Comments on: The Mechanics of Virtue

By: Browncoatone

Browncoatone — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:21:49 +0000

Unfortunately, Republicans think the same way Democrats do, that Gov’t should take care of any and all problems.

When all you have is a hammer…

By: roscopico

roscopico — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:22:57 +0000

Fiscal conservatives, who refuse to define “freedom” as one vote for the leadership of a monstrous State that seeks control over every aspect of our lives, can explain why no one emerges from that struggle innocent, or victorious.

http://theprecinctproject.wordpress.com/

By: GnuBreed

GnuBreed — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:36:24 +0000

Mail marketers discovered that they got a much greater response if they gave you something first. Thus the proliferation in including pre-printed personal address labels in charity requests. Is it so foolish to assume that politicians would have this same instinctive urge to ‘return the favor’ to their large donors? These ‘favors’ frequently come in the form of some new rule, regulation, or subsidy.

This could help explain why it doesn’t really matter which party is voted in. Americans are used to politicians lying; rarely are they held accountable to even the most specific promises they make during a campaign.

So here is a promise to get candidates to make — I will not support, sponsor, or vote for any legislation that will increase the involvement of government in our lives. We have plenty, thank you.

And then hold them accountable to this one promise.

By: 4Freedom

4Freedom — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:24:50 +0000

At the gargantuan level of the modern state, economic policy shapes moral behavior. Name a social pathology, and it grew worse under the New Deal and Great Society. Twenty years of Lyndon Johnson’s socialism unleashed a tidal wave of crime, dependence and broken homes that might take a century for the most dedicated efforts of social conservatives to drain away… if it can be done at all. Consider that the black families destroyed by these socialist policies were among the most religious demographics in America. The economic liberty championed by fiscal conservatives is the most effective tool available for restoring the moral fiber dissolved by the welfare state.

YES! Conservative policies and values will not only restore moral fiber, but lead to economic and educational improvement as well. Just look at our inner cities that have FAILED miserably under Democrat control all these years. What a travesty. This is what conservative minorities understand, and it needs to be a part of the conservative campaign narrative. Thanks for a very clearly written essay, Dr. Zero.

By: Blacksmith

Blacksmith — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:55:14 +0000

Before setting up the next big government program that expands its power at the expense of the States and citizens, remember – in the near future, you will face an election. And there’s a definite possibility that you might lose. If you wouldn’t trust your political opponent with that level of power – don’t seek it yourself!

Trust the citizens – we’re smarter than you politicians think.

By: uknowmorethanme

uknowmorethanme — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:08:57 +0000

Socially liberal does not mean Government take care of everyone. Socially liberal means Government: Go Away, it means free people living freely to do whatever the hell they want, with whoever the hell they want, whenever the hell they want. It means releasing the private sector of their regulation and not legislating what people can and cannot do (on the federal level, the state level is a whole different beast).

At least that what it meant once upon a time to this fiscal conservative/social liberal.

It’s just been hijacked by the progressives in the name of expanding government.

Unfortunately, Republicans think the same way Democrats do, that Gov’t should take care of any and all problems.

By: Cold Fury » Q: If They’re Social Engineers…

Cold Fury » Q: If They’re Social Engineers… — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:56:41 +0000

[...] Doc Zero: A strictly financial argument for conservatism never makes much progress with the electorate, because liberalism is presented as an explicitly moral enterprise. This is one of the big reasons it is never held to account for its practical failures. Every liberal talks up the latest huge expansion of the government as if the year is 1909, rather than 2009, and the ideas he advocates haven’t been proven disasters around the globe. Collectivist agriculture yields starvation, the trillion-dollar War on Poverty produces more poverty, political control of industries crashes those industries… and yet, it’s always Day One of the great socialist experiment, and no one has every hit on the brilliant idea of making the “rich” pay their “fair share” to fund a government crusade against want. [...]

By: acat

acat — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:41:27 +0000

Any government big enough to give you everything you want, or so the old saying begins.

Another good one, especially since we’re talking about massive government programs, is the idea of fairness. While there were a lot of problems with pre-Great Society social programs, they *did* exist. Church-run, largely, and very uneven – churches in one area having different resources and maybe a different take on what their role toward the poor should be. Recipe for “unfair”.

Of course, now we have a slate of government programs that, while “fair”, lack significant flexibility to treat different people as people, rather than as numbers.

Mew

By: TheUnrepentantGeek

TheUnrepentantGeek — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:16:20 +0000

My big takeaway from this is that religious liberals are going to activate Skynet and kill us all.

Seriously though, nail on the head, Doc. That bit about how the government will always turn on you is completely true.