
I recently re-read Hayek's The Road to Serfdom as a refresher on this great economist and writer and his great thinking about what makes societies productive and grow. Hayek, an Austrian, considered himself a traditional liberal, a category which closely aligns itself with the true intent of Conservatism. We in America allowed the term to be hijacked by our modern day liberals, who are anything but liberal in the traditional sense. After all, liberal comes from liberty and as we have seen in America in recent years the trend of the Left is toward more control and less liberty at all costs. Since they've been caught in this lie they now refer to themselves as Progressives but even that is fraught with error. Progressive according to what?
As a boy I was enamored by the American capitalist system and its ability to turn poor, but hard working men and women into dynamic success stories. In those days, hard work and accomplishment was truly rewarded and risk-taking was expected if you wanted to really get ahead.
Today, we have leaders who practice the"something for nothing" syndrome where those who do nothing are rewarded by taking from those who have earned their rewards. And when you do this, and it continues in succeeding generation, the incentive to produce and grow gives way to the handout. In the end you are left with a society such as the one envisioned by President Obama, a man who has truly grown up with a "silver spoon" in his mouth with every opportunity given to him and yet he still despises the fruits of a free society, unless it all is reserved for him and his select few.
Worse than what it does to the workers is what it does to the political class. The workers lose pay, lose jobs, lose healthcare and lose their homes and self-respect through the legalized theft that then goes to the political class who become entrenched in that way of life and see it as their rightful place.
After the Day of Peace and the Resurrection which we celebrated yesterday, I hope that Americans will open up their eyes to the disaster that is fast unfolding in what used to be the greatest nation on earth. To stop this "big black train" of equal but useless outcomes for the many, we need to turn back to our Lord and Savior for guidance and use our God given brain to identify and elect public "servants" who will truly serve the needs of people with direction which follows the timeless economic policies that allow for growth and strength through freedom. The role of government is to get things out of the way so that free man can use their genius, not to develop mindless rules and regulations which stifle that very initiative.
Take the time to re-read or acquaint yourself with Hayek and his wisdom. It's not too late to plug the hole in the SS United States but water is coming on rapidly and we don't have much time. Let's get her leveled out and back on course to the distinction of leading the world with a Godly standard.
America needs to be brought back to her rightful standard: freedom to make your own decisions about life and deal individually with the consequences. That's what our God-given free will is all about and with it comes a higher success rate and more opportunity than a world of dictatorships could ever dream of producing. It's entirely up to each of us to do our part to turn this Ship of State around.