“Economic energy must be released from government strangulation if individual freedom is to survive.”
- Barry Goldwater
Do not be fooled - in most instances, noble ideas and stark reality typically are mutually exclusive. After all, who doesn't want to contribute to the best welfare for our neighbors and fellow citizens? For those of us who are Star Trek fans, that is the visionary ideal set forth by Gene Roddenberry: a future where no one is abandoned, destitute or marginalized, and everyone shares in the bounty of hope. The question is, who is going to pay for it? According to Bernie Sanders, and even the very much Wall Street-backed Hillary Clinton - who also is under several federal investigations into her activities as Secretary of State, some of which is potentially linked to that connection - it should be the greedy capitalists! Yet, those very same corporate entities are the ones who already do - either through their business ventures or private charities - by being the engine of entrepreneurial and innovative change. What Sanders proposes - further extending the disastrous Obama doctrine of economics - is to take all of that intrepid spirit and place it in the laughable hands of the federal government, in order to magically redistribute wealth and make ALL THE THINGS FREE!!! in an effort to bring about this imagined utopia of good intentions. As history has shown numerous times over the past few centuries, it is a system that seems good at the time but is exceedingly calamitous and unsustainable in the long run.
On the other side, according to polls, this country would replace one bloviating, narcissistic demagogue in the current president with another in Donald Trump. Does The Donald really want to make America great again, or just give America great ratings? While his rhetoric hits the mark by preying upon frustrated voters, there is no substance to back up such clamorous grandstanding. Even worse, anyone who dares challenge or criticize is met with a barrage of bravado, intolerance and/or misogyny from him. He would not attend a debate because a strong, independent woman previously asked him tough, probing questions in her position as both a journalist and a moderator. How very chauvinistically juvenile of him. Then, with his second-place showing in the Iowa caucus, he was uncharacteristically gracious and humble in concession...only to characteristically hurl childish insults and blast the results merely days later. And yet, voters continue to support him as evidenced by recent wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Most Americans, and people in general, are easily swayed by those who scream the loudest, lacking the education for critical thinking in favor of mindless drivel - like reality television and its charismatic personalities. But sorry Donald, unlike in your private business ventures, you cannot file bankruptcy as president to dissolve the national deficit and public debt.
Big government is, and always will be, a disaster of epic proportions. When such bureaucracy fails to address the problem - as it inherently often does - the answer is not more bureaucracy. The solution is cutting loose its failures and streamlining its benefits. The fiscal concerns of the nation are in dire need of a steward who can administer, revitalize and stimulate the economy, not maintain its downward spiral with more government interference. Thus, it is the responsibility of “We, the People...” to restore our founder's vision of limited government usurped by a bloated, jack-booted bureaucracy - before it gets any worse, and before it is too late. Government equals business, needing such leadership at its helm to steer it; in the last three election cycles, including this latest round, successful business leaders Mitt Romney - who also had political acumen as governor of Massachusetts - Herman Cain and Carly Fiorina all have been rejected despite such credentials. Instead, current leading choices are a self-avowed socialist and a self-interested plutocrat. Well done, America.
©2016 Steve Sagarra
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