from our dependence on oil. I also happen to think that sliced bread was a great idea (kudos to Frederick Rohwedder).
Second – I am no conspiracy theorist. I don’t adhere to any sort of Conspiratorial View of History, and I don’t believe in any sort of Illumanati. I do not subscribe to the idea that a secret order of corporate oligarchs are working to build a one world government, and I do not believe that an organized group of liberal fascists are trying to take over the country.
What I do believe is that people are sheep. An unfettered mass of people can become a mindless mob very quickly. Often carried by uncertain winds, these mobs can easily become the unwitting victims of their own short-sighted means. In an attempt to make life better, years of hard work can be undone in an instant. Quality of life can crumple under the weight of idealism.
Even a seemingly benign ideal can cause harm. For example, there are those people who would tell you that congress should be more efficient in passing laws; a highly efficient government is an ideal government they is the implication. However, these types of arguments can be extremely misguided. What is not taken into consideration is that inefficiency exists for a reason. Inefficiency was built into our system of government on purpose. It is our guardian – our praetorian guard. Operating a slow government ensures that no change happens too quickly. It ensures your personal freedoms stay intact and don’t get trampled by a stampede of rushed reform.
Planting the Seed
Again, I’m no conspiracy theorist. However, liberal idealism does take on a life of its own. It speaks to you all the time. Long before you ever realize what’s happening, you’ve been sold down the river by the voice of hope and change.
Don’t work too hard! We want to make life easy on you! You don’t have to worry about a thing. We‘ll take care of those medical bills for you! Can’t find a job? We‘ll send you a check! Don’t feel safe out there? Don’t worry about it! We‘ll outlaw guns. Then only we will own guns, and we promise – we‘ll only use them to protect you. We‘re the good guys!
It might sound good, but did we ever stop to think about reality? Here are some simple talking points from the paragraph above.
Medical bills.
It would be wonderful if everyone could enjoy perfect medical coverage. At this stage of our civilization, we do not have the technological capacity to appropriately handle the medical demands of every human being on the planet. If we socialize medical expenses, the quality of life for this country will go down the toilet.
Unemployment, Welfare, Social Security.
With the exception of extreme proof of unavoidable hardship, this system should be aboloshied. “I forgot to wear a condom” is not a valid excuse.
The government has no right to force me into a retirement plan – especially one in which I grant the Congress a 40-year laddered loan while I wait to retire. Completely unacceptable. People should grow up and be responsible for their own finances.
Guns.
The greatest atrocities of violence in the history of mankind are not committed by murdering citizens. Lives are lost en masse when a governening body loses its fear of the population it serves. Although a necessary evil, it is of the utmost importance that a population remains more powerful than the government that it allows to exist.
It is my wish that these types of worries would come up naturally for everyone. Unfortunately, many people just choose to not think critically.
Taking Root
Hope for a better life is very powerful. It drives us to improve upon ourselves and the world we live in. However, runaway hope – the kind that abandons pragmatism – is no hope at all. It’s the worst kind of blindness.
The unfortunate truth that we all should recognize and keep in the forefront of our social consciousness is that human beings are corrupt. Any set of beliefs which would convince you otherwise are robbing you of your sensibilities. I am a man of faith. But make no mistake: my faith is in God alone. Not mankind.
Idealism comes at us like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. We are presented with promises of change – changes based on a blind hope for a different and more comfortable reality. It’s the easy way out. Unfortunately, the destructive forces of change can often bring a functioning society to it’s knees. Political movements that embrace a rapid transition to an unproven nanny-state system (such as socialized health care and a government-operated education system) are simply a disguised abandonment of responsibility each person should bear for their own decisions in life. In the place of personal ownership for personal choices, people seek the easy way out.
Growth and Fruition
From time to time the runaway “we” will find a strong voice in a single man or woman; a strong leader will take up the flag of the cause and advocate for the promises of free riches and an easy life for everyone.
A charismatic leader.
In the Federalist Papers, our founding forefathers gave us very clear warnings against being enticed by charisma. The most dangerous political candidate is one who sweeps a population off their feet with promises of change, pitting himself against the established laws and traditions of government and society. Throughout history, great catastrophes are often found in the wake of a charismatic leader who pushed his way through the political trenches too quickly. By virtue of an infectious smile and a warming hand wave, charismatic leaders can burrow their way into your own hopes. These men and women capture the heart of a people only to reward their support with swift tyranny.
Sometimes in history, the transition to tyranny has been swift and bloody. However, the insidiousness of liberal idealism lies in it’s innate stealth. In reality, it’s a disguised second coming of communism. Unfortunately, there are those that believe so strongly in socialization of industries (socialism) over individual liberty and responsibility, that eventually the tone of their movement changes.
