Democratic Socialists vs. America First Populists

SARTRE, Contributing Writer "It's time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent."   Barack Obama

Democratic Socialists vs. America First Populists How many times do you have to hear that going off the financial cliff is a failure of controlling spending as opposed to a lack of revenue? Systemic deficits exist because government is too big, not because taxpayers are not paying their fair share. This assessment is sacrilege to the Democratic Socialists who make up both political parties. The "so called" debate over cutting back the growth in budgetary increases is void of any real substance or focus. The basic reason that the federal government leviathan instills mass hysteria and fear about cutting back on social welfare programs is that the system preaches a false egalitarian and utopia deliverance from reality. Contrast this dependency viewpoint with the foundations of America First populism. Thomas Jefferson presents the basis for a healthy economy. "Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are the most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise." The National Center for Constitutional Studies summarizes.

Joe Biden on Taxes: You Call It ‘Redistribution of Wealth,’ I Call It ‘Just Being Fair.’

Comment:  Once upon a time, the following article would have angered me because I would have viewed it as a threat to the most disadvantaged people in our society who are in need of some help.  Unfortunately, as I have awakened to the fact that most of the taxes taken from "We The People" are not used to help those in need, but actually used to oppress the people and bailout Wall Street and the International Banking Cartel.  Whoever still believes that the Federal Government is designed to help the needy is a fool.  Our system is corrupt and broken.

Don Cooper
LewRockwell.com
October 4, 2010

All I can say in response to Mr. Biden’s comment is: I’m done.

 I am so done with this government. Photo: Isafmedia.

Okay, Mr. Vice President. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I see now that the executive office’s position on wealth is that it is not fair for some to have more wealth than others and the fair thing to do then is to redistribute what some people have to others even if it has to be done without their permission. Wow! Was my Kindergarten teacher Ms. Lund wrong. She taught us that that was called stealing. As you can probably imagine, I’m actually quite upset at her right now for not doing a better job of explaining this to us at age 5 since I see now that I have forgone countless opportunities since then to redistribute wealth my way.

Better late than never though; my neighbor has a smoking hot 1969 Mustang convertible that has been restored to near mint condition. I on the other hand drive a 2006 Ford Escort. I don’t know how my neighbor obtained such a cherry ride but as you said: redistribution of wealth is just being fair so I’m going to redistribute his car to my garage tonight after he goes to bed. I’d do it during the day but I don’t know if he’s read your article today or not, so he might get upset if he hasn’t. Better to just do what is fair and worry about the rest later. Honestly, I’ve wanted his car since the first day I saw it but was struggling with the morality of forcibly taking things that don’t belong to me, until I read your article that says it’s okay.

Your article has given me so many ideas: we are a single income household and most of my friends are two income households, so those guys are way wicked wealthier than me. I think I’ll go sit down with some of them and discuss how much money we have altogether and then suggest that we divide it up equally amongst us. If they insist on being unfair assholes and not voluntarily redistributing their wealth to me and my family, then I’ll just quote you and take it without their permission. Unfortunately, some people in America are just selfish like that.

I can’t tell you what a profound impact this revelation is going to have on my life. Having just had an expensive surgical procedure and not having health insurance I was planning on paying for it out of my own pocket but now I see how un-fair that would be to me and my family when there are so many others in America with more money than us.

It would also seem that I am off the hook for my student loans now as well. I can simply keep putting them off until I die and let the government pay them off for me out of redistributed wealth.

This also changes my whole outlook on life and work. What a fool I’ve been for so long, taking personal responsibility for myself and busting my ass through school and my career in order to ensure that I’d always have the necessary marketable skills to earn a livelihood and provide for my family. When all along what I should have been doing is lobbying politicians like you to just do what is fair and give me more of other people’s money. It would seem all that college education didn’t make me very smart.

Also, I think this is a fantastic opportunity for you and your colleagues in Washington to prove to the electorate that you are a man of action. Considering the median household income in the U.S. last year was $67,000 and your annual income as vice president is almost $270,000 now is your chance to just do what is fair and redistribute three-quarters of your income to 3 other families so you 4 all make about the same income in 2010. What a great day for America. Could I also ask a favor: could you pass this letter along to the Clinton’s and John McCain for me? With their combined net worth of $100 million plus I think it would be beneficial to a number of American families for them to know how to make things in America more fair as well. I wish I could be there when those families get their money.

