15 Jun Debunking Bernie
“Are you truly free if you are unable to go to a doctor when you are sick, or face financial bankruptcy when you leave the hospital?
Are you truly free if you cannot afford the prescription drug you need to stay alive?
Are you truly free when you spend half of your limited income on housing, and are forced to borrow money from a payday lender at 200 percent interest rates?
Are you truly free if you are 70 years old and forced to work because you lack a pension or enough money to retire?”
—Bernie Sanders in his speech defining socialism
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Rephrasing Sanders’ questions: are you really free if life isn’t easy?
That is the fundamental flaw of Sander’s starting point: life ISN’T easy; life is hard and challenging; success is not assured.
True freedom isn’t freedom from responsibility; it is freedom to choose to live responsibly and to reap the rewards of living responsibly—and accepting the consequences of your choices.
Freedom in America means the freedom of living under a Constitutional structure whereby individual rights are maximized, and the powers of government are limited—so as to enable individual Americans to take on the challenges of life without being controlled or coerced or limited by others, and to be rewarded if successful.
Living responsibly means living the American ethos, which means living the Christian ethos:
· Work hard
· Play by the rules
· Live within your means
· Behave morally, as defined by the Ten Commandments and Sermon on the Mount
o Don’t steal
o Don’t lie
o Don’t cheat
o Don’t envy or covet
o Respect your parents
o Be humble
o Be merciful, loving, unselfish, generous
Does the American ethos or Christian ethos mean that everyone who lives it is guaranteed of a perfect, no-problems-life?
No. But history shows that living the American ethos far more often than not DOES lead to a better life, individually and collectively, with greater fulfillment and joy than are experienced otherwise.
Socialism denies the role of behavior, responsibility and reward in shaping individual lives for the better. It denies that human beings have individuality and unique aspirations; it effectively treats us all as part of the masses who want nothing more out of life than to be sure that no one has anything more or different than anyone else.
Sorry, Mr. Sanders, you just don’t understand life, and you don’t get America.