America's current civil war
My two granddaughters and some liberal friends have taken me to task for expressing my conservative views. I personally disavow any political affiliation and consider myself an independent who focuses on the issue and candidate when voting. I must confess in recent times I have found it not only difficult but well nigh impossible to support Democratic Party candidates or positions at the national level as the party is controlled by far-left fringe groups who ignore mainstream Americans. That is exactly why Donald Trump is in the White House and why governors and state legislatures are mainly Republican.
What is so scary to me is how divided we have become and how we have such divergent views on almost every issue. Whether we acknowledge it or not the truth is we are already engaged in a civil war. The crux of the battle is that the far-left liberals seek to steer America away from its capitalist roots and have it embrace socialism. Conservatives, on the other hand, are striving to hang on to capitalism and its attendant values and traditions. The definition of liberal and conservative highlight the main reasons we can’t see eye to eye and never will. A liberal is defined as a person open to new behaviors or opinions and is willing to discard traditional values. Liberals are for the most part “theorists” who are concerned with the theoretical aspects of a subject. Theorists develop ideas (e.g., global warming) that explain events or behaviors and they can easily be emotionally distracted. Conservatives are, in the main, “pragmatists” who are practical and focused on setting and achieving goals and usually do not become emotionally distracted. In short conservatives love order and structure while liberals claim it stifles intellectual reasoning.
I think most of us start out in our youth with a liberal bent, as we tend to view the world around us through rose-colored glasses. However, as we mature and age we are buffeted around by major life experiences and are forced to assume greater responsibilities, which cause most of us to become more pragmatic. Some, however, retreat from the rigors of the “real world” and prefer to stay in the utopian world of the theorist. In simplistic terms as we individuals start our descent from that so-called “ivory tower,” the speed of our descent to the bottom is dependent on how well we adapt to the “real world” and accept life challenges and responsibilities. Many, especially those born with the “golden spoon,” who are reared in an affluent environment or had indulgent parents who cater to their every whim, never entirely leave the “ivory tower” and if they do they never let go of their safety line. As an example, large numbers of our college instructors have never ventured outside of academia. They go from student directly to teacher, completely devoid of any “real world” experience. They then “brain wash” our youth with their utopian theories that have never been put to a real test. What is so alarming is that they are given tenure so they cannot be punished for espousing their views, then they find a way to punish students who adopt opposing views.
The lifeblood of capitalism is competition. Healthy competition is an essential and vital ingredient in any successful program or venture. That is why our education system is failing our youth as it has no competition and violently reacts to any attempt to introduce it. Schools have become instruments for social change rather than fulfilling their mission of providing our youth with a quality education. In short our schools have already been “socialized” and now the far left is well on the way to doing the same thing to our military establishment. The socialized education system with its low standards of academics and discipline have devastated our youth’s work ethic and performance standards. Ask any employer how hard it is to find motivated and educated employees.
Socialism has never worked and never will because as more and more of the population become takers rather than providers, the economy collapses under the strain. History is replete with nations that have gone from great capitalist powers to bankrupt socialist states. Venezuela is but the latest example of the failure of socialism. Liberals can’t seem to understand that you cannot continue to spend more than you take in. As an example we have to borrow and pay interest on money so we can be benevolent and take in Middle Eastern refugees. According to the Center for Immigration Studies it costs the U.S. taxpayer on average $257,481 to support a family of four for the first five years. The total spending on refugees for FY 2017 will be 4.1 billion borrowed dollars. According to the U.N. high commissioner, it only costs $1,057 to support a Syrian refugee in one of the neighboring countries.
It should be a stark warning to us as we see our Western European allies spending in excess of over half of their total GNP on welfare. Some claim they cannot come up with the meager 2 percent of GDP for NATO and their own defense. We can no longer afford to pay the lion’s share of the costs for NATO or the U.N. and must insist all pay their fair share. We need to cut all nonessential spending and begin living within our means. I would like to ask my liberal kin and friends one question to which I would like an honest and thoughtful answer. The question is, “With our national debt rapidly approaching $20 trillion, how much more debt can our economy handle before it collapses?
As an aside, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we returned to a reasonable standard of civility?
Jack Heller is a resident of Lakeside.