(I'll award a Guest Post, max. 500 words, to the first person who
identifies the common phrase acronymized in the title of this piece.)
Jeff Jcaoby's post of today --
http://townhall.com/columnists/jeffjacoby/2012/05/03/what_browns_and_warrens_tax_returns_really_show
-- makes some interesting points, but concludes with a stunning display
of moral numbness:
"No one expects Brown to give the shirt off his back, or even to tithe
-- to give the tenth off the top that for many Americans is automatic.
Yet a well-heeled Republican senator who believes in the efficacy of
private action surely ought to be able to part with at least the same
fraction of his income as the average poor giver does."
I immediately focused on the "surely ought to be able" bit. Here's why:
"For Warren and Brown -- for most of us -- it's easier to criticize
other people's standards than to faithfully measure up to our own. In
the quest for votes, politicians will say just about anything to
convince us they are worthy. The road to moral integrity isn't paved
with campaign sound bites, though, but with admirable behavior."
So Senator Brown is well to do. That is, he makes a nice salary -- all
United States Senators do -- and has considerable assets already.
Therefore, he "surely ought to be able" to give more to "charity" than
he does at present.
But should he?
Unwise charity has done a great deal of harm, mainly by persuading its
recipients that if they choose not to carry their own weight, others
will carry them.
For best results, charity should be:
-- Kept strictly local, so its effects can be monitored;
-- Given to persons whose troubles are not of their own making;
-- NEVER given in cash, always in sustenance goods (i.e., food,
clothing, or shelter).
Anything else undercuts the drive to regain one's self-sufficiency.
Weakening individuals' willingness to provide for themselves and meet
their own, freely undertaken responsibilities is ANYTHING BUT "admirable
behavior." In fact, it's more usually a way to pat oneself on the back
-- or to curry favor with uncritical types who equate "charity" with
goodness.
Not your best column, Mr. Jacoby.
Everyday you say this. EVERYDAY this happens.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
WHY would it be that EVERYDAY that leftists work this hard or think this way? I *GET* it that liberals and the communist party people have underwritten lots of marches, etc.
But why?
If there are 10 or 20 percent of people who really believe that stuff, then surely there must be 50% of them who are cognizant and able to see history and people for what they are.
So why does that 5 to 10 percent of Americans do it? Why do they march and rally and work so hard to bring America down?
As near as I can figure, they aren't BLACK, or displaced. They aren't Indian or living on reservations. What are communists or socialists doing in America? Why are they here? WHAT THE **** is their gripe?
There is what is called the LONG game. We're getting healthier, living longer, having more choices and having more power over our lives than EVER before in history.
Who are these socialists and statists that would curtail that?
Why should we listen to them for a moment?
I'm sorry Breitbart died. I'm sorry Reagan's gone and most particularly, I'm sorry "what's his name" is gone. . . that Buckley guy.
I don't want a bunch of red-neck, reality TV conservatives - even if they espouse the things I believe in.
I want simple people who live and work the way I do to say the simple things we believe in.
If SEIU and other unions believe they have a right to their pensions when non-union people are losing homes and seeing real inflation, ok. But why not own up to the fact that they are just another lobbying group that wants to protect themselves while the rest of us suffer for their past actions?
We're all guilty, pretty much. This debt happened because we let it. And, one way or another, we're all gonna pay for it.
But why on earth should we listen to socialists about it? They haven't a clue.
WHOOPS! Sorry! That was posted in the wrong place. Delete these, Fran. They don't belong here.
ReplyDeleteWBTYM=Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am.
ReplyDelete