To Be Right!

How individuals handle adversity says a lot about their character.  With unemployment rates climbing to double digits in many areas of the country, we can get a interesting view into the character of those affected.

Two weeks ago, I had the dreaded meeting.  First thing Monday morning, I was pulled into a conference room and given the standard HR pitch: “In an examination of the entire organization, we are making some cuts.  Your position is one that will be eliminated.  You’ve been a great asset to the company, yada, yada, yada.”

And like so many people across the country, I was downsized, laid off, let go, whatever.  I lost my job.

(I wonder how Obama will figure me into his “saved jobs” statistic?  But, I digress.)

So two Monday’s ago, I left the office and hit the W&OD Trail in Vienna, VA to go for a run and think.  What am I going to do now?  It didn’t take long to figure it out…

After the requisite conversations with myself about what I wish I’d said to the firing manager (an intolerable b&%ch) I moved on to more productive thoughts.  I decided right then and there, a mere hour after my firing, that I would start my own business.  And that’s just what I did.

After shaking off the initial shock, I went into action.  Calls to the State Corporation Commission, a corporate lawyer, set up 800# and got my company website up.  Called my accountant to discuss invoicing and billing.  Immediately updated my LinkedIn profile, and began sifting through all kinds of business and industry contacts to discuss partnerships and potential client needs.

Nine business days later, we’ve onboarded a few clients, set up speaking engagements with partners, and we’re actvely recruiting sales people (no shortage there).  Productivity is the name of the game - not a second to lose - my future depends on it.

At least twice a day I send or receive an e-mail with my wife that says something like, “We’re on our way!” or, “I know this is going to work!”  And it will.  Drive, passion, and knowing that the only thing holding me back is me.  Nobody is going to make my business work except me.

My wife, almost in jest, asked me if I was going to apply for unemployment.  It was a jest because she knew the answer before she asked: No.  Although I have been dropping some 45% of my paychecks into some government bureaucracy or another since I was 14, I don’t want that money.  Those dollars are stained with tyranny.  They are not clean dollars.  They signify everything that I stand against.  I so not want any handout.  I am able -bodied, strong, knowledgeable, and driven to succeed - I am the embodiment of a modern conservative.

Sure, I could start sleeping in, hitting Starbucks from 10 am to noon, dressing in shorts and a tee shirt, and tactily start looking for a new job, while collecting unemployment and complaining that “there’s nothing out there.”  Or I could do what I am doing - produce something.

It is interesting to note that I received a notification that Obama’s Recovery & Reinvestment Act will cover all but 35% of  my COBRA bills.  This will save me and my family some $600 per month for the next 9 months in health care costs.  But guess who pays for it?  My former employer.   So here we have a situation where my company was stretched so thin that they had to lay off some 50 sales people and a few other positions - mine included.  And now they are going to have to pay my health care premiums for the next nine months.

Did any brilliant politician stop to think that making employers pay the COBRA premiums for displaced employees will make it harder for those same companies to recover and hire back their work force?

Well, our politicians are not known for their intelligence.  I am just annoyed that so many R’s signed on to this ridiculous “recovery act).

When it’s all said and done, I will be fine.  So will all the rest of the people in this country who pull themselves up by the boot straps and do something.  Nobody will make you successful - that is for each of us to do on our own.  While some will complain and do poorly, others will thrive.  Put me in the latter group.

Someone recently accused me of sounding patronizing for suggesting that liberals should learn a bit about Federalism.  In hindsight I was patronizing - I admit it.  To be clear, Webster defines patronizing like this:

Treating somebody as if he or she is less intelligent or knowledgeable than yourself.

I actually regret sounding this way because I think that the substance of the conservative argument is so powerful, we don’t need anything but facts.

But it is the very potency of our philosophy that serves as the catalyst for the patronizing quip.  Conservative principles are so spot on, it is hard to believe that there are people who have a diametrically opposed view.  Let’s take three quick examples of this…

1) Conservatives believe that taxes are too high - for everyone.

When a business pays higher taxes, they pass this cost on to consumers.  When a wealthy person pays higher taxes, they have less money to invest.  When a wealthy business owner pays higher taxes, they may do both: increase their prices, or invest less in growth.  These things are not disputable.

But liberals think that the rich need to pay more in taxes.  Why?  Because to a liberal, a business or an individual who acheives success has done so unfairly and perhaps by exploiting some disempowered group.  This makes no sense.

