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The OP judges Liberals in one or two paragraphs. Talk about intellectual dishonesty. What you call lazy, I call giving it what it deserves.
Well then, expect the same treatment in return. If you make a well thought out OP, don't complain when someone has the same reaction to you. How is he judging you? You can't be bothered to stand up for your ideals? Oh, my. I'm sorry, but in this case, your protests suggest that he might be on to something.
Or they suggest that I don't care what he thinks after he already told me what I think and believe.
This essay is a bit of departure from my usually reasonable and logical approach to important issues. Thats not to say that the essay isnt well-reasoned and is bereft of logical argumentation, but I freely admit that its polemical, in nature. Sometimes youre just pissed, and you need to vent. Heres my vent
Lately, I must admit that my hostility towards your political ilk has ramped up, pretty dramatically. No, its not because we, at this point in my life, have a half-black president in the White House, and Im some closet racist who is becoming increasingly frustrated at the prospects of the White Mans power slipping through my fingers. I know that youve accused our side of such nonsense, and the thought keeps you warm at night, but I can assure you that it is a comfortable fiction of which you should probably divest yourself.
Now before I waste too much of your time, lets establish who Im talking to. If you believe that we live in an evil, imperialist nation from its founding, and you believe that it should be fundamentally transformed, lend me your ears. If you believe that the free market is the source of the vast majority of societys ills and wish to have more government intervention into it, Im talking to you. If you believe that health care is a basic human right and that government should provide it to everyone, youre the guy Im screaming at. If you think minorities cannot possibly survive in this inherently racist country without handouts and government mandated diversity quotas, youre my guy. If you believe that rich people are that way because theyve exploited their workers and acquired wealth on the backs of the poor, keep reading. Pretty much, if you trust government more than your fellow American, this post is for you.
First of all, let me say that we probably agree on more things than you think. Even between Tea Party Patriots and Occupy Wall-Streeters, Ive observed a common hatred of the insidious alliance between big business and big government. As Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) so correctly noted, government should never be in the business of picking winners and losers in corporate America, and no person, organization, union, or corporation should have their own key to the back door of our government.
Second, contrary to popular belief, conservatives really are concerned with the plight of the poor in this nation. You accuse us of being uncompassionate, hateful, racist, and greedy, but studies have shown that when it comes to charitable giving, conservatives are at least (if not more, depending on the study you read) as generous as liberals in caring for the poor. The difference between us is not in our attitude towards the problem its our attitude towards the solution. We believe that the government does practically nothing well (since without competition or a profit motive there is no incentive to do well) and has made the plight of the poor far worse than it would have ever been had government never gotten involved. For a stark example of this, look no farther than the condition of the black family in America since the War on Poverty began. You believe that more government is the answer, and that if we only throw more money at the problem, the problem will go away. We believe, as Reagan so aptly stated,
Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.
Third, as people who might actually have to avail ourselves of a doctors services at some point in our lives, we are just as concerned with the condition of Americas healthcare system as you are. While we believe that America has the worlds most capable physicians, has the worlds most innovative pharmaceutical industry, and is on the cutting edge of medical technology, we also understand that the delivery system is far from perfect. However, unlike you, we see a grave danger in turning the administration of that delivery system over to the same entity that is responsible for giving us the United States Postal Service. There are private sector solutions that should certainly be explored before we kill the system, altogether, by giving it to the government to run.
Now that weve touched on a couple of points of common ground, allow me to explain my aggressiveness towards your efforts to implement your progressive agenda. First, lets talk about the word progressive, since you now seem to prefer that word to liberal. In order to label something as progressive or regressive, one must have some idea as to what constitutes progress. What is the ideal towards which you are striving? An idea is considered progressive if it moves us closer to the ideal and regressive if it moves us further away. So, what is your ideal society?
Though I cant begin to discern the thoughts of every liberal who may read this, nor can I assume that every liberal has the same notion of an ideal society, in my arguments with liberals over the years, I couldnt help but notice the influence that FDRs Second Bill of Rights has had in shaping the beliefs of the modern liberal with regards to domestic policy. The rights that FDR cited are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
At this point, youre probably screaming, Right on!!, and who can blame you? What sane person in the world doesnt want everyone to be gainfully employed, adequately fed, smartly clothed, appropriately sheltered, and properly educated? These are the goals of every moral society on the planet, however we cannot ignore the fundamental question of, At what cost?
