"The Real Dystopians"

Sydney M. Williams

Thought of the Day

“The Real Dystopians”

February 6, 2017

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”

                                                                                                Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965)

While there are exceptions to every rule, conservatives are generally misjudged, as ignorant protests at Berkley and NYU this past week demonstrated. Conservatives don’t care about the color of one’s skin, Gods prayed to, sexual choices or what people do in their bedrooms. They don’t care about nationality, or whether people are short, tall, or whether they prefer French fries and soft drinks or alfalfa sprouts and Perrier.

What they do care about are rights to speak freely and tolerance toward those who think differently. They prefer civility to incivility, and dislike those that are patronizing. They revere the Constitution and the Republic for which it stands. They honor the rule of law. They recognize that both good and evil exist, and that one must be supported and the other confronted. But they also believe in the words on the Great Seal, E Pluribus Unum: that it is from the crucible that contains our pluralistic roots that we become Americans. They understand that while we are equal under the law, we are not (and never can be) equal in diligence, aspiration, intelligence and physical ability. For many conservatives, religion is important, but are considerate of those for which it is not. They understand science and the role it plays in the betterment of our lives, but know that it can be molded for political purposes. They believe in the sanctity of family, and know children are best served by two-parent households. Conservatives believe that natural rights are inalienable – not to be restrained or repealed by government; that governments are forged to initiate and execute laws, to protect private property, to maintain order and keep people safe. Government is necessary in education, defense, trade, transportation and in helping to care for the aged, infirm and those unable to care for themselves. But it is servant to the people, not master.

Conservatives believe a good high school education is a right, and that needs of students and parents should come before demands from unions. They believe that excessive regulation impedes competition and harms economic growth. An example, now in the news, is Dodd-Frank, ironically named after the two politicians who did the most to encourage the behavior that resulted in the credit meltdown in 2007-2008. Dodd-Frank was supposed to make our system safer, but one consequence has been big banks grown bigger, ergo an increase in systemic risk, while many small banks disappeared, burdened with excessive regulation. A second consequence is that bank lending to small and midsize businesses has all but dried up. The upshot is that for the first time in our history business bankruptcies exceed new business formations.

The Left, still in denial as to the election and unable to cogently counter Mr. Trump’s statements, proposals and actions, has taken to spreading a narrative that his election ushered in a dystopian world. The Left and mainstream media see themselves as George Orwell’s Winston Smith, with the President as “Big Brother.” They write of Sinclair Lewis’ “Buzz” Windrip and cite misanthropic parallels to Mr. Trump.

The Left denounces conservatives as insensitive, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamophobic, and they protest Mr. Trump’s every utterance. But why do they not protest the genital mutilation of millions of Muslim women?  Why have they not called out Islamic extremists who kidnap and enslave young Christian and Muslim girls? Why do they not march against the genocide of Christians living in Muslim countries? Why has mainstream media not excoriated those who commit such atrocities? Why the hypocrisy?

The Left reproves conservatives who have had successful private sector careers, yet absolves liberals like the Clintons and Gores who used public service as a platform for personal enrichment? The Left rebukes Israel (a democracy of eight million people), yet gives a pass to the Arab League (an organization of 22 mostly authoritarian nations of 340 million people)? Fourteen percent of Israel’s Knesset are Arabs. Can any Arab nation report the same in terms of Jewish parliamentarians? I thought not.

In this imagined apocalyptic world, the Left claims to be “Horatius at the Bridge,” standing against deplorable masses – those crossing the Potomac and disrupting a world that has benefitted a few at the expense of the many.

Which party is more likely to promulgate a dystopian world? The party that encourages risk-taking from aspirant men and women, willing to use their abilities, personal funds and efforts to create individual success – success that benefits society? Or the party that spawned “Julia’s world” and the “pajama boy,” the party that promises what government can do for you? The answer seems clear.