A Founding Father who helped the poor, but didn't entitle them.
Efforts by the Liberal left, or do we call them “Progressive”, continually question the wisdom and the morality of those with Conservative political values. It’s about time to call them on it. It’s about time the majority of Americans who believe in the values categorized as “Conservative” stand up and quit taking it. To do otherwise is to concede your morality. To do otherwise is cowardly.
Some of my Liberal friends have been taken aback, recently, by my strong defense of my views and my response to their personal attacks. I think some of their surprise has been brought on by the sheer newness of such rebuttal. They are too used to calling Conservatives greedy, selfish, uncaring, and hypocritical without adequate response. So they continue their unthinking, unintelligent and amoral attacks. They claim the high ground and hold it because we’re to pansy to tell them they’re wrong. Either that or they’re right. We are greedy, uncaring, selfish, hypocrites. I for one, don’t think that’s the case; which is why I’ll swat down the mean-spirited attacks every time, even when they come from friends.
Recently in an on-line stream of comments I refuted using China as an example of a nation to be emulated for a lot of obvious reasons. A Liberal friend said I had my head buried in the sand and then offered a sarcastic swipe of the idea of China providing more freedoms for their citizens. When I pointed out to my friend that they were being rude and sarcastic I was excoriated and have not enjoyed this friends thoughts since.
In another recent discussion I trudged down the dangerous path of debating abortion. I stated that life begins either at conception, at birth, or somewhere in between; clearly a reasonable statement. My liberal friend stated that he believed life begins at birth and that I was insensitive to a mother wanting an abortion and uncaring about a baby that might be born with a heroin addiction. Now I had not even stated when I thought life began but had only postulated that it could be debated that it occurred some time prior to birth and for that a very good friend characterized me as selfish and uncaring and mean-spirited. It’s got to stop. It’s got to get to a point where reasonable ideas are treated as such and those voicing them are not demonized for doing so.
The most obvious of these Liberal attacks is the charge of greed and selfishness. In the words of Liberals those who make substantially more income than the majority of Americans and don’t want to pay more taxes to pay for more Democratic welfare programs are greedy. They furiously claim the GOP is taking food, medicine, education or nurturing away from the poor and starving. They claim Conservatives don’t care to help the less fortunate in our Society. We’re uncaring. The fact is if we didn’t have better alternatives they’d be right. They’d be right if numerous surveys didn’t reveal that those who call themselves Conservative give a higher percentage of their income to charity than do those who call themselves Liberal or Progressive. They’d be right if evidence showed that Democratic Government spending on such things like education actually worked. They might be right if the money they claimed was going to programs that benefit society as a whole actually went to programs that benefit society as a whole. Liberals might be right in calling us selfish, greedy and uncaring if illegal immigrants were taking the jobs and social benefits of college educated, more affluent Americans.
But while Federal tax dollars going toward education have skyrocketed in the past forty years graduation rates, and test scores have remained static or declined. A half-billion dollars went to solar company
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Solyndra and its failed business model rather than building roads and bridges and other “shovel ready” projects from the 2009 $700-billion stimulus package. And for every dollar that goes toward AIDS research to placate a loud but relatively small minority of staunchly Democratic victims of the disease, an equal number of federal dollars is denied research on heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Multiple-Sclerosis and other diseases that affect everybody. And while our Liberal friends advocate for the rights and more hand-outs for illegal immigrants they ignore the poor and less educated legal American or legal immigrant whose job and who’s government benefits the illegal immigrant is taking.
The fact is my faith and my morality dictate and require that I help those who are truly in need. All that makes us human dictates that the least capable among us be given food, shelter, education and nurturing by those who are more capable or more well-off. But my question is when did it become wiser or more compassionate to give a hungry man a fish, than to teach a hungry man to fish? Why are you a better person than me because you look at people and consider them incapable of individual achievement and devoid of personal fortitude; while I understand failure to be an integral part of success?
I don’t mind debate. In fact I love it. But I detest the personal attacks and the moral superiority the left perpetually presents. You don’t need government to be caring and compassionate. It’s harder to be caring and compassionate when you’re Conservative because of the name calling Liberals will subject you to. But don’t take it. Stand up for what you know is right. And in closing I’ll just point out that one of our Founding Fathers and greatest thinkers agreed with a more Conservative approach to helping the poor: “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.” —Benjamin Franklin
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M Schuett blah blah blah 