Free World vs. Free Ride

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a problem. The problem is, Truth has been dis-proven  Now I know that a number of folks here will call BS on me and say that I must be talking about Religion, so it is not a valid argument.

I'm afraid I would answer in the negative. This is not about God. This is about Reality. The problem is-- people have ceased to believe in principles. Not that they don't have them-- they certainly don't believe they have them. The problem is, they don't believe that they are real. That is, they feel they understand the fundamental truth that principals are no different from empty rhetoric and the elaborate sophistry they claim to believe in. So you can make the most logical and well balanced-- even persuasive argument that can be made-- and it will have no effect, because your audience will simply ask, with a sneer-- “So what is truth? 

And, what's in it for me?"

You see, the Enemy simply offers the average person what they want, then asks for what they want in return. All they have to do is say, “Ok, we'll give you a free ride. Now, you give us a vote, and we will make those fools who want you to work-- pay for their insolence. We'll keep you safe from guilt, from necessity, from pain. All you have to do is vote for us, and you don't even have to think for your self-- and you can feel virtuous doing it-- because we know what is best for you, and for all.”

The sad part is, because the people don't ultimately believe anything that anyone tells them, the Left doesn't even have to keep their promises.  It is just the promise of the free ride that does all the work.

They already know already that what they use as persuasion is ultimately empty rhetoric. You can see it in the Abortion argument. No matter what side you happen to fall on personally, you can learn quite a bit from it. That is, “So what if we are taking a human life? What are you going to do about it? It's legal and most people agree with us. We are in charge. So there.” It doesn't even have to be a majority anymore. Just enough to count.

THAT is the current core argument for the “pro choice” crowd, who are no longer the pro-choice crowd. Because, now they even admit that what they want you to do is have an abortion-- not have a choice.

Say what you like about my take on this particular argument-- I still say that this winning argument will crop up in other parts of our so-called national dialogue between the Left and the rest of us.

 I'm sorry, we aren't a coalition, and I'm not going to pretend. The only thing that unites us is the knowledge that what is going on here is wrong and that something needs to be done about it. That what the Founding Fathers did was right-- and what is happening here is a flagrant violation of those hallowed principles and ideas. Beyond that we'd fight like hyenas in j-random bar or cafe. But.  At the end of the night, we'd shake hands and go our separate ways. Why? We both believe in America, and our ideas about America are pretty similar, if not identical.

Even so, we can't offer the other side what they want. They don't want freedom, they want free beer. The closest thing we have is free software-- and even that takes work (knowledge and mental effort), so they don't want that either. They don't really understand what we mean by freedom-- and they mostly don't care. Because it's not about getting free stuff, and they don't understand what we get out of what we believe.

That is why universally they have to call us bigots and class oppressors-- because that is the only conceivable benefit they can imagine to our system as we describe it. It must be about power over, because personal power is so much a given that they don't even see it when it is taken away. As long as you don't touch the U-Verse, the endless promise of food, stuff and license-- those laws don't mean squat. After all, someone has to be around to enforce them. If you go to the welfare ghettos, no one really is until someone dies-- and sometimes, not even then.

Who's going to enforce inconvenient laws against those who keep you in office? All the better to extract fines and inconvenience from those whom it is beneficial to harass. We live in a unique period in history where the class that is most protected is the class that is the least important in the grand scheme of things. It is the enemies of Control who are important, and where the attention is spent. As long as they keep sprinkling cash, entertainment and contraception on the throbbing consuming masses they can be left well enough alone. They won't bite the dog that feeds, clothes and protects them from effort.

The Left will not cease to have support until it becomes onerous or inconvenient to support them. Until the point is driven home that their rights are not just vaporous changeable ideas, but things that are profitable to believe in. You know, things that mean something. They have to learn that something means something first, and that's a long row to hoe.

So the only way we are going to make real headway is to come up with the answer that proves false the assertion:

Who wants a free world when you can have a free ride?

I'm afraid they won't recognize the limited nature of reality until it is too late.

This is why freedom is not enough. Or perhaps, I should say, we have to prove that freedom is real. That liberty is a real thing. That sacrifice is not just an empty word. We have to go back to Aquinas-- or perhaps before Aquinas. We can't assume A=A-- that alone is a tough sell these days. After all-- who cares, and why does it matter?

