Trying to follow the logic of liberals and their media spokespersons on MSNBC is difficult. However, it becomes easier when one understands that the real issue is control.
It seems that what may really be wanted by liberals is the total denial of individual responsibility. This denial of responsibility seems to go hand in hand with a willingness to let the government take over and handle all aspects of life of everyone in their society. It is reminiscent of “Star Trek’s” Borg Collective. The gospel of the liberal left and MSNBC may be able to be summed up in the belief that the government is our de facto parent and that individuals must be willing to turn their care, and our care, over to mother and father government.
It is becoming clear that the differences we are seeing in discussions of the direction of government involvement in our daily lives go to something much deeper and much more important than political differences. There is a massive cultural divide in our country that has nothing to do with race or national origin. It has to do with an acceptance or rejection of the deeply held beliefs of our founders who rejected government control of their lives, rejected the parental rule of the British monarchy, and who were willing to sacrifice their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to make a “Declaration of Independence“. The real objective of liberals and the progressive movement is to make a “Declaration of Dependence“. They want to make this declaration not only for themselves but for all of us. It is clear that it has become the mission of MSNBC to promote that “Declaration of Dependence” upon mother and father government. Dependence also implies a denial of individual responsibility and a transfer of that responsibility to someone else.
The philosophy of liberals, and the progressive movement, is that government is supposed to take care of us. The philosophy of our founding fathers was that we are supposed to take care of ourselves. They knew that transferring personal responsibility to a ruling government eventually and inevitably means a loss of personal freedom.
As children we were under the control of our parents for good reason. As we matured that control in a well functioning family became less and less. There were rules we had to obey because our parents fed, clothed and sheltered us. Because they loved us and provided for us they had the right, and obligation, to exert control over us. When the day came that we had finally learned proper control of ourselves we moved out of our parents’ home and became independent. With that independence came the right and responsibility to control our own lives.
Our country was founded on a belief of government of the people, by the people, for the people. It was such a strong belief that our country is recognized worldwide for that belief that has essentially become a culture of rugged independence. The counter-culture that is being promoted by liberals, and doggedly supported by MSNBC, is a culture of dependence that runs directly contrary to the natural human instinct for freedom and independence. Those promoting this culture of dependence upon a central government are also promoting a culture of an abandonment of personal responsibility. It is the same type of lack of personal responsibility of a small child dependent upon a parent. Abandoning personal responsibility means that we don’t have to worry about providing our own health plan; we don’t have to be worried finding a job to feed, clothe, shelter, educate our families and provide for ourselves in our old age. We can abdicate all of that responsibility and turn it over to a government that will take care of us. Wealth will be redistributed to those who don’t have it, health care will be provided by mom and dad government, retirement will be provided by a government fund that will go broke less than 100 years after it was established.
The Tudor monarchy gained power through palace intrigue and a pattern of activity that made the masses dependent upon the central government. Fear of government by the masses gave the government even more power. That was only reversed when the orientation of that fear was reversed. The U.S. government today is gaining increased power through legislative, executive and judicial intrigue that is slowly dissolving the Independence that our founding fathers fought for. Liberals in government, their partners in the liberal media, and the progressive movement are working to transition our nation from one of independence and freedom to one of total dependence upon a central government that will take care of us. The more that type of responsibility is transferred from individuals to a central government the more the power of that central government over the individual grows. It is a well-known axiom that “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. It is inevitable that continued abrogation of personal responsibility by citizen and continued centralization of power in the federal government will lead to corrupting power. We are already seeing that in great measure. If we allow liberal collusion between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to continue, if the media continues to abrogate its fifth estate responsibilities, and if “We the People” continue to let our personal freedoms erode we will have undone all that our forefathers worked so hard to accomplish.
It seems that liberals and those in the progressive movement don’t like human nature. Like the Borg, they would like to reprogram humans for the greater good of the collective. They believe that centralized power and control over individuals, society and wealth is preferable to full individual responsibility and self-reliance. This is disturbing to all of those who hold dear the beliefs of our founding fathers. Even more disturbing is the rapid manner in which the move to centralized control is taking place. Obama’s rush to fundamentally change America has the flavor of a manufactured emergency. Is this rapid evolution (the contraction might be r’evolution) a deliberate move to push his progressive agenda through before anyone has a chance to oppose it? Is it a concern that too much scrutiny might reveal the close resemblance to a near collective society? Or is it just a move to take over control before the country understands what has happened. Perhaps it is all of the above.
A short reflection on events of the last 100 years reveals that this move toward centralized control is not new. States rights have slowly been eroded by the federal government. Within many states the home rule of municipalities, townships and counties has been eroded by state-level control. Individual and corporate tax law has become more convoluted and designed in such a manner as to assure increasing federal control over individuals and businesses.
The key term in the previous paragraph is slow erosion. It has been so slow that it has taken place over generations so that it has become almost unnoticed. The r’evolution during Obama’s term is, in comparison, a transition of epic proportions. It is indeed, as Obama advertises it, “fundamental change”. It is a fundamental change that takes us back to the reasons there had to be a Declaration of Independence. The series of actions being proposed by our president take away individual control and centralize control in the hands of the federal government.
With the 100 year creep toward centralized control has come a hundred year creep in the increase of our tax burden and the size and power of the federal government. Obama’s r’evolution which he is pursuing with massive energy dramatically accelerates this trend. In just a few short months the federal debt has ballooned dramatically, the government hiring rate has accelerated, and the city touted as one of the best places to find employment is Washington D.C. The size of the federal government as a percentage of the total population is accelerating dramatically. All of this means that the tax burden on all Americans has to increase and will in all probability increase at an even faster rate than it has in the last 100 years. This is indeed a redistribution of wealth. It is being redistributed from the citizen to the government coffers. With this redistribution of wealth comes a redistribution of control. This redistribution is not really from the wealthy to the poor. It is from the citizen to the government.
This is what has thinking, self-reliant, conservative Americans concerned. Behind all of the programs that Obama and the progressive movement are pushing lies the “uninvention” of America and the Declaration of Independence. What is happening takes us back to a time of monarchy and subjects; of the controllers and the controlled. Behind it all, and perhaps, hard to define because of the noise associated with all the new programs it is this dramatic increase in centralized control that is scaring the population. It might be wise to reflect on a couple of quotes from Thomas Jefferson.
“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.”
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”
It took a great deal of enlightened thinking and massive courage over time to establish our country. Let’s tread cautiously as we take our next steps. We don’t need a r’evolution that will uninvent America .
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