From the Soapbox

WAKE UP!

It's time to LEARN, or at least Re-Educate Yourself!

So it’s official. One of the most left-leaning candidates in the history of the United States has emerged victorious. Around the country people are rejoicing that “change” will sweep across the land and the “evil, greedy” rich will get there comeuppance and justice will prevail! Sounds pretty good, huh?

FAIRNESS

These are the newest catch-words and they are gaining momentum

EQUALITY

POP QUIZ!

To which brand of government or type of society would you attach “equality”?

If you guessed Egalitarianism (triple word score in Scrabble!) then you are correct!!

Egalitarianism is “a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic rights and privileges” and “a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people.”

Did you see that?

Removal of inequalities, or, in other words, equality of results.

Can anyone tell me which society/government has “equality of results” as one of its prime objectives?

Did I hear socialism from the back of the blog?

Correct again!!

Is that what people really want? Individuality is naturally human. Each and every one of us has different wants and needs. These wants and needs are expressed through jobs, hobbies, clothes, cars, lifestyles, etc. What happens when you apply equality across individuality? Suffocating at best. Think of a non-necessity purchase you made recently. How many different brands, models, colors, etc did you have to choose from??

History has shown that “equality of results” is impractical. It has failed to raise the standards of those it intended to benefit. Instead, it has only lowered them.

Go plant you a row or two of “equality” in your backyard.

You’ll have a bumper crop of poverty and famine.

Egalitarianism is an attempt at utopia. In their mad dash to create equality in results, Egalitarians often use the power of the government to pass laws that conflict with the natural laws of economics and individual expression. This level of belief is the real enemy of the individual and freedom. To reach "equality of results" individual wants and needs have to be ignored, along with sacrificing one's self-determination. The only equality we need is the freedom for each person to live their life as they choose.

Capitalism is the uneven distribution of wealth

Socialism is the even distribution of poverty

Ok, let’s take a break and do a little fairness role-playing.

Let’s base our exercise on imputed income:

Dan and Barbara have owned their home for several years. They enjoy a modest mortgage payment of $900 a month. They live in a neighborhood where several houses are available for rent. Average rental price, per month, is $2000. The powers that be (yeah, the IRS) come and tell you that since you are living in your home for less than your neighbors, that difference is considered income and you should pay income taxes on it, because it's not fair that your neighbors pay more. Add it up. That’s an additional $13,200 a year. Would that be enough to push you into a higher tax bracket?? Some of you are saying, “This could never happen”. Maybe you’re right, but this idea is not an old one. The Clinton administration was working on the concept of imputed income when the Republicans took over.

I don’t think the next four years are going to be as bad as some are making it out to be. With the economy being in such dire straits the Obama administration, along with Congress, are not going to have a lot of wiggle room to bring in sweeping changes and reform. President-elect Obama was voted in largely because of his “blank slate” platform and good intentions. Good intentions do not always guarantee good results. Now, I’m not old enough to remember this personally, but those of you out there who are wiser than me will remember back in the 70’s someone who was voted in on good intentions and yielded poor results.

Reality has a way of grounding lofty idealists. Think of it as someone running through the forest with their head in the clouds, not seeing the fallen trees of reality ahead of them.

Those that are not “drunk on the Kool-Aid” will see the fallacies and stumblings of any administration while those “blinded by the light” will see their leader as being “ham stringed” by the opposing party who “refuses” to work with him/her.

In closing I leave you with a quote from Barry Goldwater:

“A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all way.”

Class dismissed…

The thoughts and ideas expressed in this blog posting are in no way consistent with the thoughts and ideas expressed by Barack Obama or the Democrat party. Therefore, you have been notified that any thoughts and ideas expressed in this blog posting are the equivalent of hate speech as defined by any mainstream media news outlet. Furthermore, aforementioned thoughts and ideas may cause offense to Democrats, liberals,non-achievers, those afflicted with wealth-envy, and any and all followers of the "Chosen One"...