Prescience

I recently started reading Joker One, a book about the experiences of U.S. Marines in Iraq. It was written by Donovan Campbell. The last sentence of Part 1 of the book (on Page 59) begins thusly:

But hope is not a course of action . . .

Having read Charles Krauthammer's latest column earlier this evening I was struck by the prescience of Mr. Campbell's words. For they have equally great impact when applied to Barack Obama's [lack of] foreign policy.

Obama vs. The Universe

A must read by Victor Davis Hanson!

The Reality of the Left: Equality or Inequality?

Dennis Prager had a fascinating discussion on his program today, which you can listen to beginning at 40:20 here.

I was curious what others thought about this so I posted the following on SDA:

American radio show host Dennis Prager spoke of something today that I wanted to throw at all of you for feedback. Paraphrasing, this is what he said:

"The Left has never been spoken about Creating Wealth, the Left is only focused on Creating Equality."

I thought about this some and the only exception I could think of is the NDP gov't in Manitoba. I haven't lived there in some time so perhaps it's the case that their policies are not Left-centered in practice?

Anyhow, in the bigger picture, what do you think of Prager's statement?

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To my great delight I received this response from "ET", an female professor in Ontario:

The Left is about creating inequality. Not equality.

The Left asserts that the knowledge of 'How to live in the Best Way' exists; it is accessible to an Elite, a Chosen Set. These people have The Knowledge of The Best Way To Live. This knowledge is not found in the majority of people. Only these Few have it - They are defined as Guardians or Rulers.

The fascinating thing is that this perspective is not modern. It is not industrial. It is pre-industrial. The perspective of the Left is very much the mindset of 18th and 19th c Europe.

The class structure of pre-modern Europe consisted of an elite Landed Gentry...the people whose wealth (knowledge) wasn't made by themselves but was inherited from ancestors. Then, there was the up-and-coming mercantile merchant class - the businessmen. These people were sneered at and derided by the Landed Gentry, who scorned anyone having to 'make money' with their own work.
And..the rest were peasants, farmers, workers.

This pre-modern class elitism is exactly what is found in our modern Left. Our modern left are similar to the Landed Gentry. Their 'wealth' or knowledge isn't self-made; they are found in the universities, in the civil service...They certainly aren't in 'business'..which is condemned.

Notice how Obama condems the business and manufacturing peoples as based on 'greed'. That's such an 19th c statement..made by an elitist!

The Landed Gentry of the 18th c, who are now the modern Leftists, sneer at anyone who 'makes wealth' or 'makes knowledge'. They deride the investors, or the businessman, or industrialists, or the bankers. These people, who make the wealth - they are 'corrupt'. They merely make wealth; they are greedy.

The worker class are the people who work for wages.

The Left, the modern Landed Gentry, the modern Guardians, do NOT consider the merchant and business class as their equal! After all, merchants and businessmen are 'nouveau riche', and are 'wealthy' out of greed..not out of ancestry and 'noblesse oblige'.
And they consider the workers..ignorant and hapless..beer and popcorn victims of the wealthy businessmen.

The agenda of the Landed Gentry, the Left, is not to enable equality, for they reject equality. It is to reduce the power of the people who make wealth - the industrialists, the businessmen. And, in this era of voting power, they'll give this wealth..first, to themselves (they'll always have high salaries and benefits and perks in office..Recall Pelosi's perks and plane rides)...and second..to the peasants..to keep them passive and meek.

Posted by: ET at March 30, 2009 11:02 PM

California: A Warning for All Other States & Provinces

More California Dreaming [Victor Davis Hanson]

One of the strangest things about the current California meltdown is how no one in state government here ever pauses to ask simple questions like: Why do we have the largest annual deficit with one of the highest sales tax and income tax rates in the country?

Anyone who charted the annual state budget increases over the last 10 years and adjusted for population and inflation rises would conclude that the state has decided to take over all sorts of previously private responsibilities and to ensure state employees and various dependents a level of compensation that is not sustainable.

It is not as if California decided about 10 years ago to invest to ensure we had state of the art freeways, university campuses, ports, airports, dams, canals, and power infrastructure. Instead, it was too often redistribution rather than investment. It is not like we can get out of the mess by simply stopping all construction when a vast public work force with pension and salary claims, along with entitlements and welfare, take the lion's share of the budget.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands whom we used to count on to pay our nearly 10% state income rates continue to flee the state. All the past sleight-of-hand borrowing, reliance on inflated real estate, lotteries, bonds, etc. have already been tried. Now we hit the wall of reality, whose iron-clad law — when you have no money, you really have no money — cannot be so easily demagogued away.

