The Left And Freedom December 2, 2008
Posted by The Underground Conservative in Community Service, Freedom, Liberals, Thomas Sowell, Uncategorized.comments closed
As brilliantly as usual, Thomas Sowell summarizes the Left’s approach to freedom: they’re really not against it but rather support all sorts of things that are against freedom.
Sowell takes on the concept of mandatory community service, coming soon to a neighborhood near you:
Freedom ultimately means the right of other people to do things that you do not approve of. Nazis were free to be Nazis under Hitler. It is only when you are able to do things that other people don’t approve that you are free.
One of the most innocent-sounding examples of the left’s many impositions of its vision on others is the widespread requirement by schools and by college admissions committees that students do “community service.”
There are high schools across the country from which you cannot graduate, and colleges where your application for admission will not be accepted, unless you have engaged in activities arbitrarily defined as “community service.”
The arrogance of commandeering young people’s time, instead of leaving them and their parents free to decide for themselves how to use that time, is exceeded only by the arrogance of imposing your own notions as to what is or is not a service to the community.
We’ll talk more about the concept of mandatory community for all Americans, which is closer than you think. The concept of civilian national security force ring a bell? The federal government mandating all Americans do a specified amount of community service work? That’s a free society?
I thought the 13th Amendment abolished slavery. They’ll drag me kicking and screaming out of here.
The Creep Of Global Government December 2, 2008
Posted by The Underground Conservative in Environment, Global Government, Uncategorized.comments closed
First, it was British Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling for the creation of a global society. Then, it was Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization, calling for global financial regulations. Now, it’s a group of lawyers calling for the creation of an international court to persecute prosecute individuals and businesses for crimes against the environment, including enforcing regulations to fight the hoax known as global warming.
The first role of the new body would be to enforce international agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions set to be agreed next year.
But the court would also fine countries or companies that fail to protect endangered species or degrade the natural environment and enforce the “right to a healthy environment”.
They’re coming for you. Be afraid. be very afraid. There’s no one in power here in the United States to stand up for us.
Americans Teens Lie, Cheat, Steal Often December 2, 2008
Posted by The Underground Conservative in Culture, Ethics, Honesty, Society, Values.comments closed
Houston, we’ve got a problem.
A study conducted by the Josephson Institute shows that American teenagers lie, cheat and steal at a rate called “alarming” by the study’s conductors.
The attitudes and conduct of some 29,760 high school students across the United States “doesn’t bode well for the future when these youngsters become the next generation’s politicians and parents, cops and corporate executives, and journalists and generals,” the non-profit Josephson Institute said.
In its 2008 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth, the Los Angeles-based organization said the teenagers’ responses to questions about lying, stealing and cheating “reveals entrenched habits of dishonesty for the workforce of the future.”
Boys were found to lie and steal more than girls.
Overall, 30 percent of students admitted to stealing from a store within the past year, a two percent rise from 2006. More than one third of boys (35 percent) said they had stolen goods, compared to 26 percent of girls.
An overwhelming majority, 83 percent, of public school and private religious school students admitted to lying to their parents about something significant, compared to 78 percent for those attending independent non-religious schools.
“Cheating in school continues to be rampant and it’s getting worse,” the study found. Amongst those surveyed, 64 percent said they had cheated on a test, compared to 60 percent in 2006. And 38 percent said they had done so two or more times.
We could say this was shoicking, but in all reality it isn’t. We’ve seen the bar lowered time and time again, excuses made, alibis offered. Remember this case? A teacher in Piper. Kans., resigned her job in protest after the school board overturned her assigned failing grades for 28 students guilty of plagiarism after parents pressured the school board members.
What kind of parent goes to bat for his or her son or daughter when that child is caught cheating? And plagiarism is cheating. And what kind of message is sent when there is no punishment for cheating?
