Caring

A caller to the Michael Medved radio show today said something along the lines of, “I don’t want the government to care more about me, I want it to care less.”
Amen and well said.
But I would take it one step further. My enlightened self interest tells me it should care less about you, as well.
This is an idea I believe most Liberals just can not get their minds around. I can hear their words now, ‘Less government? Who would take care of us then? When we’re old, when we’re sick, when we’re down and out. You don’t really mean that...if you were in real dire straits, you wouldn’t say that.’
Oh, but yes I would.
You see, I believe too many of what I would call ‘city folk’ seem to forget that humankind did not simply appear on Earth in this generation. When left to his own powers, man is an amazingly adaptive, cunning, and ingenious creature. The fact that you and I exist at all proves this beyond any reasonable doubt. The dangers faced and overcome by our ancestors should not be forgotten or simply dismissed by we humans who exist today. We can not risk losing that part of ourselves that is self-sufficient, that is ever resilient, that begs to fight on. We do so at our own peril.
But there is another part of the human character. A more dangerous part. Nature has in humans, as with most animals, instilled in our psyches the need to get as much as we can with as little effort as possible. When humans lived just to survive this was not a problem. It has become one now.
Politicians play to this weakness. And many willingly accept the game. We see its outcome in the horrors witnessed in New Orleans.
What was it that caused perfectly healthy Americans to sit, starve, and complain when they could simply have walked North? Why, when it was obvious government was not riding in on a white horse, did many continue to wait and suffer? What made these people keep believing that help was on the way?
Conservatives see the answer clear. Too much government. No self-reliance. An entitlement mentality.
Liberals see it differently. They say the disaster just proves we need more government. They see a need for even more reliance.
The government was a failure on all levels after Katrina. Why should that surprise any of us? Other than the military, what has government ever done efficiently? Anything?
Yet the politicians continue to promise us they will take care of us no matter what. And many continue to believe it. Why?
I couldn’t care less what some vote begging windsock tells me he will do for me. I will plan for myself. I don’t believe the pols when they promise me riches. I will do for myself. I don’t want the nanny state to save my life. I’ll protect myself. I don’t want the government to care about me, I want it to care less.