Will the Real Liberal Please Stand Up Pt. 4

Defining what "liberalism" is not is far easier than defining what it is. Firstly, the liberal label is a misnomer. Most self-proclaimed leftists value anything but liberty in its truest and purest form. They, to a "t," prefer a massive government who's sole responsibility is to nurture and care for each individual from cradle to grave.


In addition to this bizarre anti-self responsibility are the almost arcane and largely narcissistic admonition that a person's desire to be whatever he or she wants supersedes everything in a moral society. When discussing this topic, one must use caution in misunderstanding the phrase "whatever he or she wants," as the subject has little to do with career and everything to do with self. In other words, if a man wants to become (or identify) as a woman, or vice versa, no one should be permitted to question the desire. I would be remiss if I omitted odd behavior like an adult's desire to identify as a toddler, an animal, and so on. To do so is to insult the individual in the mind of the liberal.


Keeping with this inalienable right to self-identify, comes the belief that a person has the right to abuse their body in any way they seem fit, even if in doing so it may harm others around him/her. In their quest for enlightenment, the liberal will either turn to mind altering drugs, or at least condone the legalization and recreational use, justifying it by screaming, "It's my body and I will do as I please!" This sentiment pervades their thinking, no matter if the influx of drugs kills or disables other users around them.


The perverse desire to slaughter the unborn in the name of a "woman's right to choose" is the most odd behavior (and saying that is difficult, given the complexity of odd behavior so many liberals engage in), given their penchant for human life and dignity. Again, justification for their pro-abortion positions comes not from a scientific assumption, despite their argument to the contrary, but via their proclamation that a baby is nothing but a bunch of cells germinating in the womb.


I do not want to paint a picture of liberals as bad people; on the contrary, I count many leftists as friends. The malfeasances implemented when they hold office, however, are difficult to undo, as social entitlements, once given, are rarely rescinded. Most political office holders fear retribution by those given the entitlements, so the American citizen is stuck footing the bill for a lifetime.

Will the Real Liberal Please Stand Up Pt 3

The gender pay gap. If you believe the biased media, you probably think that women earn eighty cents on every dollar that men do, and you would be correct if you don't allow yourself the opportunity to dig a little deeper into the statistics.


Read the Department of Labor's wage gap report if you can suffer through it.  The equation is rather simple.  Total salaries for all men working full time jobs in the United States are added up and compared equitably to the same for women.  And therein lies the rub...


Side-by-side comparisons of men and women's salaries have not been calculated.  "So what?" you may ask. The what lies in roles many women choose in their careers versus those of their male counterparts. Additionally, studies have been conducted that demonstrate women, as a whole, do not negotiate salaries as well as men when offered employment. But I digress....


When comparing salaries between the sexes, it is vitally important to understand several dynamics. Men tend to work in manufacturing at a significantly higher rate than women (roughly twenty-seven percent of women work in manufacturing facilities). Obviously, skilled and general labor in this environment pays considerably higher wages than many of the traditional career paths women have chosen in previous generations. That said, it is reasonable to surmise that women entering manufacturing jobs are on equal par, insofar as pay is concerned, as their male counterparts. Why is that? Typically manufacturers have a set pay scale for hourly and salaried employees, although salaried employees often fall into an upper and lower wage scale.


Service and government employers also have pre-set wage scales.  Where, then, is the wage disparity? As stated above, men and women still tend to work in traditional gender based jobs. Therefore, the Department of Labor's statistics is misleading and not all a fair comparison of salaries of men and women in similar roles.


Works cited:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/04/16/its-time-that-we-end-the-equal-pay-myth/#4b73420a4c52


http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/Initiatives/Women-in-Manufacturing/~/media/9E6ED78EACB84084BD7A7C98B52B0E5C.ashx

In the next installment, Part four--The liberal un-agenda

Will the Real Liberal Please Stand Up Pt. 2

A strange dichotomy exists among those who support the "liberal" left. There are those solely focused on social justice, and others who wage war on capitalism. The former believes that one race is responsible for the ills of America, and more specifically, a single gender from that particular race, while the latter focuses on large corporations that they believe should be there for the people, rather than the converse.


Before we travel down the road of racial and gender injustices, let's be frank about our own history.  White Europeans sailed the Atlantic and landed on the east coast. The Europeans bought land from Native Americans, then pushed west and fought wars with the Natives until the country was conquered.  Unfortunately for the Native American peoples, they were savagely slaughtered, and those remaining moved (Cherokee and Creek Nations) further west and forced to live on reservations. Eventually, other Native nations were defeated and pushed onto their own tribal reservations. There is no doubt that this part of American history is tragic and with significant remorse. On equal par with this is our nation's history of slavery.


