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"What Conservatives Really Want"
Feb. 20th, 2011 05:43 pmA rather good essay I found today of one political author's opinion on Republican efforts to cut funding in a variety of areas, especially of late. I especially like how he points out that employers aren't called upon to "give" anything to their workers - everything an employee receives is earned, whether they are private sector or government-employed, because their backs and brains are the ones that corporate and nationalistic profits and power are built upon.
Likewise, a government paying for someone's health care isn't "giving" that taxpayer anything for free. A nation is more than the sum of its citizens, and a successful nation should be willing to help provide necessities for those citizens - just as its wealthy citizens ought to be damn grateful to see their tax dollars plowed back into furthering the society and its freedoms and morals that gave them the privileges that allowed them to accumulate wealth and power in the first place.
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joyful_molly who asked my opinion on something political that I could not provide because I simply didn't know well enough. Maybe this will help. My only real beef with this piece is I'm not sure it should be inclusive of all conservatives as a whole, since there are many who don't agree with all of these goals he cites; maybe he should've titled it "What the Louder Conservatives Really Want Right Now.")
( Democrats help conservatives when they function as policy wonks - talking policy without communicating the moral values behind the policies. They help conservatives when they neglect to remind us that pensions are deferred payments for work done. 'Benefits' are pay for work, not a handout. Pensions and benefits are arranged by contract. If there is not enough money for them, it is because the contracted funds have been taken by conservative officials and given to wealthy people and corporations instead of to the people who have earned them. Democrats help conservatives when they use conservative words like 'entitlements' instead of 'earnings' and speak of government as providing 'services' instead of 'necessities.' )
Likewise, a government paying for someone's health care isn't "giving" that taxpayer anything for free. A nation is more than the sum of its citizens, and a successful nation should be willing to help provide necessities for those citizens - just as its wealthy citizens ought to be damn grateful to see their tax dollars plowed back into furthering the society and its freedoms and morals that gave them the privileges that allowed them to accumulate wealth and power in the first place.
(Posted especially for
joyful_molly who asked my opinion on something political that I could not provide because I simply didn't know well enough. Maybe this will help. My only real beef with this piece is I'm not sure it should be inclusive of all conservatives as a whole, since there are many who don't agree with all of these goals he cites; maybe he should've titled it "What the Louder Conservatives Really Want Right Now.")( Democrats help conservatives when they function as policy wonks - talking policy without communicating the moral values behind the policies. They help conservatives when they neglect to remind us that pensions are deferred payments for work done. 'Benefits' are pay for work, not a handout. Pensions and benefits are arranged by contract. If there is not enough money for them, it is because the contracted funds have been taken by conservative officials and given to wealthy people and corporations instead of to the people who have earned them. Democrats help conservatives when they use conservative words like 'entitlements' instead of 'earnings' and speak of government as providing 'services' instead of 'necessities.' )