For me, it was all about finding a reason to continue breathing. I discovered that the Leftist paradigm ultimately leads to a futile and meaningless existence in a frustrating perpetual childhood. There is nothing to risk, so rewards don't mean anything. Because you can't believe anything anybody says, there can't be any truth, so even looking is pointless.

But I couldn't stop looking, because deep in my core I knew there just had to be a truth. I wouldn't be breathing otherwise, and there would be no reason not to stop-- save the momentary inconvenience of people who cared for me, loved me and raised me. But my heart screamed that there had to be a bigger reason than that. Don't get me wrong-- despite evidence to the contrary-- I did love them. I had even convinced myself that my being absent would be to their benefit-- and I still loved them. 

But the heart wants what it wants.  We often take on burdens like children for reasons that don't really make sense. That love thing gets in the way of making the sensible choice of living for one's self, and making filling one's gullet and partying until you drop much easier. The problem is-- those sensible things don't satisfy. At the end of the day, you still want more.

NO, I'm still not talking about religion. It is very hard not to, at this point, because that's how I got here. But it's still not where I'm going. But there could be a clue here as to where we might go next to be fishers of the self-motivated.  Because those deeper desires override even laziness, myopia and ignorance-- even the willful kind.

Human beings need reasons. We need concrete things. We have to believe the evidence of our senses, or we become neurotic, reactive and depressed. I believe that the closest the modern child gets to a real risk and reward environment in this day and age-- is the video game. (And, failing that, gang culture. But I digress.) And that is why they are so massively popular-- above and beyond the immersive experience, or the sensation of being in an imaginary world. Because you don't have to use the imagination to get there-- but then, you don't have the freedom to imagine what you want.

Truthfully, I'd rather have a book than a video game. Not only am I old fashioned that way, but I want to control the experience. No one will ever beat the megapixels of my mental images-- no mater how fast our technology grows, nor how reactive to my desires it becomes. It is exactly as real as I want it to be, no more and no less. The fun part is that I don't know where it is going, but I know what the main character looks like. It is even better than a movie, because, while you know only what the author wants you to, you control the camera, and you can blur out the parts you don't want to linger on.

But I am unusual. I don't mind making an effort to get what I want-- even if I am lazy. But knowing that, I can be constructively lazy, and make it work for me. That is what puts me on the nerd/geek continuum.  But there is a reason why the geek/nerd is popular right now-- even among non-geeks. It does relate, to a lesser degree, to human nature.

We all know that the mother of invention is not perspiration or inspiration-- but laziness. It is the latter two that get us off of our couches and into our workshops, so we can spend more time later in our easy chairs. But how will we ever inspire a generation who's biggest accomplishment is collecting a welfare check? Most of these people have never learned to defer gratification for anything more than a twinkie.

Now, I recognize that perhaps even converting a few won't really help us. We also can't really convert those who are at the top, feeding the system either. Because they feed it not only to feel good about themselves, but also to have power over others. They don't believe the rhetoric either. They probably don't believe that truth exists either-- but they will get what they want anyway. Clearly, as they see it, the only way is cheating.

The saddest part of all, is that they don't believe that anyone has the power of creating their own stuff, that the only way to get it is to take it from someone else. That is the grim part behind Obama's “You didn't build that”. Unfortunately, the folks he was actually talking to, believed him and thought he was speaking a profound truth. They don't believe you can build anything. There are whole cultures that revolve around this philosophy, and they tend to get gnarled up in self-perpetuating violence pretty quickly. That is the dark side of most hunter gatherer cultures.

Indeed, I believe that the whole thing is just a ruse-- a fog of talking points to distract us while they take everything away. As long as we are still talking, and we are not doing, they are free to take whatever they want away from us while we do it. We also make ourselves easy targets, and then they know who is too dangerous to live. They can't kill too many of us too soon-- because we feed the system. But some people get impatient-- and making omelets always involves breaking some eggs, right?

Ironically, thanks to contraception and abortion effort, there aren't enough of us to feed the system right now. But as long as no one believes in truth, no one has to see or acknowledge that fact. So the next ten years should be real interesting. Perhaps opportunities will arise for reality to re-establish itself in the minds of man. I just hope we can wait that long.  So I guess, until then, we must demonstrate and try to teach truth as humanity has discovered it.