So when conservatives want to cut taxes for businesses and wealthier individuals - a move that would help the business itself, the workers who are employed there, and the economy at large, liberals do nothing but complain that this is somehow exploiting poor people.

In this case, how can we not sound patronizing?  It is so patently obvious that tax cuts - across the board - are good for everyone, that it is hard not to be patronizing when an idealogical oppoenent refuses to see the clear truth.

2) Conservatives believe in smaller governmnt.

Government does nothing well, except perhaps fight wars.  Even at the smallest levels, government is laughably inefficient and bad at most everything.  Examples abound…  Between Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the government is staring at $53 Trillion in unfunded debt.  The war on poverty, the war on drugs, and the war on whatever the panic du jour is, have cost the taxpayers trillions of dollars over the years with nothing - zero - to show for it.  Waste, fraud and abuse are rampant.  One only needs to head down to the DMV to get a new drivers license to see the inefficiency at work: take a number and sit down while the eight unmotivated tellers walk citizens through myriad bureaucratic forms and procedures.

Yet the liberal wants more.

Medicare and Medicaid are complete and utter failures.  The money the government spends on just these two programs is far more than we can afford to pay - mostly because of waste, fraud, abuse and complete inefficiency.  Yet liberals stand there and crow for the government to expand the programs to even more people, when together these programs are already an abject failure.

Faced with a massive government bureaucracy that has failed and with liberals clamouring to expand these programs dramatically, how are we supposed to react if not patronizing?

3) Conservatives believe in personal freedom.

People must be allowed to live their lives free from government intrusion.  Yet at every turn, the government is taking away our freedom.  Who ever would have thought that the government would be telling us how far our toilet must be from our sink?  Where does the government get the authority to decide a business is “too big to fail?”  From the mundane to the supremely ridiculous the government has overstepped its boundary (the Constitution).

Liberals think that the Constitution should mold itself to the times.  In that case, we have no rule of law at all - it is determined on the fly by the whims of career bureaucrats and power-hungry politicians.

So when faced with a question of policy, conservatives always err on the side of personal freedom.  Liberals want the government to control all that we do.  And it is always cloaked in helping the children, helping the environment, or helping some minority group who, they say, can’t possibly do for themselves.

Conservatives reject this.  When people are free to make their own decisions, we thrive as a society.  It is when people are prevented from making their own decisions that society crumbles (see: USSR, pre-WWII Germany, Cuba, etc.)

History is clear, so when a liberal makes another grab for governmental power over the individual, another grab to confiscate more of our hard earned paycheck, or another move to further increase the size and scope of government, of course we sound patronizing.  Can you blame us?

Here are the top 25 reasons I am  a conservative.  Got any others?

1. I want to keep my own money - not have it stolen from my paycheck.
2. I want to take care of myself - I don’t need or want the government involved in my life.
3. To me freedom means being able to achieve, but also to fail - I’m good with that.
4. I think that people who can’t get ahead are stupid, lazy or both.
5. Medicaid and Medicare are broke - $53 Trillion in unfunded liabilities.  I don’t believe the government can expand the programs to cover everyone and miraculously become profitable and efficient.
6. If you signed a mortgage you can’t afford - it is not my problem.
7. I don’t think anyone knows what the right temperature of the Earth is.
8. I believe that people are born with natural rights - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
9. To me, equality means the equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome.
10. I judge people by what they say and do.
11. I don’t understand why blacks are not offended by affirmative action. What, you need special treatment because you’re black? You’re just as good as I am - it should offend you.
12. I think we should help people who cannot help themselves. But if you can help yourself and you choose not to, the hell with you.
13. I believe the federal government serves the States, not the other way around.
14. I think the federal government should do only the things specifically prescribed in the Constitution. Nothing more.
15. I believe that in the USA English is our language - we should not cater to those who choose not to learn it.
16. I believe freedom is granted by God, not by man.
17. I think that we should all pay the same percentage of our income in taxes, or pay the same percentage on purchases with no income tax.
18. I want to be left alone to live as I wish.
19. I think that the only obligation individuals have to society is to live a moral life and not infringe on anyone else.
20. I don’t believe I owe anybody anything, no matter how poor they are or what color or gender they are.
21. I believe that the Supreme Court is an oligarchy and must be stripped of the power it has over the other branches of government.
22. I believe people should be able to exercise their religion anywhere, including on public property.
23. I think the green  movement is a ruse to take away our freedom.
24. I believe that the only way to keep politicians honest is through draconian term limits.
25. I saw my son’s heart beat at 7 weeks old.  To abort him would have been to kill him.

