Liberally Free

On Friday, one of my co-workers who is a union volunteer had the distinct privilege of going to a conference with Al Gore and getting something equivalent to a 'back-stage pass' after the conference. Needless to say that today she was still lost somewhere on cloud 9, wherever that is.

I take issue with lots of stuff, that's what primarily defines character, no? People who do not take a stand are typically boring as they don't know what to think, and never bother to look stuff up and thus remain in their awful state of ennui. Today I take issue with the term "liberal," as it clearly is a hypocritical title since it is applied to the wrong group of people.

The word is from Latin -- liberalis -- meaning; freedom, befitting of free, etc. Of course, it has a new meaning now: an entire political mindset that purports to be 'free', but in reality is readily waiting to enslave the masses into socialism or even better (I assume), communism. Looking at their agenda proves this; more taxes to pay for more government assistance. How does paying more taxes make you free? If anything, it makes you more dependent upon the hand that feeds.

Sure, universal healthcare is a neat idea -- no more haggling with HMO's over what is covered and at what cost [80% co-pays]. But will the quality of care increase? And what is the cost to the tax-payers as a whole? If I were a doctor, and all of a sudden I get the same flat rate, what would prompt me to give better care? If anything, I'd see more patient in less time. Sure, these are superficial arguments. Not to mention all the people out of work who were in the insurance industry.

I remember a saying, "[y]ou can take the man out of the slums, but you can't take the slums out of the man."In Spanish, they have a similar saying, "Aunque la mona se veste en ceda, la mona se queda." Or in other words, 'even though a monkey dresses in silk, it's still a monkey.' This is a truism that has been proven before. It's another reason why lottery winners often wind up broke and bankrupt. They didn't earn it, didn't know how to use it, and lost it all. That's one of the great things about earning your keep: you learn to respect what you've rightfully earned.

The main problem I have with Liberalism is they are way to eager to try and help people that, the whole point of accountability, responsibility, and basic self-respect are lost. I understand sometimes people need help, but people who need constant help do so because they know there is a perpetual obligation to help them. Instead of helping people up, it'll just keep everyone down on the same level without incentives to do better. Taxes will be 50% of your income, but at least we'll have universal health care, welfare programs, and Ben & Jerry's Ice cream made with real human milk. Damn you PETA, but I'll save that topic.

I've mentioned in other places, but the good ol' US of A is nearly a socialist country; we're just not taxed enough yet. But we have too many programs to pay for every year. That's why we're constantly over-budget and digging a deeper national dept. I know, I know, Bill Clinton balanced the budget years ago, and with a crippled military/nation defense because he drastically cut funding, that lead to a memorable September in 2001. Funny, Al Qeada had attacked the US at least 4 times prior to that during the Clinton years, and they never were punished for it. Til now. Whoops, side tanget.

So that is my marginal point today; despite the wrongfully named political mindset, how does being taxed 50% of your income make anyone free? You'll not be one lick happier with Liberals pushing for a socialistic approach to fix this country. You'll have less to be free with. And all your hard work will be for nothing save to pick up those that refuse to do so on their own. But at least our title will imply freedom; liberalis. Liberal US.