Africans were caught and sold by their own tribal leaders to white and Spanish slave traders who brought them to the Caribbean Islands, as well as North and South America. Slaves were treated as animals and punished harshly when they attempted to escape their plantations and slave owners. Their children were immediately born into slavery and the indescribable hell of slavery was passed to another generation.


The bloodiest war in our country's history was fought and men by the thousands died. The north with its hopes of preventing the south from seceding and ending slavery, and the south with its own ideas about forming a stand alone government separate and independent from the union that would also preserve the status quo--that is, slavery.


All that being said, there are many in our current day who claim that white men are maintaining a form of slavery by not giving blacks an opportunity in the work force. Let's not be blind to the fact that this was true in generations past, and probably still exists in some forms today, but on a much, much smaller scale. Truly, opportunities for blacks, Latinos (why else would Latinos flock here by the millions if opportunity did not exist?), Asians, and everyone else in between. The days of keeping a person from employment or advancement because of skin color or gender have all but vanished, no matter what you may hear from the left.


Why do they perpetuate this myth you may ask? The idea of lessening the stature of white males is somehow appealing to them. They tend to fixate on race as the reason for every woe plaguing us today. Obviously, many of these same people have never ventured to other countries to understand what poverty and oppression looks like, so their frame of reference is mired by their own skewed understandings (or lack thereof).


Many have called for reparations to Natives and blacks for the treatment of their ancestors. While understandable that there is more healing needed as we move further away from this disgusting era in American history, it must be said that the blood shed by those fighting for their freedom is the ultimate reparation.


Naturally, laws currently in place in the United States need to be enforced. Affirmative Action is not needed; what is needed is to hire and promote the most qualified individual for a given position, bar none. Employers must be held to that standard, and Americans should never settle for anything less.


We are the greatest nation on earth. Why? Because of who we are as a people, and, I would argue, because of the mistakes we made and the course correction brought on in the form of a Civil War. Can we do more to help people? Of course! Do we need to legislate that help? No.


Enforce our current laws and let's hold ourselves to a higher standard. When we accomplish that, liberals will have to find another cause on which they hang their pink hats.

Note: Part 3 will take a look at the myth of gender inequality.  Stay tuned.

Will the Real Liberal Please Stand Up Pt 1

"Liberalism," in my opinion has nothing to do with democracy, a democratic republic, freedom, or even humanity. By nature, to be a liberal is the antithesis of liberty.  But before we travel too far down that path, let us look at Merriam Webster's definition of the word:

Definition of liberalism

1. 1 :  the quality or state of being liberal
2. 2a often capitalized :  a movement in modern Protestantism emphasizing intellectual liberty and the spiritual and ethical content of Christianityb :  a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard (see gold standard 1)c :  a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy (see autonomy 2) of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties; specifically :  such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (such as those involving race, gender, or class)d capitalized :  the principles and policies of a Liberal (see ¹liberal 6b) party

I find the reference to the "theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard" to be especially forthcoming when discussing today's self proclaimed "liberal."

Not all "liberals" are cut of the same cloth.  I would go so far, in fact, to state that most liberals aren't really of the liberal ilk, but more centrist in political persuasion. Many go to Christian churches and believe in the traditional Judeo-Christian God of Abraham. Others proclaim different spiritual preferences and follow those precepts, not unlike their republican or Conservative kin. 

The separation occurs around three significant positions, or at least in recent political history, according to most leftists:

1. A large federal government should have autonomous power over the individual states.
2. Federal borders are mostly irrelevant and the removal of illegal aliens is inhumane.
3. Taxation of higher wage earners at a significant rate should be required to pay for those less fortunate.

We can debate issues like abortion, welfare, healthcare, gay marriage, et al. until the cows come home. None of the aforementioned should be downplayed or ignored, but I would pose that any of those could be bucketed in one of the three positions noted above.

True "liberals" are anything but the textbook definition of what a liberalism is.  The liberal who proclaims that taxation, open borders, and a large federal government cannot and will not fit into what Merriam Webster defines as a liberal.  What then, or better yet, where can an individual like this be better labeled?