Im not sure whether FDR was a shallow thinker or simply a shrewd, Machiavellian politician, but the fact that he framed each of these ideals as a human right should be troubling to every freedom-loving person in America. After all, what does it mean for something to be a human right? Doesnt it mean that its something to which you are entitled simply by virtue of your being human? Lets think about some of the basic rights that the real Bill of Rights delineates: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to petition the government, freedom to bear arms, freedom from illegal search and seizure, etc.
If youre moderately intelligent and intellectually honest, youll quickly see what separates the rights laid out in the real Bill of Rights from those laid out in FDRs misguided list none of the rights listed above require the time, treasure, or talents of another human being. Your right to speak requires nothing from anyone else. Your right to practice your religion requires nothing from any of your fellow citizens. Your right to bear arms means that you are allowed to possess weapons to defend yourself and your family, but it makes no demand that a weapon be provided to you by anyone. A true human right is one that you possess, even if youre the only person on the entire planet and it is unconditional.
FDRs list is no Bill of Rights. Its a list of demands. If I have a right to a job, doesnt that mean that one must be provided to me? If I have a right to adequate food, clothing, and recreation, doesnt that mean that I am entitled to those things, and someone should provide them to me? If I have an inherent right to a decent home, once again, doesnt that mean it should be provided to me, regardless of my ability to afford one or build one for myself?
You might protest that FDR only meant that we have the right to pursue those things, but thats not what he said, and why would he? If we live in a free society, our right to pursue those things is self-evident, is it not? Besides, if he only believed in our right to pursue those things, he would not have felt the need to implement the New Deal.
You may be getting anxious, now, wondering what FDRs Second Bill of Rights has to do with my antipathy towards your political philosophy. Its quite simple your political beliefs are a threat to liberty not just for me, but for my three boys and their children as well. I care much less about the America that Im living in at this very moment than I do about the one that Im leaving Nathaniel, Charlie, and Jackson.
How does your political bent threaten my and my sons personal liberty, you ask? In your irrational attempt to classify things such as clothing, shelter, health care, employment, and income as basic human rights, you are placing a demand upon my time, my treasure, and my talents. If you believe that you have a right to health care, and you are successful in persuading enough shallow thinkers to think as you do, then it will place a demand upon me to provide it to you. If you believe that you have a right to a job, and more than half of America agrees with you, as a business owner, I am obligated to provide one to you, even if it means making my business less profitable.
The fact is, you can rail against my conservatism all you wish. You can make fun of my Tea Party gatherings, and you can ridicule patriots in tri-corner hats until you wet yourself from mirth, but one thing is for certain: my political philosophy will NEVER be a threat to your freedom. If you feel a burning responsibility to the poor, conservatism will never prevent you from working 80 hours per week and donating all of your income to charity. If you feel a strong sense of pity for a family who cannot afford health insurance, my political philosophy will never prevent you from purchasing health insurance for this family or raising money to do so, if you cannot afford it, personally. If you are moved with compassion for a family who is homeless, a conservative will never use the police power of government to prevent you from taking that family in to your own home or mobilizing your community to build one for them.
However, you cannot say the same for liberalism. If I choose not to give to the poor for whatever reason, you wont simply try to persuade me on the merits of the idea you will seek to use the government as an instrument of plunder to force me to give to the poor. If we are walking down the street together and we spot a homeless person, using this logic, you would not simply be content with giving him $20 from your own pocket you would hold a gun to my head and force me to give him $20, as well.
Everything that modern liberalism accomplishes is accomplished at the barrel of a government rifle. You do not trust in the generosity of the American people to provide, through private charity, things such as clothing, food, shelter, and health care, so you empower the government to take from them and spend the money on wasteful, inefficient, and inadequate government entitlement programs. You do not trust in the personal responsibility of the average American to wield firearms in defense of themselves and their families, so you seek to empower the government to criminalize the use and possession of firearms by private citizens. Everytime you empower the government, you lose more of your personal liberty its an axiomatic truth.
What angers me the most about you is the eagerness with which you allow the incremental enslavement to occur. You are the cliched and proverbial frog in the pot who has actually convinced himself that hes discovered a big, silver jacuzzi. Somehow, youre naive enough to believe that one more degree of heat wont really matter that much.
I have the utmost respect for a slave who is continuously seeking a path to freedom. What I cannot stomach is a free man who is continuous seeking a path to servitude by willingly trading his freedom for the false sense of security that government will provide.
I am reminded of Samuel Adams impassioned speech where he stated:
If ye love wealth (or security) better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!
