Barack Obama's campaign for the Presidency was rooted in the idea of change...imprecise, undetailed change. With President George Bush's public approval rating at about 20%, it is not surprising that Obama's clarion call for change propelled him into office. To voters, apparently, even unknown change was enticing.
The centerpiece of American philosophy is the sanctity and sovereignty of the individual.
Individuals, not groups nor special classes, have rights which cannot be denied to them under any circumstances. Individual achievement, success and rewardsare respected. The fruits of an individual's labor is the protected property of the individual that produced them. Each individual is free to live his life as he or she chooses provided only that the individual not initiate force against others and thereby deny them their co-equal right to freedom of choice.
These revolutionary ideas spawned America's greatness. They set the environment and were the impetus for unimagined production, progress, well-being and strength.. They established America as a country of optimisim and opportunity, and are the cornerstones of the American Dream.
In but a few months since his inauguration, PresidentObama has begun his assault on American ideals. The unique commitment to the individual is being replaced with a group mentality -- "We're all in this together," "We all have to sacrifice," "We all have to pay for the needs of the disadvantaged, the poor, the uneducated." Differences in financial achievements are sought to be minimized in the name of equality and fairness. "America's wealth has to be redistributed." "The haves have more than they need and should help provide the have nots with the better life to which they are entitled." Welfare programs are being implemented pell-mell by the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats to provide the minorities with medical care, education and financial support. In other words: "To cach according to his needs, from each according to his ability"...the very same ideas popularized by Karl Marx and the communists.
Thomas Jefferson must be turning over. All men are created equal, he postulated, not guaranteed to live an equal or even a reasonably equal quality of life. To do that would require some to be forced to work for the benefit of others. That is thebasis of the program Obama proposes to implement. And no matter how noble and desirable you perceive some of its goals to be, that entitlement program entails involuntary servitude and slavery banned by the Constitution.
Patrick Henry and Abraham Lincoln must be turning over. Freedom is not an esoteric idea. It is an aspect of our nature that we humans, unlike animals, have the power to choose. Freedom is the only environment that allows us to exercise that natural power. And since freedom can only be denied by force, every act of force initiated against us, whether initiated by one or more individuals or by the Government, is inhumane.
So, Mr. Obama, you may perceive aspects of our country that are not functioning the way you would like them to, and you would like to fix them. So be it. But you cannot legally or morally fix them by initiating force against me. The sole function of our Government is to protect us from force and for the Government to use force against is a betrayal of the highest magnitude. Think something should be done to help the poor send their children to college? Approach me through my mind and try to persuade me to voluntarily contribute some of my funds. It is called charity. Think something should be done to provide indigent citizens with better health care? Approach the medical community and seek to persuade them to voluntarily do more pro bono work. That is the American way. I told a friend the other day that the Government may corral horses, which do not have the power to choose, and make them part of our military. But it cannot force me to be the rider. It must ask me.
Make no mistake. The changes that Barack Obama has in mind are fundamental and encompassing...and if successfully imposed, will annihilate the glorious underpinnings of our great country. They are reminiscent of Ayn Rand's Anthem, the tale of a land in which the word "I" was forever banned and only "We" could be spoken in its stead.
One has to hope that Anthem remains a work of fiction.
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