In a quest to challenge my possible bias regarding Economics and Political theory, I re-read a book that has been around since 1980s. Milton Friedman was a very commanding presence in economic theory regarding government over reach.
Since I realize that most people don't have desire or time to read the entire book, I suggest this playlist which is a condensed version for the TV series of the same name. FREE TO CHOOSE.
It contains 11 short clips of appx 2 minutes each. Investing 30 minutes or so may help you and others to check your core beliefs on just How much Government control has invaded our life.
"Each episode of the original 1980 Free To Choose has been revised into a timeless, 2-minute video to introduce citizens to the philosophy and ideas of Milton Friedman. We invite you to watch and share these Free To Choose in Under 2 and help us advance the ideas of personal and economic freedom to a new audience."
EDITORIAL ASIDE COMMENT
This Rant was prompted by an exchange I had with a friend re the Past Super Bowl.
He is a Kansas City Football fan. He cannot get over the fact that the referee’s made some bad calls during the Super Bowl. It is an ongoing daily harangue of the Referees bad calls. I finally got fed up and told him that the game is over, the scoreboard reflects the official score, the parade has occurred, the trophy has been delivered. At best the Referees bad Calls will be an asterisk in the record book, but forever more Tampa Bay will be recognized as the winner. Our Politics should not be like our football mania. Trump has left the Building.” My high school football coach called it the LOSER’S LIMP. Its an excuse for getting beat.
My biggest concern in today's environment is our tendency to "EAT OUR OWN" by trying to determine who is the most pure among our political group. We have lost sight of the basic principles exposed in this series and resorted to attacking those who tend to agree with us in some areas and not agree in others. We have long lost Reagan’s 11th Commandment “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. It's a rule I followed during that campaign and have ever since.” It helped propel him to a landslide election win.
Donald Trump is gone now. He was not the savior but perhaps the Gideon sent to stir the pot. Once engaged, it is now up to those of us on the conservative side to carry the torch of conservative principles and stop being the negative bomb throwers that accomplish nothing but increase the flames and discord. We're not good at it, that technique has been mastered by the other side for no other reason than to divert attention from those principles which they cannot refute." - Bobby Tony
You May be correct. I still find him as the interloper who recovered a Republican fumble and ran for the goal to score a touchdown. However his four years was based on just that one play. He is irrelevant to me now because almost all of his changes can be changed with a ‘STROKE OF THE PEN’ as they were create. His failure to build a consensus within the Republican party created the vacuum that allowed way too many knee jerk emotional voters to fill. I suspect he may revert to his old Democratic ways once his political ambitions are dissolved and reenters the world of real estate and entertainment.
If I may carry the football analogy a bit further, As an Atlanta Falcon fan, I have watched brilliant plays and 1st half’s deteriorate into losing one losing season after another. They have never been able to build on a solid foundation. While I don’t consider myself a Republican, you could never tell from my voting record. As a libertarian, I have never been able to rationalize why both Republicans and Democrats talk a good game and continue to increase government interference with our individual liberties. Essentially the battle is now and has always been between Urban and Rural citizens. Urban societies are required to depend on some entity to provide basic services like trash, water, and sewage, etc. It is a simple matter to fall into the trap of “Letting others handle it.” "The mobs of great cities add just so much to support of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body. I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get plied upon on another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe." Thomas Jefferson. The Republican parties challenge is to forge a self-reliance based on individual values while at the same time realizing that we are increasingly an urban country. That is the danger facing our society. We have delegated too much to the Government and too little to the individual self-responsibility for our own fate. |
I agree in 100% in theory, and in part in practice.
Some Republicans are complicated, and some just use the hard fought brand to swing votes that they do not deserve. I thought Donald Trump was the latter - the interloper - until he proved to me otherwise, and he did it rather convincingly, and I am about as knowledgeable as they come on what makes a real Republican warrior. President Trump will always be that guy that won the day on popularity, but made a believer out of me due to pure integrity, and the fight of what all Republicans better find in their political spirits, or, they can kiss this Republic goodbye, and goodbye for good. |
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Published: Saturday, June 3rd, 2023 @ 6:10 pm
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I do agree with you that the Republican party needs much work, and the Democratic Socialist party now only exists to give folks hope that the Republican party will one day "grow a pair".
These are truly some strange political times.