Servitude can exist in a free society, but freedom cannot exist in a slave nation. In a free country, you have the liberty to join with others of your political ilk and realize whatever collectivist ideals you can dream up. You can start your own little commune where the sign at the front gate says, From each according to his ability; to each according to his need, and everyone can work for the mutual benefit of everyone else. In my society, you have the freedom to do that.
In your society, I dont have the same freedom. If your collectivism offends me, I am not free to start my own free society within its borders. In order for collectivism to work, everyone must be on board, even those who oppose it why do you think there was a Berlin Wall?
In conclusion, just know that the harder you push to enact your agenda, the more hostile I will become the harder I will fight you. Its nothing personal, necessarily. If you want to become a slave to an all-powerful central government, be my guest. But if you are planning to take me and my family down with you, as we say down here in the South, I will stomp a mud-hole in your chest and walk it dry.
Bring it.
Well, if you people don't want my input, how do you expect to get better?
Whew, you can lead a horse to water ...
Yeah, and you're the horse. Frankly, if we had your input on anything life or death, you'd lead us all off a cliff. So keep your idiotic statements to yourself, Sarah.
Well then, expect the same treatment in return. If you make a well thought out OP, don't complain when someone has the same reaction to you. How is he judging you? You can't be bothered to stand up for your ideals? Oh, my. I'm sorry, but in this case, your protests suggest that he might be on to something.
Or they suggest that I don't care what he thinks after he already told me what I think and believe.
I have a lot more respect for people who stand up for themselves, sister. All you're doing is prejudging him in return for prejudging you. I don't make that mistake, BUT instead of going on the offensive, I try to disprove such prevarications.
It exudes more intelligence and objectivity when you stand up for yourself, not when you brazenly return fire because you feel like you've been mislabeled.
Or they suggest that I don't care what he thinks after he already told me what I think and believe.
I have a lot more respect for people who stand up for themselves, sister. All you're doing is prejudging him in return for prejudging you. I don't make that mistake, BUT instead of going on the offensive, I try to disprove such prevarications.
It exudes more intelligence and objectivity when you stand up for yourself, not when you brazenly return fire because you feel like you've been mislabeled.
The guy has 20-30 points in his OP. He's gonna have to narrow it down and he's gonna have to speak for himself for awhile before he gets any further response from me on that.
You are acting like you wrote this yourself.
He is kind of agressively defending the lecture ...
Hilarious, the only thing Republicans offer is the right to die.
Well, if you people don't want my input, how do you expect to get better?
Whew, you can lead a horse to water ...
Yeah, and you're the horse. Frankly, if we had your input on anything life or death, you'd lead us all off a cliff. So keep your idiotic statements to yourself, Sarah.
I really don't get you.
Or they suggest that I don't care what he thinks after he already told me what I think and believe.
I have a lot more respect for people who stand up for themselves, sister. All you're doing is prejudging him in return for prejudging you. I don't make that mistake, BUT instead of going on the offensive, I try to disprove such prevarications.
It exudes more intelligence and objectivity when you stand up for yourself, not when you brazenly return fire because you feel like you've been mislabeled.
The guy has 20-30 points in his OP. He's gonna have to narrow it down and he's gonna have to speak for himself for awhile before he gets any further response from me on that.
You are acting like you wrote this yourself.
Nobody is ever obligated to respond to unibomber manifestos. Anyone who posts a unibomber manifesto is just too gutless to make a clear point, back it up and stand behind it.
Quiet you. Anyone who chooses to simply dismiss this as some rant has either A) no brain capacity or wherewithal to read a long essay, or B) is simply too biased to formulate an objective response.
You accuse him of being gutless, but none of you are standing up for yourselves, simply attacking the OP instead. Gee, I wonder, could what he said be true?
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Being an essay writer myself, I can tell you that an essay can be as long as the author wants it to be. I've written 5,000+ word essays before, containing multiple points and different topics within. I read Randall's essay, twice, and I'm not getting why people are so upset about it. Saying that "He has 20-30 points in his OP" is an excuse. I don't think he expects you to take them all into memory and address each one. Pick a couple or three, respond to or rebut each one, give him something to respond to. So, while I didn't write it, I am not understanding why people are so up in arms as a result. What happened to people taking the initiative and engendering a healthy debate? I tried and it failed miserably.
One other thing: I'd wager his life does not revolve around this message board. He will respond when his time schedule permits, not when some random liberal on his thread wants him to. I implore you to exercise a bit of patience.
