I’m an Optimist

[DWordinger]

I'm still hoping Dr. Paul will be on the ballot in November. Anything can happen. After all, "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California." As it is now, all the leading candidates are socialists. What is the difference between a socialist, communist, fascist, and a collectivist? The spelling.

The leading candidates have no concept of personal responsibility, individualism, and the other qualities that made this nation great. From "Our Collectivist Candidates," by David Boaz:

Sen. Obama told the students that "our individual salvation depends on collective salvation." He disparaged students who want to "take your diploma, walk off this stage, and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should buy."

The people Mr. Obama is sneering at are the ones who built America – the traders and entrepreneurs and manufacturers who gave us railroads and airplanes, housing and appliances, steam engines, electricity, telephones, computers and Starbucks. Ignored here is the work most Americans do, the work that gives us food, clothing, shelter and increasing comfort. It's an attitude you would expect from a Democrat.

Or this year's Republican nominee. John McCain also denounces "self-indulgence" and insists that Americans serve "a national purpose that is greater than our individual interests." During a Republican debate at the Reagan Library on May 3, 2007, Sen. McCain derided Mitt Romney's leadership ability, saying, "I led . . . out of patriotism, not for profit." Challenged on his statement, Mr. McCain elaborated that Mr. Romney "managed companies, and he bought, and he sold, and sometimes people lost their jobs. That's the nature of that business." He could have been channeling Barack Obama.
-SNIP-
But hypocrisy is not the biggest issue. The real issue is that Messrs. Obama and McCain are telling us Americans that our normal lives are not good enough, that pursuing our own happiness is "self-indulgence," that building a business is "chasing after our money culture," that working to provide a better life for our families is a "narrow concern."

Somehow collectively we are all better off when we are all worse off individually. That is like saying 1+1+1+1+1+1=6 but if we take a little away from each one, we have .9+.9+.9+.9+.9+.9=7. The technical term for this is "Bovine excrement."