Red and Blue
|
You can be a good American, and subscribe to any of a huge variety of political and religious beliefs. There are however, at least 3 popular beliefs which no one can subscribe to and also be a good American. I will discuss these later, but first I want to explain how Socialism is actually compatible with our Constitution. Or, more accurately, can be compatible within Constitutional limits. The restriction is very simple: the Federal Government has no Constitutional power to run or mandate socialist programs. The States, however, do. This principle is called Federalism, and the 10th amendment is most often cited as making the principle explicit. By Socialism, I mean government schools, government health care, government daycare, government welfare, and many more services run by government officials and paid for by tax revenue. Conservatives often jokingly refer to Blue states like California as the “Peoples Republic of California”. While conservatives believe that Free Markets are better, blue states are nevertheless within their States Rights to run their state the Socialist way. Personally, I am a Red state person. But I can understand why some people prefer the other. I don’t like bureaucrats telling me what doctors to see. But other people do like professionals telling them what to do on most areas of their life. Usually this is because they wish to devote their full attention to something else: art, music, sports, study. I think almost anyone would hate extreme socialism that dictates your career, who you marry, what you study, or what you do in your leisure time. One “ism” that you can’t subscribe to and be a good American is “National Socialism”. This is socialism that wants to impose its system by force on the entire nation, and the world. Unfortunately, this is the kind we have in Washington now. I believe this National Socialism can only be defeated by the seeming impossible: red and blue making common cause to preserve our Constitution. This will require conservatives to tolerate socialists states (although they can continue to insist that free markets are better). This will require socialists to help remove socialist programs from the Federal Government. This will also let blue states tailor socialist programs their own way without Federal interference. (And of course continue to insist that government programs are better than free markets.) It is possible to run a fiscally sound socialist state. Denmark is an example (as are many northern countries). However, a common problem with socialist states is runaway spending and bankruptcy (free market states have different problems). The Federal government has no Constitutional power to make states “bail out” a bankrupt fellow state. This will keep fiscal idiocy confined to state boundaries. (Other states may decide to bail out anyway, though I don’t recommend it - it rewards idiocy.) One thing for socialists to note: socialism + open borders = bankruptcy. The only way for open borders to work economically is with free markets. Denmark has a decades long waiting list of people hoping to get into their system. Now I get politically incorrect. You can be a “moderate” or liberal Muslim and a good American, but you cannot be a good Muslim and a good American. This is because classical Islam demands that the entire world be under Islamic rule and Sharia law. A good classical Muslim must work to destroy America and bring it under Islam. That is the Islamic vision for world peace. You cannot be a good Marxist and a good American. In fact, you can’t be a good Marxist and a good citizen of any country. This is because Marxism calls for the destruction of the current system to make room for new growth. The Marxist cure for disease in the forest is a forest fire. America is under attack by all three of these enemies. Red and blue must make common cause to preserve our country. Posted 6/10/2010 at 9:23 PM |
2 Comments