Spending time reading definitions can be an enlightening exercise.  From Merriam Webster:

Definition of socialism

1. 1 :  any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2. 2a :  a system of society or group living in which there is no private propertyb :  a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3. 3 :  a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Consider the bellowing from previous President Obama and the liberals of our country that touted redistribution of wealth.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Healthcare Act (or Obamacare) is a tax, which means one of its intended consequences was to redistribute wealth from one section of the economic strata and distribute it proportionately to another.

I would be remiss if I did not offer this particular definition for consideration:

Definition of communism

1. 1a :  a theory advocating elimination of private propertyb :  a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
2. 2 capitalized a :  a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the U.S.S.R.b :  a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of productionc :  a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitablyd :  communist systems collectively

As you can plainly see, the lines between socialism and communism begin to blur as you spend time considering their similarities (many) and differences (few).

I argue that today's true liberal fits somewhere between a defined socialist and communist, wishing for an end to capitalism (they enjoy calling it crony capitalism, although most have no idea what this means), desire an end to private property ownership, and a re-centering of our population to large urban centers (this has been a classic racist movement perpetuated by the left for years, but will be the topic of another post in the near future).  Read and listen closely when liberals scream about autonomy and social justice, then ask yourself, or better yet--ask them, how a "rigged" system should be fixed.  Their answer may surprise you!

It Had to be Said

I attempt to keep politics from creeping into my blogs, but there are times when events or behavior is so duplicitous, so inconceivably vile and hypocritical that I find myself slack-jawed and unable to contain myself.  Truly, I am disheartened and ashamed at so many of my fellow Americans during our recent election and inauguration of Donald J. Trump, our forty-fifth president of the United States.


The actions taken by many on the left were (and continue to be) disgusting and hate-filled.  Funded by leftist anarchist billionaires and millionaires, we watched patriotic events turn violent.  Many claimed the same from the right, but we later learned that instigators were paid, in many cases, to create a scene and perpetuate violence while others filmed right-wingers "being violent" at candidate rallies.  The truth is, like it is so many times, hidden behind a veil of lies and deceit, and took significant investigation to bring to light those individuals who chose anarchy over democracy.


Why do we (and by "we," I mean others) condone violence (you know, things like setting limousines on fire, destroying private property, et al) from one side of the argument who hysterically proclaim their love of democracy?  Why is it okay for musicians and other performers to discuss "blowing up the White House?"  Can you imagine the fallout from the left if a high profile right winger made a comment like that during the Obama presidency? 


On Trump's first day, threats of violence and other illegal acts ran rampant across the United States.  All in response to a democratic republic's presidential election?  I apologize if I don't quite understand the rancor.  After all, we on the right put up with eight terrible years of Obama, and I can't recall a single protest or violent act carried out by a group, large or small. 


You see, the left chooses to proclaim its actions as democratic, but fail to mention that during the most democratic event in the world, that is, the peaceful transfer of power during a presidential inauguration, individuals were actually calling for martial law and anarchy to prevent Trump from taking office.  If you stand on that side of aisle, you are the problem--not just part of it.


Lastly, if you spend your time protesting and destroying other people's stuff, may I suggest a student loan or request for a student grant?  It's time you actually gained some knowledge and applied to something a little more worthwhile than being an un-American tool riding on the coattails of everything our forefathers fought and died for.

New Year, Better YOU!

"Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come."

~Robert H. Schuller

I stumbled across this wonderful quote not long ago and thought it would be most appropriate for us all to consider it in the new year. How many times have we made poor decisions, influenced by circumstance and emotion? How often have we wallowed in the subterfuge of an irrational choice?

We are born anew, so to speak, at the beginning of a new year; a time for reflection and a desire to do better going forward. Whether you are a person who makes New Year resolutions, or someone who is generally resolved to get things done regardless of month or year, what matters most is cautious, rational thought, calculated risks, commitment, and follow-through. If you want to make positive changes in your life, I highly recommend the aforementioned formula.

I have long been a proponent of self-responsibility and reliance, believing in one's self, and when called upon to involve yourself in family events, projects, and work--do it without hesitation. If you give your word move Heaven and earth to complete whatever you've committed to! Too often we find individuals who promise to do things, and all to often they lack the moral fortitude to finish them. Don't be that person if you want to be a happier, more fulfilled YOU!

When bad things happen, do not give up! Remember your goals, your resolve, and your desires. Push through the nastiness and keep your eye on the good. Surround yourself with good, likeminded people who share goals or encourage you work toward your own. Embrace the concept of "work-life balance," involve yourself in a hobby or your community, read a lot, think much, then go out and make that positive change.

Remember: Don't be a new you, be a better you!

Happy New Year.