Sunday, November 2, 2014

Liberals Have No Faith in the American People





I cannot believe that I’m stuck with only two talk radio stations in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Last Friday, NPR’s 9:00 AM show featured a segment on baking.  Well, that was it for me.  So, I turned the dial to WBT 1110 AM.  Keith Larson, master of the mundane, had taken the day off.  Jerry Klein, an old bitter hippie, was the guest host.  And as you can expect, he accused conservatives of being selfish pricks, who need to compromise their principles, and what little wealth they have, for the common good, as he sees fit.


Mr. Klein likes to address his audience as boys and girls.  That is how liberals see us common folk.  We are just a bunch of children that need to be shepherded and lectured on how to live, spend our money, and care for others.  And of course, who knows better on how to run our lives than an old hippie?


During Mr. Klein’s three hour lecture, I realized something.  I realized liberals have no faith in the goodness of the American people.  They don’t believe we will do the right thing for ourselves, our family, or our neighbors.  Liberals have faith in one thing only, and that is the general government.  Only by force of a bureaucrat will the American people do what is right.


Mr. Klein took a caller to task about social security and the welfare state.  He asked who would take care of the poor and elderly if not the government. The caller replied friends, family, neighbors and local churches.  That wasn’t good enough for the old hippie.  Klein insisted that the poor were left out in the streets while the bourgeoisie callously stepped over them.  Only the federal government had the heart to take care of the downtrodden.  I’ve got news for Mr. Klein, history states otherwise.


Before Progressives began their crusade against the U.S. Constitution, liberty, property, and the middle-class by implementing the welfare state; fraternal organizations and mutual aid societies helped the poor, not just by giving them a handout, but by giving them a hand up.  Here is an excerpt from Intellectual Takeout:


America’s first settlers and Founders were certainly not oblivious to the problems of poverty, nor were they callous in their treatment of it. Yet they explicitly urged its alleviation by means other than the federal government. This ideology was concisely expressed by James Madison, who declared that "Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." And Ben Franklin once stated, "the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it."


Giving the poor a hand up rather than a hand out continued beyond the Founding era through a variety of private organizations and charities known as mutual aid societies. After visiting America in the early 19th century, Alexis de Tocqueville made note of this phenomenon when he wrote, "Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions, constantly form associations. ... Wherever, at the head of some new undertaking, you see the government in France, or a man of rank in England, in the United States you will be sure to find an association."



These types of organizations originally opposed a government-run, government-funded welfare state because they viewed mutual aid as an expression of independence and personal responsibility. With dues from members, they provided services such as unemployment insurance, workers compensation, health insurance, life insurance, and sick pay. In many cases, a fraternal society would hire a doctor to care for the members' families giving them access to reliable, inexpensive healthcare. Additionally, these organizations established a privatized safety net through orphanages, hospitals, and homes for the elderly.


Liberals, like Jerry Klein, would have us believe Americans are callous and selfish.  They don’t see the inherent good in our history or our people.  If anything, their views are a reflection of their instincts and ideology.


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