I’m sure there are at least 25 more reasons.  Just think - to be liberal is to believe the opposite of these things.  Kinda sucks to be liberal, eh?

It has always frustrated me that most liberals don’t seem to understand what it means to be liberal - and they certainly don’t understand what conservatism is.

In my estimation, there are two distinct types of liberals: those who are well intentioned but have no idea how pernicious their intentions are – the Squishy liberals. Then there are those who know exactly how harmful they are – the Wicked liberals.

Squishy liberals are a damn shame. But as tragic as their condition is, they can be reformed. You see, squishy liberals just don’t understand the true nature of their own political philosophy. (Interestingly, the wicked liberals know this, and exploit it at every opportunity. While the squishy liberal thinks they are a part of some grand movement that promotes kindness and good will, they are basically victims of a ruse: the Wicked liberals play on the emotions of the Squishy mind, tricking them into supporting the cause.) Squishy liberals think that liberalism is fair and allows people to be, in essence, more free. Judgment or lack thereof, is the foundation for this misguided view. Squishy liberals think that by not passing judgment on others, they are enlightened. After all, the human condition comes in many forms, and those people who find themselves in unfortunate circumstances should not be judged in any way – it is simply not their fault.

Whose fault is it?

It is certainly not the victim’s fault. But there is plenty to go around. Wealthy white men, the culture, societal pressure, wealthy white men, discrimination, and wealthy white men are typically to blame for all of the downtrodden.

So the Squishy liberal just assumes that since the downtrodden bear no responsibility for their circumstance, society must provide a bail out…

Can’t get a job? Wealthy white men are to blame - society should give you money.

Can’t get a job and you’re a minority? You should get special treatment. (I never understood why blacks weren’t offended by affirmative action.)

Here illegally and need medical care? Society should cover your bills.

Sign a mortgage you can’t afford? Society should pay your bills since the wealthy white man took advantage of you.

Squishy liberals think that society should help any and all people who won’t take responsibility for themselves. Since no judgment should ever be passed on anyone, it makes perfect sense that society should take care of those who can’t take care of themselves. Personal responsibility is something that only wealthy white men crow about – and only because they have no impediments to success. Merely by being white and male, they have an unfair advantage.

At the root, Squishy liberals just want to help people, and they think that as a country we are so wealthy, we can and should help as many people as possible.

What they fail to see is that in “helping” people, they are eroding our freedom.

Here is the distinct difference between the Wicked Liberal and the Squishy: The Wicked Liberal knows that liberal policies erode freedom – and they don’t care.

The Wicked Liberal sees the United States itself as inherently unfair. The government is the means to create fairness. Creating fairness cannot be achieved by promoting the poor to wealthy. Rather, fairness can only be achieved if the wealthy are stripped down with a concurrent cleansing of incentive, desire and material demand.

If the population can be trained not to desire achievement and personal wealth, they will be complicit in the seizure and redistribution of their assets. The wealthy are made poor, and the poor stay poor. Then, with the entire population poor and with no incentive, a liberal Utopia is achieved.

Except for the Wicked liberals themselves, for they casually exempt themselves from the wealthy white evil-doers who are responsible for all of the social ills. So while the mid to high income earners are soaked at tax time, the Wicked Liberal elite will make sure that the confiscation of wealth and freedom is never applied to them. They will continue to enjoy the fruits of achievement, although theirs will not be in noble productivity, but the base achievement of power and rhetorical prowess.

I’ve got many friends who are self-identified liberals. Most are Squishy liberals who actually think the government should right wrongs and help those in need. They will support most any government endeavor as long as the intentions are good. But I know a few who know full well that liberalism is designed to confiscate wealth and freedom, so that a government bureaucratic class can take and maintain power in an effort to achieve a liberal Utopia.

The conservative understands the ruse of Wicked liberal. The real trick will be to convince the Squishy liberals that they are actually undermining themselves.

It’s almost half way through 2009.  Although it has only been a few months since BO took over, it seems like a lifetime.  Indeed, he has spent more money than a few lifetimes of Presidents!

We need to start focusing on our guy (or gal) for 2012.  But who?  I have a part of me that thinks we need a previousely unknown candidate.  A dark horse who can rally the troops.  But the more pragmatic side of me urges caution in that regard.  So who is it going to be??