The biggest problem with liberalism??
More thoughts on Live8 and other issues
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
I heard a little radio while out on the road during the lunch hour today running an errand between my employers main office and the job site I work at. Since it was the noon hour on the east coast, I was able to catch a little of the trusty old blow-hard (in the words of most liberals) Rush "just a few more pain killers please" Limbaugh (again, description given by many liberals).
He was going off in a rant, or should I say a response rant to someone that had read him the riot act about the effects of Live8.
Funny that it was, considering that I got to hear a little of Tony Kornheiser (formerly ESPN Radio show during afternoon drive, now local to D.C. on WTEM, SportsTalk 980, and also broadcast over XM, as well as continuing to co-host the "Pardon the Interruption Show" with Michael Wilbon most afternoons on ESPN) giving a bit of monologue time to "the idiots" that were "participating" in Live8 as concert-goers, and MTV viewers and such. Kornheiser raised many of the same questions I did here: (linked) Live 8: will it make a difference?, and was commenting that in his opinion (paraphrasing as best I can remember) that many of the teens and others that watched Live8 probably felt that after going to the concerts, or watching on MTV, or buying a CD from one of the artists that they had "done their part" and that things in Africa were going to be magically solved because of their participation. (Which echos much of my comments and musings in that original article from the same day of the concerts).
Limbaugh ranted a bit that Live8 was much like other liberal causes, one where liberals would apply their same old tried and failed solutions, feel good solutions that don't really solve anything, but leave the liberals feeling that they've tried and that is all they really needed to do. True or not, worth consideration, given that this seems to be one of the biggest problems I could point at as to why I dislike liberalism and why I think it fails.
You see, I'll take the point further. Liberalism has a very big problem -- it not only has become a way of not requiring nor expecting results, but instead has become a way of life where results are completely downplayed in favor of rewarding effort. This has been happening in schools -- including places like Montgomery County, Maryland, where teachers no longer give "F's" for failures. Instead, they give a D to a student, even if the best the student can muster is say a 40/100 on an exam. Reward the student for their effort, even if they say 2 + 2 = 3. Even if the student is tackling a word problem that says "If a person has $5, and buys a combo meal at a fast food restaurant that costs $3.98, how much change should the person receive?" and the student answers $3. Again, reward the effort, ignore the results.
Somewhere over time, liberals have come to a point where they have been able to impose this "reward effort, not results" philosophy on society, and even worse and more insidious, they made it or are making it the status quo. It's happening with problems like poverty in Africa, with the Social Security system in this country and in the educational system in this country. It's been happening so slowly, and in such baby steps that for the most part we haven't even seen it coming to pass. It's snuck up on us so we couldn't protest and couldn't see that what we were told is "normal" never really was, and never should have been. If we asked questions along the way, we were given feel good explanations, double speak and mumbo jumbo that was designed to throw us off track and distract us from asking further questions. Just give more money, follow the plan, and things would be fine, or so we were told.
And now we see that we are so deeply engrained in the Matrix, we can't escape it. We're part of the system, and the system needs us. We have to do what we're told, or we'll never be able to solve the problems. Even if we toss billions of dollars into a problem, we simply must give more. Do it the European way - give a fixed percentage of our income, even if the total amount we give (via public and private funds) is far more, give that damned percentage darn you! But for all of those dollars, Euros, Marcs, Francs, and other funds, have we even made dents in the problems, or have we simply given money to corrupt governments, tyrants, warlords, and others that simply enrich their own lives and ignore the needs of their citizens?
Sure there are some great organizations that have done great works. Doctors without Borders has reportedly done great works. The International Red Cross has done many great works too. But with that said, there are clearly cases where relief organizations rely on local offices that include their own problems with graft and corruption. Relief materials are "stolen" and then sold on the blackmarket to enrich someone along the way. Eventually the money may even result in some lucky individual, or an entire family being able to escape the poverty and find their way to the good life in Europe, or better yet, here in the United States. All the while, hundreds, if not thousands and millions, of others continue to suffer, all while people back here "feel good" because they called up and donated one time to Live Aid, or the Red Cross, or Farm Aid, or Comic Relief, or whatever liberal relief solution was created to help solve the problem or bring attention to the problem.