Nobody is ever obligated to respond to unibomber manifestos. Anyone who posts a unibomber manifesto is just too gutless to make a clear point, back it up and stand behind it.
Quiet you. Anyone who chooses to simply dismiss this as some rant has either A) no brain capacity or wherewithal to read a long essay, or B) is simply too biased to formulate an objective response.
You accuse him of being gutless, but none of you are standing up for yourselves, simply attacking the OP instead. Gee, I wonder, could what he said be true?
Frankly, I did read his entire tiresome essay.
About 60% of it is expressing his anger at liberals for not accepting his Randian, every man for himself world view.
Most of the rest is based on fallacious thinking.
We don't have the best medical system in the world. We have the worst in the industrialized world in terms of costs (the highest) and results (life expectencies and infant mortality rates.)
Charities are not superior to government programs. They aren't meeting all the need that is out there and they have far more overhead.
[
Being an essay writer myself, I can tell you that an essay can be as long as the author wants it to be. I've written 5,000+ word essays before, containing multiple points and different topics within. I read Randall's essay, twice, and I'm not getting why people are so upset about it. Saying that "He has 20-30 points in his OP" is an excuse. I don't think he expects you to take them all into memory and address each one. Pick a couple or three, respond to or rebut each one, give him something to respond to. So, while I didn't write it, I am not understanding why people are so up in arms as a result. What happened to people taking the initiative and engendering a healthy debate? I tried and it failed miserably.
One other thing: I'd wager his life does not revolve around this message board. He will respond when his time schedule permits, not when some random liberal on his thread wants him to. I implore you to exercise a bit of patience.
Oh, you're an "essay writer" now?
Guy, as someone who actually gets PAID for his writing, a simple rule.
"Write as though you are being paid by the point and penalized by the word!"
I'm not sure how you think people are up in arms. Most just thought it was a long and tedious screed against a list of his imaginary enemies from a guy who kind of lacks gratitude. (Does he really think that as a black guy, he'd have enjoyed as much success as he had if the "Back of the Bus" crowd had won the day?)
That was very well done!
There is indeed a stark contrast being painted here, freedom and servitude, apathy and self sustenance, rights and privileges and et cetera. Frankly, he's right. What policies do you liberals advocate which enable the poor to find work? Does Welfare, Food Stamps, Free Housing and whatnot incentivize them to sustain themselves or seek gainful employment? Do you realize these things only serve to force productive Americans to carry them as dead weight? Does throwing money at an impossible solution make the solution any more attainable? Do these policies encourage freedom and self sustenance?
So, why is everything a right to you? What makes it so? A human right is universal. The right to live is universal among us all, not something dictated by a government. The right to be what we are is also a human right, not dictated in the codification of law. Back when I was a child, my grandmother quickly delineated the differences between rights and privileges. Privileges are something you earn through work and the establishment of trustworthiness, not something you can just demand on a silver platter. She also once told me, "your rights end where someone else's begins." You know what that means? Your rights cannot and should not infringe on or deprive others of their rights and freedoms. Rights are not always guaranteed, and insisting that they should only brings about a false sense of entitlement.
Servitude. Gee that's a tough one. There is a fine line between needing something and wanting something. When you go on a program like Welfare or Foodstamps, you are essentially enslaving yourself to want. If there was once a need it has now become a want. Your wants can have a way of depriving others of their needs, and subsequently their freedoms. It has the deleterious effect of enslaving large amounts of people to the will of a malevolent government entity who does not care for your human rights, your freedoms or your prosperity.
Do you think that there is ONE person on welfare or food stamps who wouldn't grab a renumerative job with both hands if one was offered to him?
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You get paid for your writing? Gee, I've had to proofread many of your posts, and some of them contained multiple spelling errors. If you want to come off as a good writer, learn to spell common words properly. To say you're a paid essay writer is a sketchy claim at best. And what should he be grateful for, by the way?
Do you think that there is ONE person on welfare or food stamps who wouldn't grab a renumerative job with both hands if one was offered to him?
Certainly. I have watched people walk from jobs because they didn't want to work, show up on time, be accountable.
Do you think that there is ONE person on welfare or food stamps who wouldn't grab a renumerative job with both hands if one was offered to him?
Certainly. I have watched people walk from jobs because they didn't want to work, show up on time, be accountable.
I've seen people walk from jobs because the jobs were usually bullshit.
Can you give examples? Frankly, I've usually found that bad employees are usually the result of bad management and bad supervision.
