Comments on: Unnecessary Swamp-Dwelling

By: TENTH AMENDMENT CENTER | The Ruthless Truth blog

TENTH AMENDMENT CENTER | The Ruthless Truth blog — Sun, 30 May 2010 20:08:07 +0000

[...] Unnecessary Swamp-Dwelling [...]

By: John and Dagny Galt

John and Dagny Galt — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:01:43 +0000

We can’t argue with anything put forth in either Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or Tom Baugh’s Starving The Monkeys.

By: TextualistDude

TextualistDude — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:20:40 +0000

BSR
Yep, good points.
I can't add anything meaningful to your comments.

By: Bradley S. Rees

Bradley S. Rees — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:16:58 +0000

TexDude-

I can see your point there, as well. Just by way of clarification, I was in no way trying to push the “why can’t we all just get along?” pap. Because, you’re exactly right, that way lies naivete.

You had mentioned Jesus before, and I advocate taking his approach. Yes, he dined with prostitutes, publicans, and thieves, but he also said that the poor and the sick would always be among us.

I choose to equate the far right religious ideologues with the “poor” Jesus spoke of, because it is a poor American indeed who does not desire our fundamental tenet of personal liberty above a desire to impose their own personal morality on others (and by force, if necessary).

That leaves the sick, and I will expound no further on that note, other than to say that your guess regarding guilt is, sadly, VERY accurate.

By: Bradley S. Rees

Bradley S. Rees — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:56:31 +0000

TexDude-
Very well stated. There are many on both the right and left who have become so addicted to kicking these cans down the road that they are utterly unconcerned with the small matter of where the road leads (see JB’s comment on Uzbekistan).

By: TextualistDude

TextualistDude — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:37:03 +0000

I think many on the far left and far right believe THEY will get to control everything and so they forge ahead. They don't seem to consider the possibility that THEIR view will not prevail and THEY will be ones who are told what to think.

(That is why you sometimes see smaller religious groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses take a strong stand about separation of Church and State. They are smart enough to KNOW their religion will get the boot if the Evangelical Christians get control!)

Also, as I said before, neither the left nor the right is PRIMARILY motivated by a love of liberty as you are. The far right are motivated by their faith and some actually seek out persecution for their beliefs as a sign of piety. It's a little bit like the terrorist who wants to die…

The far left are motivated by a strong desire for what they see as 'equality.' Their motives are not as clear to me but I suspect some of it is rooted in guilt.

Neither one loves liberty as you and I do, so talking to them about 'losing liberty' isn't very persuasive. Frankly, you can't reason with someone on the far right about religion. Further, those on the far left are simply unrealistic.

That's why the "Why-Can't-We-All-Just-Get-Along" plea is sadly naive and unworkable.

By: TextualistDude

TextualistDude — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:25:10 +0000

Great point! If people would think about it, they would conclude that local control is more manageable. The massive and successful power grabs by the feds (all 3 branches) have encouraged people who want change to go to the feds to get what they want.

Also, I think that some people REALLY badly want to run everyone's lives for them and tell them what to do so they go to Washington to try to force their views on the nation.

By: JBfromTennessee

JBfromTennessee — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:42:37 +0000

My mom and stepdad spent almost a year in Uzbekistan. The government controls almost every facet of its citizens' lives. Any opposition to their current system, whether spoken, written, or otherwise, is seen as insurrection and is promptly extenguished. We aren't exactly the newly minted republic Uzbekistan is, having only gained their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. But I believe them to be a grim, however accurate, example of what America could be having allowed our government to rob us of our liberties.

Before we are right or left, libertarian or authoritarian, we are all simply Americans "endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable rights", whichever celestial Creator you may choose to recognize. That may sound oversimplified, but I contend simplification is exactly what we need right now.

By: JBfromTennessee

JBfromTennessee — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:42:21 +0000

Something I believe too few people realize is if we don't do everything in our power to preserve our liberties as the Founding Fathers intended, there won't be any avenue to debate between left and right regardless of the issue. If our liberties are stripped from us, the resulting autocracy would ultimately decide what is discussed, when it could be discussed, if at all, and by whom it could be discussed.

By: Jeff Matthews

Jeff Matthews — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:11:45 +0000

Well put, too. The whole point is that there is a place for each side to make their arguments and pursue politics in those arenas. All we have to do is convince both sides to stop taking their fights to Washington. The odds are in their favor that local efforts might pay-off through not having to win a battle over 310 million people, as opposed to just the population of one's respective state.