We want you to be tolerant. In fact, we want so badly for you to be tolerant that we will become quickly intolerant of any intolerance you might show. So intolerant will we become that we may have to suppress your freedoms of choice. And if you don’t agree, we also want very badly for you to be quiet. And tame. In fact, we think it would be best if we just do the thinking for you.
This is not meant to be funny, and it’s no exaggeration. It happens while we’re not paying attention. Many times over we’ve seen other societies fall victim to these lies. At the end of the road, when liberal idealism comes to fruition, we are faced not only with a broken system from poor decisions along the way, but we’ve also exchanged our core freedoms for the rulership of our own Orwell-style Miniluv.
It’s a disguised form of fascism. Liberal fascism.
September 3, 2008 at 6:39 pm |
Am I one of the “liberal fascists”? Just curious.
September 4, 2008 at 8:10 am |
Madam,
You are certainly not a Liberal Fascist. We’ve had enough political and religious discussions for me to know that you don’t just toe the line when it comes to blind idealism.
I fear, however, that you may be voting for someone who is.
Respectfully,
BJ
September 4, 2008 at 9:50 am |
Plato said in his book “The Republic” that when a society pursues freedom over justice, chaos ensues. The reason our Republic is collapsing is because we chose to allow citizens to do more of what they desired over doing what’s best for society. Like philosopher and author, Ayn Rand, I don’t believe in the dominance of the “Collective Agenda” where the team wins at the behest of the individual losing. But, I do believe in the concept that for every benefit accrued to the individual, a benefit should accrue to the collective agenda. The logical conclusion being to balance the equation in ways by which responsibility and accountability are founding principles. The best relationships rest on synergy and mutual benefit. Left to its own devices, human nature would rather take than give based on selfishness. To create a system where “taking” is condoned and rewarded leads to its collapse and finally its demise. There are a myriad of ways by which people get what they want through selfish motives. Charisma is just one tool. Like any tool, it can be used to build or destroy. In the end, we create the world in our won image. Good or bad, the dynamics that have shaped contemporary society is a product of our choices. Again, these choices were made based on self-interest. Until a doctrine heads off the scourge of narcissism, the carnage will remain the same.
Edward Brown
Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute
September 4, 2008 at 10:02 am |
I think we’ll have to disagree on this one, friend. I haven’t met too many people on welfare who have experienced “an easy life” and “free riches” and I don’t believe it’s wrong to try to help them toward a better life — and to assume that liberal idealism promises an easy life and free riches is to grossly twist and exaggerate what they’re saying. And no one is saying that we want health care for every being on the planet… but it shouldn’t be considered beyond the realm of possibility that every person in this country would be able to afford health care, or receive free health care if they’re impoverished.
If we were all born at the same time into the same life with the same privileges, then maybe one could effectively argue that people’s position in life is a direct result of their own choices and actions. I don’t believe this to be the case, however, and to pretend that our own positions of relative prosperity have everything to do with our own kick-assery… I dunno. It seems to smack of, “Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t have stayed poor if I was born poor. I’d have made a life for myself, been a responsible person.”
I find it surprising that you can read 1984 and not hear the “we” in the last eight years: “We will not rest until we’ve defeated the evil doers,” “We will protect America,” “We will defend liberty,” etc. I think the Patriot Act is a great example of the “we” statement lulling people to sleep.
Anyway. On to football season, right? That we can agree on, I think.
September 4, 2008 at 10:08 am |
PS Thanks for not thinking I’m a liberal fascist.
September 5, 2008 at 10:13 am |
Mike Huckabee put it beautifully at the convention on Wednesday when he said, “I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich, but because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me.”
Life isn’t inherently fair, and guaranteeing everybody an equality of outcome isn’t possible. If it wasn’t for being born in different financial situations, it would be unfair for some people to be naturally more intelligent and talented than others. Those professional athletes sure won the lotto in a way that I envy…
The best we can do is to provide everybody with equality of opportunity to take their own situation and to do the best they possibly can with it. While an abundance of money can take a bit of stress off the table, it sure isn’t a key to true happiness (it’s a cliche, but it’s entirely true in my opinion)…we all have to deal with our struggles, no matter what the number in our bank account is, and quality of life simply isn’t an entirely quantifiable thing.
Many humans, preferably left to their own devices by the government, will submit to greed. That much is true. That can be ugly at times for sure, but also brings the positive side effects of progress for society as a whole, and subsequently helps put society in a mindset of personal accountability. I really think that, given the frailty of human nature, it’s the best we can hope for…because on the contrary, I would argue that just as many humans, if not more, would succumb instead to laziness if the government insists on trying too hard to control equality of outcome. Progress suffers, personal accountability suffers, and the positive side effects are…well, you’ve got me.
It’s too bad that human nature has me pointing to negatives no matter what system we’re a part of, but it is what it is. It’s precisely why Churchill said, “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.” Nobody here is blind to the inherent flaws of a capitalistic society, but it sure beats the alternative…
Good post Brandon.