We’ve sent the message, whether intentionally or unintentionally, over years that this behavior is OK. Remember when the Clinton defenders said oral sex wasn’t really sex? It took less than five years for the explosion of oral sex clubs involving kids as young as third grade. We’ve seen lying excused — “Everyone lies about sex.” Remember that one? We’ve seen cheating deemed acceptable if the right end is achieved. See what the Democrats tried to do in Flori-duh in 2000, were able to do in the state of Washington in 2004, and are trying to do in Minnesota. Check the sports world on a regular basis at virtually any level. Stealing? It’s OK in some circles to steal if someone has more than you do or if you are really in need. Steal from Wal-Mart? It’s OK, they rip people off all the time. Besides, they’re a business and all businesses are rich and can afford to lose merchandise.
And don’t discount the parents involved here. Leaving the children’s upbringing to the culture through the TV, music and the computer. And all the moral relativism that has seeped in since the 1960s, into our schools. Teachers, administrators and others afraid to teach right and wrong, since everything is a gray area. Varying shades of gray. The3re’s no absolute right and wrong. Besides, who are we to impose our morality on others?
We’re reaping what we have sown.
The Formula For GOP Recovery December 2, 2008
Posted by The Underground Conservative in Conservatives, Republican Party, Uncategorized.comments closed
It’s simple for the Republican Party to regain its pre-eminence, says Star Parker, writing at Townhall.com. Combining traditional values with limited government.
[A] new report from the Pew Research Center seems to verify that America is still a right of center as a country. But the picture gets murky when you look at the details. And this murkiness presents a considerable challenge for Republicans who are trying to figure out where to steer their party.
According to the just published report, more Americans today call themselves conservative than liberal, and the relative percentages in each category has hardly changed since George W. Bush was elected to his first term in 2000.
Thirty eight percent of Americans self-identify as conservative, 21 percent as liberal, and 36 percent as moderate. This compares to 36 percent, 18 percent and 38 percent, respectively, in 2000.
Don’t buy the Drive By Media spin that conservatism got routed at the polls November 4. Fact is, conservatism wasn’t really on the ballot anywhere, except for the traditional marriage amendments, which won overwhelmingly.
John McCain? If it weren’t for the presence of Sarah Palin on the ticket, McCain would have lost by levels comparable to George McGovern, Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondull. Of course, the Drive Bys went to the likes of Christopher Shays, the RINO from Connecticut who lost to find out what the Republicans needed to do. Go left, young man, go left, was the advice from Shays. It’s hard to find a Republican more liberal than Shays. He says the Republicans need to be more inclusive.
How so? Ronald Reagan attracted Democrats and independents to the GOP by clearly stating what he stood for, what his principles were, not by changing those principles to make new converts feel more at home by adopting liberal positions. But this is typical of the Beltway mentality that has poisoned the GOP brand, making it virtually indistinguishable from the Democrats. Me-too! Me-too! Mini-Me to the Democrats’ Dr. Evil.
Some argue that the party should lighten up on the social agenda. The party is all white, they say, and there is no future without Latinos and blacks.
But consider the obvious. First, conservatives define the Republican Party. According to this study, 68 percent of Republicans call themselves conservative.
Second, it should be obvious from the above, that if conservatives are rooted anywhere, it’s more in the social agenda than in the fiscal and limited government agenda. Where in the world would the party be if the leadership tried to uproot from social conservatism?
Third, consider what is going on with blacks and Latinos.
In this same Pew survey, 25 percent of all Democrats called themselves conservatives. But among these same Democrats, 35 percent of blacks call themselves conservative compared to 21 percent of whites.
Why? Blacks are social conservatives. Blacks understand the havoc that moral relativism has caused in their communities. And, this is also the case with Latinos.
As was widely reported, blacks and Latinos voted for Proposition 8 in California, supporting traditional marriage …
So where is the logic in Republicans abandoning social conservatism in order to reach blacks and Latinos?
It appears that the message getting lost is the importance of limited government and fiscal conservatism.
The Republicans need to re-craft that message and find messengers capable of delivering it with conviction and credibility. RINOs and other Republicans gone native — or “grown” by becoming more liberal by becoming part of the DC culture — cannot do that effectively.
