Dear Reader: This “BEST of Common Sense” comment originally aired on July 4, 2007. A longer version published at Townhall.com was picked up by Rush Limbaugh and read on his radio show. —PJ
Could Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards actually be right about something? Not where to go to get a haircut, mind you, I mean about there being two Americas.
There is the vibrant America … and the stagnant one.
There is the America of ever-increasing wealth, innovation, creativity, new products and services. Choices galore.
And there is the politician’s America: The regulated America, the subsidized America, the earmarked America. The failing America.
In one America, it is what you produce that gets you ahead. In the other, it’s who you know.
In one America, to earmark some money means setting aside funds (into savings) for a purchase — a car, house, college.
In the other America, to earmark is to grab from taxpayers to give to cronies. It is the highest rite of career politicians: Buying their votes with other people’s money. Oh, there have been reforms, sure. But a recent bill in the House had 32,000 earmark requests.
In one America, we decide what we pay for. We choose constantly about little things and big. We call the shots. Or we walk down the street and associate with someone else. So we have some faith in those we work with.
In the other America, we vote. But we rarely get what we vote for.
Maybe that’s why the new Democratic Congress just registered the lowest approval rating in poll history.
It surely isn’t because folks love the Republicans.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
3 replies on “The Two Americas”
Well Paul, has it gotten better or worse in the interviewing years?
There will be no improvement, in my opinion, until self-reliance and self-determination are the new and controlling philosophy which is the last thing the members of either major party want or will work for. The disease will therefore spread, with evermore converting to the dark side as it really does appear to be in their best short term interest.
Dispute the truth of your 2007 essay, it has not been heeded.
The reality is closer to two worlds being the 0.01% – the Old World Order (http://thrivemovement.com/the_movie) with its iron-fisted control of money, credit, food, energy, water, air, resources, etc.– and those surrounding and sucking off that loot machinery. Total drawn into that vortex by ignorance or addiction: ~50%
And then the other 50% who have a chance to upend it. When you talk about Red and Blue, you’re talking about the deck chairs on the Titanic, it’s meaningless, two sides of the same smelly coin signifying nothing of essence… regardless of whether Rush Limbaugh reports on it.
I would suggest the Republicans are actually even slightly more dangerous because they say things that are slightly correct then do the opposite. Therefore people hear what they say and when the results of the R’s doing the bad thing, only remember what they said that was partially correct/
The optimism I have is that the entrepreneurs, inventors, creators and just plain hard working people will prevail. But the obstacles are a‑plenty.