The Spirit of Man and How to Destroy It

When the liberal left wants to condemn the Iraq theatre of the War on Terror, often they say "We have no business telling other countries what to do" or "Things were much better when Saddam was in charge." Then the leftists turn around here and push for heavy taxation to make smoking less convenient or ordinances that will remove old cars from people's property.

It seems contradictory, this idea of where they stand on "telling people what to do." They do not mind Iraq's former government running amuck. When an individual longs for the simple joy of a cigarrette, or wants to tinker on an old car for ten years as a hobby, they scream "There oughtta be a law!"

Look closer and you see the connection in the idea of collectivism. Collectivism is the principle of order at any price. The price often asked is individuality paid towards the bill titled "Collective Societal Good." Leftists do not mind the idea of a Saddam Hussein run government because it maintained a collective that promised order to the vast majority of the people. Never mind those paltry few that suffered horrifically. They like it so much they want to impose collectivism on those of us in the United States.

Collectivism comes not at the barrel of a gun, but as on little kitten paws. It oozes into our societal thinking here and there. Collectivism does not overawe us with power at the beginning, but begs for our sacrifice and calls us greedy should we decide we want to keep what we earned. Collectivism asks us why we cannot sacrifice some of our freedom if it results in a common good defined by some authority. The Declaration of Independence articulates that the pursuit of happiness is one of our most sacred individual natural rights. It means we seek our own happiness through living our life in a state of liberty. Collectivists gain power by convincing us that happiness is a sin and that the accomplishments we worked so hard to attain were at someone else's expense even though all acted according to their own free will (an idea which collectivists try to undermine.) Mediocrity becomes a virtue and achievement something to ridicule and destroy if possible.

It is no accident that the liberal left supports ideas such as the Mineral County Courthouse being rid of junk food altogether rather than simply offering more healthy choices. When we cede the right to even determine what should be put into our digestion when and how often, what right do we have to speak freely or select our government?