A Leap to the Left

With the presumptive nomination of Barack H. Obama, the Democrats take their largest step yet to the left. The Democratic Party has been going left ever so slightly since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The changes have been incremental up until now. The nomination of Obama is not another one of those incremental steps, but rather a large leap towards leftist socialism.

Socialism is the antithesis of individualism. Individualism allows an individual to follow his ambition while socialism puts the society on the backs of the successful. In other words, in Socialism, you can only succeed by carrying the load of those who are not motivated to succeed. So if you want to differentiate yourself from the pack in today's America, you have to run the gauntlet that the Democrats have prepared for you.

Such a gauntlet includes businesses having to hire lobbyists to protect thier interest. You must also negotiate the many laws governing a business such as EEOC who mandate certain quotas for the different ethnicities. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces all laws with respect to discrimination in hiring. On its face, anti-discrimination laws seem to be a fair and equitable thing. But these laws have negative consequences that threaten our domestic businesses and send many to operate on foreign shores.

There may be a few businesses with discriminatory hiring practices, but experience has shown that most employers just want to hire the most productive people available to him. The odds are that the less dependable and least productive members of our society also make up the poorest of us. Businesses scour through the bottom dwellers in hopes of finding dependable productive employees because they generally come at a cheaper rate than the proven productive workers do.

It is all in the eye of the beholder, but the poor see everything as an obstacle and generally will not try to overcome it. The producers in our society see things differently. They look at obstacles as challenges and not as an impenetrable brick walls. Hard work and determination are generally the hallmarks of motivated individuals while sloth and retreat generally characterize the person not motivated. Race and ethnicity have nothing to do with it.

The 'feel good' laws put forth by the Democrats have, over time, eroded our nation's ability to lead and compete in today's world. The maze of regulations now present for industry adds significant cost to their operation. It is no wonder that China and India manufacture most of the goods you consume and use. General Motors is on the verge of bankruptcy because of the outrageous demands by congressional demands and Unions. Union demands for more than a good salary and working conditions along with congressional edicts combined to add significantly to the manufacturing cost of the American automobile and undermined the solvency of one of America's great industries.

Unless everybody pulls his or her weight, great and small, this nation cannot exist as it is now. Think of the America economy as being a big feeding trough. The producers (American businesses) fill the trough with a portion of their bounty and the non-producers eat at the trough. As the trough receives more feeders, the producers have to produce more to feed them. The problem with this scenario is that there is little incentive for a feeder to become a producer. As long as the trough stays full, there is no reason to try and produce. But there are unintended consequences with overloading the producers. Some of the producers become feeders because it is easier than producing, or they may start producing for a less demanding trough like the ones of China and India.

Obama's plan will expand the feed trough significantly and drive even more producers to foreign shores. Taking this country farther to the left will have the effect of making conditions worse and chip away at our freedom. The march to the left needs scrutiny by the voters. But unfortunately, the major source of the digestible information comes from very left leaning communications outlets. What is wrong with those guys? Do they really think that a heavy-handed government will be able to solve problems? History is not on their side because Socialism has never been successful. Here is hoping for a better future, go McCain!

Cheers,

-Robert-