Saturday, July 28, 2012
Some Conservative Victories
Conservatives can whine all they like about how the "liberal" press, "liberal" college professors, etc., are all biased against them. The fact remains that they have achieved some important victories by implanting in the minds of most voters some phrases that support Conservative policies. Here are some that I have seen over the course of my 89 years:
- Young people have been convinced that Social Security isn't going to last. In particular it won't be there for them when they retire in about forty years.
- Government spends too much money. There is no justification for any tax increase - ever.
- Government spending doesn't produce any product or service of value. Only private spending contributes to the gross domestic product, or GDP.
- Elected officials become corrupt after a few years in office. Term them out for good!
- Anything that government does is inefficient, poor in quality, and slow.
- Some people will take advantage of any service offered by government. Unemployment insurance payments encourage loafers to keep on loafing instead of trying to find paying work.
- If you lose your job, there are other jobs available. They may not pay as well as the job you lost, but if you are clever and work hard, you can advance your position. Learn to live within your means.
These are ideas that Conservatives want everyone to believe. Voters with these ideas will vote for term limits for legislators, 2/3 vote requirements for raising taxes (i.e., not ever raising them), privatization of Social Security, elimination of welfare, reducing or eliminating unemployment insurance payments, against universal health care, etc. These are widely held ideas, although fortunately a majority of the voters don't accept all of them - at least not yet. We liberals have our work cut out for us. We must convince voters that these ideas are not cast in stone and that public policy shouldn't be based on them. We have to take on each idea in turn and present convincing and honest arguments against it. In subsequent posts I will endeavor to express arguments against each of these Conservative ideas. I hope you find them convincing.
Labels: conservative victories
