Why both the Democrats and Republicans have it wrong. And there isn’t a single link to a news network or a pundit (in the common sense) in this post. It’s probably fair to say that the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas season is being spoiled for me by our politicians. Right or Left - they’re both completely fouled up and wrong. And, the farther Right (Tea Party) or Left (Progressives) you get, the more wrong they are. Fundamentally, both parties are self-absorbed and tyrannical. Neither has anyone’s best interests in mind, except for its own gain. Although the approaches differ, their goal is self-promotion and personal gain. Let’s start with the most obvious: the Tea Party. They embody an excellent observation by Professor Angus Deaton at Princeton: “It is one thing for some people to escape deprivation and leave others behind. It is quite another when the escapees use their newfound freedom to block the paths of those trying to find their own way out.” (Harvard Business Review, Dec. 2012, pg. 42) Like all deceptions, there is a kernel of truth to what Tea Partiers say. However, if you believe their approach will take you along for the ride, you become as self-absorbed as they are. Moreover, like any good tyrant, the more at risk their position becomes, the louder they shout. The Left is no better. Their tyranny is different, but equally well described by Professor Deaton: “When successful people...use their success to change the rules in their favor...that success is no longer something to be celebrated.” The Democrats foster an obligation to support them by giving away what is not affordable and so mired in regulation as to be unenforceable. (The Republicans aren’t innocent in that regard, either.) Both parties are tyrants in every sense of the word. They govern from the Right or the Left, with some variation, and will change their rules in any way that helps them. As tyrants, they have forfeited their right to rule. It is only their action as tyrants - and our mindless support as voters - that keeps them in office. It’s time to govern from the middle, to govern with consideration, kindness and love, to consider what will happen to both poor and rich when laws are enacted. It’s also time for us as citizens to stop mindlessly parroting the pundits and start to think for ourselves, to reach our own conclusions and stand up for and reach out to one another. We need to vote intelligently, not from a sense of obligation to a person or party. Most importantly, we need to understand that freedom and equality cannot coexist. As Professor Allan Bloom said in, “The Closing of the American Mind”: we can be free or we can be equal, but we can’t be both. As long as we live in a free country, we have a moral obligation to find intelligent ways to help those who aren’t as successful as some of us have become. Neither political party has it right. Not even close.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 13:17:14 +0000
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