When the Political Establishment Says It’s Time To Choose Sides
There are within the political establishment those who would yell “It is time to choose sides!”
Be cautious of these people. Although it seems like a simple and spirited rallying cry, it deserves a closer look.
More people each day are getting informed to the foolishness and unscrupulous behavior of government. They are finding out those things that were withheld in their history classes. They are beginning to understand government more. They are even beginning to get a grasp on the economy. The more people learn the more they see how government has been remiss in their duty. The growing public opinion is that politicians are scamming the people and ignoring the constitution.
With this increase in public awareness, their is anti-big government movement. Both the Tea Party and Libertarian movements are growing. In fact, there is a healthy diversity of individuals among this new resurgence of citizens seeking personal and economic liberty.
Americans are rejecting the ideas and policies of the Democrat president and congress. They are rejecting the party line big government Republican policies. America is becoming anti-incumbent, and they are doing so through the Tea Party and Libertarian movements. That is good for Americans. That is bad for the good ol’ boys of the Democrat and Republican parties.
What is clear is that both major parties are developing strategies to deal with the Tea Party and Liberty movement. The Democrat party and it’s friends in the media have gone to work trying to demonize those who would want constitutional government, lower taxes and liberty. They paint people who desire personal and economic freedom as suspect. It would be laughable if they weren’t so militant in their attempts in marginalizing the liberty movement. Liberty…our founding principle.
The Republicans are a bit more subtle. They insist the Tea Party is an anti-Democrat movement. To a degree, it happens to be that way. However, in reality it is an anti-incumbent, limited government movement. The Republicans are trying to associate themselves with the Tea Party. However, if the Tea Party were really associated with the Republican Party there wouldn’t be a need for the GOP to work so hard to associate themselves with the Tea Party in the first place. It would be business as usual. There would be no need to call people to choose sides. Then again, if the Tea Party were Republican, there would be no Tea Party.
So now as the numbers grow those in the establishment call people to choose sides. There will be Republicans who will do their best to make those in the Tea Party fear the evil Democrats (and rightly so it seems) and implore people that the only hope to defeat the Democrat socialist party is run to the side of the Republicans. It will be an emotional appeal. It will be a familiar use of fear followed by a similar familiar message of hope. It will be done that way on purpose.
If people use reason, they will understand these pleas. There is a very good chance these calls to choose sides are merely a political maneuver to get people back in the establishment’s desired political herd. If you think about it, the call to choose sides may very well be a sign of weakness by party-liners, political pundits and career politicians.
The liberty movement has demonstrated its strength and it is only getting stronger. Choosing sides would only diminish the strength that has been so effective in early elections.
If you are not at least partly convinced by now, here are some other reasons to be cautious of the call to choose sides:
- You are spoon fed the choices. Usually these choices are provided by a career politician or pundit and the choices all serve the political establishment’s interests, not the people’s best interest.
- It assumes their are only two choices. Odds are these two choices will coincide with two agendas… that coincide with the goals of the political establishment as it currently exists.
- Each choice will be a collectivist agenda. No matter what side you choose, you are putting your support into a collectivist movement and taking support away from your own individual thoughts.
- The call to choose sides is like being sold the first link of a chain. There is a chain connected.
- When you choose either of the two sides presented to you, you choose an agenda. You are not choosing principles.
- Choosing a side usually requires people to choose the better of two evils.
As the November elections approach and more career politicians and party-line men and women will yell “It is time to choose sides!”
Please remember this one thing. Independent thinkers do not bind themselves to collectivist agendas. Independent men and women do not choose sides such as this. They choose principles. They choose ideas. They choose liberty.
Choose liberty on each and every issue and you are your own best friend and the friend of your fellow man.
“The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead the two parties should be almost identical, so the that American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.”
- Carroll Quigley, from Tragedy & Hope
“Collectivism is slavery.” – F.A. Hayek
