No Nanny State - Molon Labe!

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.
--Abraham Lincoln

I'm sure all of you are waking up, all groggy from the hangover you got as a result of the Constitution Day party you attended. That's what you thought they meant when they said, "Celebrate the birth of our government", right? Wild times, wild times...

I am one of those twisted folks that actually reads the Constitution quite a bit. I pride myself on my knowledge of our great document. I took this little quiz, and got my ass handed to me. I only got 4 right (although one of the questions I missed, about gay marriage, is still up in the air).

I should know this stuff. Every American should know this stuff.
----------

This surprised me:

The law establishing the holiday was created in 2004 with the passage of an amendment by Senator Robert Byrd to the Omnibus spending bill of 2004. Before this law was enacted, the holiday was known as "Citizenship Day". In addition to renaming the holiday "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day," the act mandates that all publicly funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution on that day. In May 2005, the United States Department of Education announced the enactment of this law and that it would apply to any school receiving federal funds of any kind.

I absolutely, positively guarantee you that the requirement to, "provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution", did NOT happen at all schools as required by law.

Both of my boys attend community college - a publicly funded educational institution - and their school had nothing.

I saw no little kids walking out of their elementary school classrooms looking like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison or even Uncle Sam.

The local high schools didn't hold mock debates, re-enacting the discussions that ensued for nearly 3 years before the Constitution was ratified by the original 13 states.
----------

You know where I'm going with this. The Constitution is the very antithesis of the core beliefs of most teachers. It doesn't jive with the socialist views they hold. It encourages self-reliance and discourages the hive mentality.

So it doesn't get taught.

Constitutional history should be a core requirement of our educational system. Just like reading, writing and arithmetic. It is most likely not taught because students might start asking questions about the power of the federal government. Questions like, "Which article or amendment authorizes the feds to require public education? In fact, is that not more akin to the Communist Manifesto, item number 10, which states, 'Free education for all children in public schools'?"

That question might spark interest in other students to compare our great document with the Communist Manifesto as well. They might see the Manifesto's requirements for Progressive Taxation, Abolish Individual Property Rights, Centralization/Nationalization of banking, Controlling the national communications and transportation infrastructure, and how we've now got all of those things.

They might begin wondering aloud how it is possible for our country to have largely abandoned its founding documents. How our first 10 Amendments - our Bill of Rights - are structured to limit the powers of the government and strengthen those of the individual, and how the 10 Planks of the Manifesto are designed to do just the opposite - strengthen the government and weaken the individual.

If they were taught this, they could create informed opinions. They could make their own decision as to which form of government they preferred and live their lives as they choose.

But this doesn't happen. Socialism is Queen. The motherly Government Assistance is portrayed as noble for both the giver and recipient. It's the right thing to do. The ugly side of income redistribution is never spoken of. The fact that you are forced at gun point to give a share of your earned income to provide housing, food and clothing for a stranger is not discussed.

Some Bright Bulb in the class might then start questioning the unachievable economics of socialism, and the class would degrade into pandemonium. We can't have that, now can we?

----------

"So, Billy, what did you learn at school today about Constitution Day?"

"I learned that we're fucked, mom. Absolutely fucked."

Labels: communism, George Will, Political Correctness, Self-Reliance, Taxes, Thought Crimes, welfare state

I don't drink Starbucks coffee too often. Too pricey. My wife is addicted. This morning, she offered to buy me a cup for my ride into work, so I took her up on it.

When I got to work, I noticed something on the cup called, The Way I See It #258. It seems that Starbucks has different people give their brief philosophy on life. Number 258 is from George Will:

Because true conservatives are pessimists, they are happier than liberals, for three reasons. First, pessimists are rarely surprised. Second, when they are wrong they are delighted to be so. Third, pessimists do not put their faith in princes - in government. They understand that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. Happiness is an activity; it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.

Wow, how true. Where would this country be if more Americans had that attitude of self-sufficiency? Clearly, we'd be better off.

I went to their site to read some other quotes. Talk about bursting my bubble.

Worldwide, more than 40 million people are living with HIV and AIDS. Thirteen million children have been orphaned due to AIDS. Six hundred thousand children are infected with HIV each year. And 25 years into the AIDS pandemic, no vaccine or cure is in sight. The numbers speak for themselves. What are you doing to help?

-- Joe Cristina Founder of the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation.

Now, HIV and AIDS are terrible. Kids can get it from their infected parents. But why should I get pressured to fix this problem? And really, what can I possibly do to fix it? We don't need a pill or a shot in the ass to "cure" AIDS. You stop the spread of AIDS by screwing with a rubber, or not screwing at all. We all know this, and we've known it for the past 25 years.

But that's not how liberals think. They believe that society as a whole must somehow come together and fix the problems of a small sub-section. NO! That small sub-section must change their behavior and take responsibility for their actions. In this case, should they choose not to change their behavior, they'll die. Or their kids will die.

But people like Joe want to shame us into thinking, "You can do more to help". No, I can't. I can't infuse anyone with common sense. I would doubt that any person old enough to screw does not know there are all kinds of consequences should they choose to do it. Some of them are really, really bad. As in The Long Dirt Nap.

Make your choice, and in the case of AIDS, literally live or die by the consequences.

Labels: George Will, Self-Reliance