All kidding and sarcasm aside, all I can say in response to Mr. Biden’s comment is: I’m done. I am so done with this government. I am ashamed of this government. How ridiculous was that to say? How socially irresponsible? How socially destructive? How unconstitutional? How un-American? It ranks right up there with comments like: “Sarah Palin for president.” So it’s obvious that our vice-president advocates taking wealth from those that have it to “spare” – I guess Joey will be the one to decide what that means – and giving it to those that don’t have as much. I challenge anyone to try and convince me how that is in any reasonable way different from the communist manifesto: Karl Marx – “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

I’m also tired of that lame old political rhetoric that there are “unfortunate” people in America who need help and it’s “American” to help those in need. If it’s so damn “American” then why aren’t American’s helping them voluntarily? Why must the government intervene and force Americans to do what they say is inherently “American”? I’ll tell you why: because the kind of help the government wants has nothing to do with being American. I think American’s are some of the most magnanimous people on the planet, but they also want the freedom to choose their own charitable endeavors. And with every dollar the government taxes us to “just do what is fair” is one more dollar that Americans don’t have to be charitable with. Furthermore, if the government doesn’t run a welfare state then they risk losing a large, dependent cross-section of voters come election time. Now we can’t have that now can we?

Certainly there are those in our society that have fallen upon hard times due to no fault of their own, but I say they are the minority of minorities. The majority of the “unfortunate” ones sat right next to me in public school and are in the economic situation that they are in due to the decisions they’ve made throughout the course of their lives. Some would call me an asshole for expecting people to be responsible for their own lives and dealing with the consequences of their actions and in response I’d say that they are the assholes for feeling entitled to the fruits of the hard work of others.

I can’t tell you how sad it is to me to realize how many socialists and borderline communist-thinking people there actually are in America in 2010. It’s only been 20 years since the fall of communism in Europe and people are talking here now as if it never happened. As if the volumes and volumes of historical evidence on socialism and communism don’t exist. As if a society of social programs, entitlements and redistribution of wealth from the haves to the have-nots is a just, moral and productive society.

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The government blatantly and brazenly takes control of auto manufacturers, banks, insurance companies and now they want to control health care and millions of people don’t see anything wrong with that. So few are saying anything.

I don’t even recognize this country anymore, and I’m sure it doesn’t recognize me.

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Glenn Beck the Socialist

Phil Maymin
Lew Rockwell

Glenn Beck is a polarizing person among libertarians. Some laud him for being one of the few voices on television to criticize both Democrats and Republicans as being equally complicit in growing the size of government and pointing out that there is no significant difference between them. Others view him as a phony usurper of the freedom movement.

This raises even more interesting questions than just about Beck himself: what makes a person a phony? At what point can a person with formerly statist views be considered to have had an authentic change of heart?

The funny thing is that those who think he is a true libertarian tend to watch him; those that think he is a fake do not. I was one of those who did not, and it caused a lot of debate with those who did. Why not watch him? He is interesting, he raises good questions, and so on.

I finally watched him last night as he discussed the book Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. Thaler was my dissertation advisor a few years ago when I received my Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Chicago. I read an early version of their book. I even provided an extra Simpsons reference for them. I am mentioned in the acknowledgments. I have read every single post on the Nudge blog, sent them useful links, and commented on items. In short, I am intimately familiar with the themes and the content of Nudge.
Watching Beck, I discovered the truth about him: neither those who claim him as a libertarian nor those that denounce him as a phony are right. Beck is not a libertarian; he is a deep-seated socialist. But he is also not a phony; it is so deep-seated in him that he doesn’t even realize it.

I had three problems with Beck’s show. The first is that he provides the right conclusions but he gets there with the wrong arguments. This is extraordinarily frustrating to watch. Suppose you like a girl, or a boy. Or you find a particular religious text magnificent. Then imagine how you would feel hearing someone praise your girl or boy, or your religious text, but for all the wrong reasons. You want to simultaneously object and agree. Yes, the object of your heart is wonderful, but not at all in that way. "Thumbelina is beautiful. She is so tall!" Huh?


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