Today’s topic is liberalism, what does it mean to be liberal? Put as simply as possible it means that the liberal believes that the government is the best solution for inequality and has an obligation to make everything equal. One could add that liberals also believe that the government’s purpose is to make sure no one is in need. First before I offer my own take on this I would like to say that ultimately this goal is admirable and it is easy to see why people would believe this to be true, unfortunately I am not one of them.
The USA has 330 million citizens and recently our President has decided the governments reach should include the world so our borders are open, another thought I do not share but that is for another article. With so many people with so many different religions and societal beliefs I wonder what equal or need really means. How does the government decide when someone is in need or simply abusing the system? What criteria will the government use for equality that will feel equal to all sides of every question? The reality is this, our government can no more make us equal then it can make poverty disappear, why? You might ask, well simply every time you take from one group and give to another you are creating inequality and that is the very definition of taxes. Every time you burden the current population with a problem that was committed in the past you are creating inequality, those people did not commit the act you are punishing them for, such as slavery and I might add since no one today was or ever has been a slave you are rewarding people for being born. My point is simple all the government can do is to make sure that there are opportunities in as equal portion to all its citizens and hope the citizens live up to the challenge.
The government could try teaching equality to its citizens instead of always looking to make up for past and current crimes using tools such as affirmative action which by definition creates a different type of inequality. The government does this by making laws apply equally and enforcing them the same way, meaning when a white or black thug points a gun at a police officer expect the officer to react the same way and do not require anything different. Having said that civil servants who do treat people differently based on any criteria they come up with themselves they should be removed from that position, they have proven they are not prepared to accept equality as a corner stone of this country. Oh and I mean this if the civil servant is black, white, red or yellow.
I once heard this argument put into the form of a race and as such the only thing that will ever be equal is the starting line, we live and produce and create differently and our needs and wants and desires are different and therefore will never truly be equal to one another in that sense and they shouldn’t be, so as I understand the liberal mindset to create equality, I do not believe it is possible nor do I believe it is rational, no human being is the same as the next and they should not be, nor should they be treated the same. Their treatment should be based on their merits and accomplishments. A bank robber could be excellent at his chosen profession but he still should go to jail and forfeit some of his rights and a physicist should see the benefits of his intelligence, even if they are both black and of the same age and sex, they are not equal and never will be.
I would also argue that the taking of what one group has earned through their own hard work is and should be theirs and no one else’s, unless of course they choose to share it. We as a society may not like the fact that some have more than others but the fact remains they for the most part earned it or was given it through their parents and have a right to it for the same reason, to say we should take from them simple because they have it and give to others that do not try and earn it seems to be an immoral act to me. I do not look at the poor as less of a human being but in many cases they choose the level they are comfortable earning at, and by that choice they choose the level they will live at. In my mind the only welfare program this country should offer is a free education as far as any citizen would like to take it, once they have they can earn what they have chosen to do from an equal beginning and without a limit on rising as far they will work for it.
Equality is the idea of being equal in the eyes of each other as far as being human beings and holds no true meaning to me in the arena of effort, the free market will provide based on involvement and skill as it should. Having said that I pose the government has no purpose in creating or policing equality other than creating a equal start to all its citizens.