Posted by
TheRationalRight on Friday, September 19, 2008 11:03:09 PM
Watch the news reports showing the impact of Hurricane Ike on residents of the Texas Gulf Coast and you will get a glimpse of the future of this country if we begin moving in the direction Obama wants to take us.
People who depend on the federal government for sustenance are waiting in long lines for their allotment of supplies. They have no choice in what they get -- ice, water, and a package of MREs -- from FEMA. Lines at the few operational gas stations were measured in terms of the number of hours people waited until they reached the pump.
This is not a situation that anyone would wish to be in. However, these are unusual circumstances, and this is a matter of survival. I hope people look at this as an example of what it is like to become dependent on the government for survival.
FEMA has been criticized for the delay in getting the supplies to the appropriate people. In stark contrast, a local radio station (KTRH-740AM) was able to bring in and distribute several truckloads of ice within a day of the storm's passing. This is a clear example of how a private entity will work far more efficiently than a public bureaucracy. KTRH did this as a charitable gesture, motivated by the strong desire to help the people of the community.
FEMA works as a large, slow-moving agency. Their purpose is also noble, but employees get their paychecks whether they meet their requirements a day early or a week late. If the oil companies are nationalized, as at least one Democratic congressperson suggested a few months back, the distribution of gasoline will certainly operate with similar inefficiency, and the current long lines will become the rule rather than the exception.
I believe the fundamental difference between the two major parties as they exist today is that Obama's Democratic Party wants citizens to rely on the government (like those waiting for FEMA supplies), whereas the Maverick's Republican Party wants citizens to rely on themselves and each other (like those who took the initiative to bring in supplies on their own to help their neighbors).
We should always band together and work to help our neighbors in their time of need. That's part of the job description of being human. It works very well when we accept this responsibility as independent individuals. It does not work well when we deem this responsibility as too unimportant for human beings and relegate it to a non-human entity.
People who rely on the government for life's necessities are called dependent subjects. People who rely on themselves for life's necessities are called independent citizens.
So, the choice in this year's presidential election comes down to this: Give me liberty, or give me Barack!