Yup, Liberalism has problems, and is a big problem for our country. Or at least that is the way I see things.
Responses and comments welcomed and encouraged.
He was going off in a rant, or should I say a response rant to someone that had read him the riot act about the effects of Live8.
Funny that it was, considering that I got to hear a little of Tony Kornheiser (formerly ESPN Radio show during afternoon drive, now local to D.C. on WTEM, SportsTalk 980, and also broadcast over XM, as well as continuing to co-host the "Pardon the Interruption Show" with Michael Wilbon most afternoons on ESPN) giving a bit of monologue time to "the idiots" that were "participating" in Live8 as concert-goers, and MTV viewers and such. Kornheiser raised many of the same questions I did here: (linked) Live 8: will it make a difference?, and was commenting that in his opinion (paraphrasing as best I can remember) that many of the teens and others that watched Live8 probably felt that after going to the concerts, or watching on MTV, or buying a CD from one of the artists that they had "done their part" and that things in Africa were going to be magically solved because of their participation. (Which echos much of my comments and musings in that original article from the same day of the concerts).
Limbaugh ranted a bit that Live8 was much like other liberal causes, one where liberals would apply their same old tried and failed solutions, feel good solutions that don't really solve anything, but leave the liberals feeling that they've tried and that is all they really needed to do. True or not, worth consideration, given that this seems to be one of the biggest problems I could point at as to why I dislike liberalism and why I think it fails.
You see, I'll take the point further. Liberalism has a very big problem -- it not only has become a way of not requiring nor expecting results, but instead has become a way of life where results are completely downplayed in favor of rewarding effort. This has been happening in schools -- including places like Montgomery County, Maryland, where teachers no longer give "F's" for failures. Instead, they give a D to a student, even if the best the student can muster is say a 40/100 on an exam. Reward the student for their effort, even if they say 2 + 2 = 3. Even if the student is tackling a word problem that says "If a person has $5, and buys a combo meal at a fast food restaurant that costs $3.98, how much change should the person receive?" and the student answers $3. Again, reward the effort, ignore the results.
Somewhere over time, liberals have come to a point where they have been able to impose this "reward effort, not results" philosophy on society, and even worse and more insidious, they made it or are making it the status quo. It's happening with problems like poverty in Africa, with the Social Security system in this country and in the educational system in this country. It's been happening so slowly, and in such baby steps that for the most part we haven't even seen it coming to pass. It's snuck up on us so we couldn't protest and couldn't see that what we were told is "normal" never really was, and never should have been. If we asked questions along the way, we were given feel good explanations, double speak and mumbo jumbo that was designed to throw us off track and distract us from asking further questions. Just give more money, follow the plan, and things would be fine, or so we were told.
And now we see that we are so deeply engrained in the Matrix, we can't escape it. We're part of the system, and the system needs us. We have to do what we're told, or we'll never be able to solve the problems. Even if we toss billions of dollars into a problem, we simply must give more. Do it the European way - give a fixed percentage of our income, even if the total amount we give (via public and private funds) is far more, give that damned percentage darn you! But for all of those dollars, Euros, Marcs, Francs, and other funds, have we even made dents in the problems, or have we simply given money to corrupt governments, tyrants, warlords, and others that simply enrich their own lives and ignore the needs of their citizens?
Sure there are some great organizations that have done great works. Doctors without Borders has reportedly done great works. The International Red Cross has done many great works too. But with that said, there are clearly cases where relief organizations rely on local offices that include their own problems with graft and corruption. Relief materials are "stolen" and then sold on the blackmarket to enrich someone along the way. Eventually the money may even result in some lucky individual, or an entire family being able to escape the poverty and find their way to the good life in Europe, or better yet, here in the United States. All the while, hundreds, if not thousands and millions, of others continue to suffer, all while people back here "feel good" because they called up and donated one time to Live Aid, or the Red Cross, or Farm Aid, or Comic Relief, or whatever liberal relief solution was created to help solve the problem or bring attention to the problem.
Yup, Liberalism has problems, and is a big problem for our country. Or at least that is the way I see things.
Responses and comments welcomed and encouraged.
