Independence Day Bonus Column
We Won’t Back Down!
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Note: Everything in this post is my personal opinion. If you don’t agree, set up your own Substack. Or, leave me a comment.
Note: It was never my intention to turn this into a political column. If the election last November had gone the other way, I would probably be writing about home improvement projects, family vacations, or the annoyances of bad drivers. However, it seems like I’ll be writing about economics, politics, critical thinking, and ethical behavior for a while.
Call your Congresscritters! Keep Calling!
I wrote this in a Signal chat in response to a person who thinks Capitalism has failed and we need to move in a more Socialist direction.
It was so good I figured I’d make it my U.S. Independence Day bonus post.
All I know is that the older I get, the more I realize I know almost nothing.
In my younger years I was strongly influenced by Robert Heinlein’s Science Fiction, which has strong libertarian themes.
I even went through a brief Ayn Rand inspired “Hey, I got mine, go get your own!” phase in my mid-twenties.
My issue with “named” societal solutions, whether they be called Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, Anarchy, Totalitarianism, or whatever is that they largely take the attitude that “if only everyone would behave THIS WAY all our problems would be solved.”
But people act the way they act. There will always be greedy people. There will always be lazy people (guilty). There will always be empathetic people. And angry people. And sad people. And depressed people. And scared people.
I’ve been all of these people.
My hypothesis is that one of the biggest reasons MAGA is so popular is that a lot of folks are very, very fearful.
Trump and his minions are masters at stoking that fear.
I see our job as providing a different path, one of hope rather than fear. But that’s much harder to do than stoking fear.
All that being said, it seems to me a market based economy on a level playing field is a lot more likely to work than a planned political economy.
But I’m first to admit I’m probably wrong. A “Level playing field” is hard to implement, and may be impossible to maintain.
I will add that, while those of us who are trying to stick to the light side of the force and resist the Sith Lord who has taken over the Republic had a major setback yesterday, we are not beaten yet.
You can still make a difference:
Call your Congresscritters! Keep Calling!
Trump lie of the week:
Lies our President has told recently. Not necessarily this week. I’m only posting statements rated “Pants On Fire!” by Politifact.
The OG Trump Pants on Fire lie!
Musical Coda:
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