12/18 01:55 PM

Common Sense Wisdom from Louis C.K.

We live in an amazing, amazing world and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots that don't care.

Louis C.K. - Oct. 1, 2008

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On a very serious note, do you ever observe people who are poster children for the "Crappiest Generation"? Note: While some might think that those under 30 fit the bill, I believe such behaviour isn't directly attributable to one's age.

Multiple Gems of Wisdom from Dennis Prager

I'm a relative newcomer to Dennis Prager but the more I listen to him, the more I see the great wisdom of this man. Here are some audio clips from his show:

Why Do Liberals Hate Christians Like Sarah Palin?


Lawyers & College Professors and Jewish Democrats


The Extreme Liberal Bias of the Media

Government Parable

Young Chuck, moved to Texas and bought a donkey from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day he drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead donkey."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

Chuck said, "Sure I can. Just watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $898.00."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."

Chuck grew up and worked for the government.

Words of Wisdom

"I think that wisdom is something acquired only by those who actively seek it out. Those who observe, learn, and try to understand human behavior are the ones who will know how to behave and treat other people. Wisdom, in my opinion, is drawn from life experiences and the people one encounters. It can be culled from the books one reads and the conflicts and adversities life throws one's way." - Madeline Gralish, age 16

My Faith in Humanity Is Waning

I frequently hear from politicians that the "collective wisdom of the public knows all". Really?! I somehow doubt it.

In just the past few days I've heard/read the following:

• The people who want independence in Tibet are terrorists & criminals and Mother China is a benevolent government.
• Because of what happened to North American Natives in the past few hundred years justifies China doing what they are to the "ungrateful" people of Tibet.
  
• Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe has the most democratic government on the planet.
• After WW2, most German people thought that their Nazi government had done nothing wrong, not even to the Jews.
  

I sometimes wonder where we're headed.

Wise Words For Pushovers

NICE PERSON SYNDROME

Nice People are carefully trained to be, at all costs, "good boys" and "good girls." They are steeped, too soon and strongly, in the value of unselfishness, cooperation and the importance of pleasing others. Consequently, they grow up feeling that it is natural to defer to the wishes of others, putting their own desires in second place (or ignoring them altogether). I use the word Nice (capital N) to describe adults who still act like good boys and girls. Such people are often highly intuitive, but they use their sensitivity mostly for the purpose of learning what is expected of them. They have a profound need to be liked and will violate, if necessary, their own integrity for even the possibility of love and affection. They usually are accepted and well-liked, but they are not satisfied, because they know they have withheld something of their true identity. As a result, Nice People often live in fear that nobody will ever really love them -- including their weaknesses and blemishes. They feel they must be perfect. Yet they are constantly and painfully aware that they are not perfect. A good number appear to have bodily symptoms of chronic inner conflict (e.g., anal tension).

Nice People operate on the basis of one central conviction: The only way to get what I need is to do what other people want. They are usually very good at getting what they want (without asking for it) but there is always something missing. Spontaneity is difficult since each interpersonal encounter is, in a sense, a performance. Remaining a Nice Person requires constant vigilance, since all "bad" qualities (e.g., anger, selfishness, competitiveness) must either be suppressed or rechanneled in such as way that they at least appear nice....

Nice people have trouble making explicit requests...Nice People know that if they are just good enough, others will automatically know what they want and give it to them...Nice People are usually "rescuers" ...We rescue somebody each time we withhold or distort our true feelings, not wanting to hurt or anger the other person. We do the same thing when we go along with something that we really do not want to do...Nice People save up little grievances each time they play rescuer because they rarely let themselves say "no" when they want to. As a result, they are chronically angry....

In sex, as elsewhere, it is impossible for a person authentically to say yes to anything unless he/she simultaneously feels complete freedom to say no.

-- Jack Morin

Some Words of Wisdom from Lululemon

"It's not the years of your life that count. It's the life in your years."

Wise Words from Sheryl Crow

It's not having what you want. It's wanting what you've got.

From "Soak Up The Sun", circa 2002