Blaming Everyone But Ourselves
by Linda Barber
It is amazing how a free people will find ways to chip away at their own freedoms. In our 200-year frenzy to turn our country from the original republic into a democracy, we have discovered the power to vote ourselves benefits from both our federal and state governments.
We then blame the resulting high taxes, debt, and inflation on the single person we elected to be president. We elect him for one term, and perhaps two terms, while rewarding those who control the purse strings with re-election in perpetuity.
We accept these benefits as if our government were a separate entity somehow producing the money to pay for them. Now we have Medicare, Medicaid, Aid to Dependent Children, S-Chips, Federal schools, Fannie May, Freddie Mac, Sally May, Ginnie May, and “sub-prime” mortgages. All created by Congress; and to keep them we are willing to relinquish control of our children’s education, debase our currency, meekly accept regulations on both the first and second amendment, while weakening the power of our commander in chief to defend its citizens.
While pursuing equality, we stand by and let a majority vote of a panel of judges blithely take away the property rights of some of our fellow citizens. But these entitlements come with a terrible price. Taxes have to be taken from the producers to cover these transfers of wealth. Since a populace will only bear so much taxation, we then lend money to our governments at the same time decrying the deficit as if we had nothing to do with it. The Federal government, being able to print money, prints even more. This causes inflation. But news reporters, ignorant of economics, call it rising prices.
Then we fall prey to class warfare; blame the rich, blame big oil, blame Wall Street, blame “predatory lenders.” Blame everyone except ourselves. And health insurance for everybody will solve all of our problems, real or perceived? Try socialism? More of the same? More government control to correct what was caused by government control?
Can this keep on indefinitely? Of course not. Over time, a strident majority in a democracy fundamentally changes a type of government. An ignorant, uninformed, electorate who view themselves as victims or children, will become enamored of a charismatic man and so elects a dictator. The minority voice is then stilled and individual freedom is lost.
So we want no wars. We cannot handle normal business cycles, and want no recession. We want cheap drugs for all our ills, socialistic healthcare, college for everyone, energy out of thin air, “a chicken in every pot.”
At the same time we are gullible enough to believe in global warming and we must “save” the planet, we can still save all the starving children in Africa, and the rich will pay for it all. Alas, we are leaving nothing for God to do.
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