Too Much Information, Over-stimulation
America is either thinking too much or not enough; but oddly enough, I think the former is true right about now.
As far as the Ann Coulter link a couple of posts below, I believe I've set a record...
I believe that's the most comments I've gotten on a post made up of a dozen words or less.
Jack and I eventually abandoned the comment box in order to engage in a lengthy email debate, in which I think each of us was reasonably convinced that we could "convert" the other. (Must be that cursed blogger's arrogance...)
The reason I fear too much information is because it clouds the real issue. Issues. Issues. Issues... Abortion, guns, religion, gay rights, poverty, education, taxes, freedom, wars...
Everybody has one, and many are so passionate about their adopted causes that they lose sight of what makes us special.
Freedom.
Not just to say whatever you feel like saying. Yeah, that's nice, and I appreciate it, but in another fifty years, I'm only going to get so much satisfaction out of saying, "Told you so...told you this country was moving toward socialism. Now look at us. No one wants to go to med school since doctor's salaries are capped off, no such thing as private health insurance, three years to get in for a fucking pap smear (and what's the point; if they find something, I'll die of cancer before I get a referral out of this government bullshit), education is standardized across the nation (now it sucks everywhere), and there are more bums than ever because it doesn't pay to get a fucking job when taxes are at 60%. You can work your ass off and live fairly well, or live off the government and live fairly well. What's the difference? We are no longer a feared nation. Our defenses are down, and Switzerland could whip our asses if they put their minds to it."
Now. Before everyone gets pissy, I only picked the fifty year mark because after that, I'll be too dead to be exercising my right to free speech.
Do I really think it will get that bad? No. Thankfully, there are enough people holding offices who see the dangers of big government to hold off the worst of it. But it creeps. People want immediate gratification. Fix my NOW problem. There are "Sure! I'll fix your NOW problem" candidates, and they don't give a flying fuck about long term repercussions.
The answer HAS to be, "No. You live in a free world. Fix your own problems, and I'll take less out of your paycheck so you can do it."
Freedom. We have the least amount of government. That's what makes us special. That's it. Take it away, and we're not special. Period.
I don't care which issue you think is most important to you. This isn't about being partisan. Neither party is being fiscally conservative enough to reduce government to my liking. But you go with lesser of two evils. If you appreciate what makes our country special, then you go with less government.
When you get a check in the mail from a seedy lender for $5000, why don't you cash it? I'm betting it's because it bothers you that the interest rate on it is 24%. You exercise discipline because it's just not worth it in the long run.
We must do the same.
15% of our checks should be going home with us, but because of a "more government" decision, which ended up being permanent, it doesn't.
Jack pointed out to me that if there was no social security, the irresponsible would not save for retirement, and they'd end up living off of the taxpayers anyway.
I agree. Make them pay SS. But let anyone who can prove that they are putting 15% into an IRA opt out. After all, this is a free country, right? Yeah. Sure. It just has socialist tendencies. Social security is one of them.
It can't happen again.
Grow some balls and get some discipline. Think it's easy for me? No. I have more financial bad luck than I care to mention. I have a Z-shaped backbone, an X-ray and a doctor's note that qualifies me for disability, but rather I work 40 hours a week in our small business (and my husband twice that). That would be the same small business that government treasures (because it employs 80% of the workforce), but taxes the hell out of.
So it sucks. Tough it out.
You don't groom people to become dependent upon government. That's not freedom.
Don't cash the check.
posted by Key on
10:46 PM
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Comments (4)
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The Brier Patch links with:
Thinking Too Much
Great post, Key. Too bad you put it up at almost midnight my time!
What you say about personal responsibilty is something I agree with, which I already knew from prior email conversations with you, and is why I said we're not that far apart in what we believe. While we can never control completely what occurs in our lives (your spine, another blogger's MS, a third bloggers incipient MS, the list of personal tragedies is immense), we CAN control how we react to these occurences, and that is where personal responsibility kicks in.
It is not the role of government to "make things right", because no human entity or institution could ever hope to make things right. However, we're stuck with the institutions left to us by our predecessors, and we have to make the best of that legacy and the culture they created. What we should do now is find a reasonable balance between hard-headed sensibility and heartfelt compassion. Like everything else, that balance is hard to achieve and even harder to maintain, but that does not mean we should not try.
Key, I have met you in person. You are a beautiful woman. Everybody who saw you at the blog-meet in Dahlonega said the same thing. Remember when you stepped over me to find a seat at the restaurant table? Hell, I fell in love right then and there. Don't give me any shit about your "Z-shaped back." I would be happy to examine it more closely anytime you want me to.
Okay, enough dirty talk.
I disagree with Jack. We are not "stuck" with institutions that don't work work unless we throw up our hands and declare that once government fucks up, there's just nothing we can do about it. I don't buy that philosophy. Too many people do. We can CHANGE IT if enough people want to.
People need to make up their minds. Are we sheeple, hearded by government, or do WE call the shots? Hell, you know how I think about that issue. I just don't believe that enough people think that way anymore.
I believe we're thinking too much. Gotta link it. Good Job!!
I think Rob may have misunderstood what I meant when I said we are "stuck with the institutions left to us by our predecessors". What I should have said is "we have to deal with the legacy of our predecessors". I was not trying to say we should throw up our hands and say we can do nothing. What I am saying is that we can't just flick a switch and make things the way we think they should be. It would be nice if we could, but the world doesn't work that way. There are consequences of the legacy we have received, and we have to deal with those consequences, just as the generation that fought World War II had to deal with the consequences of the outcome of World War I.
I'm all for telling government what to do instead of the other way around; I've said exactly that on Random Fate; government is here to serve the people, not to nursemaid or parent the people.
HammerHead
