Impressions vs. Results

Let me begin with this warning...this is going to be a rather complicated post. It will take no small amount of thought from the author and concentration by the reader in able for its points to be transplanted. I freely admit to being no Jerry Springer. I claim no ability to make a cultural statement through the use of bisexual kleptomaniac midgets as metaphor. I’m not that smart nor so damned nuanced. That said, here goes.
We will start at the beginning.
It has always seemed to me that there is a reason for government to exist. As a Libertarian leaning life form, that is no small confession. But that is what I believe. So if government does in fact exist for a reason, what might this be? Hmmm, how about the protection of life, liberty, and property? Maybe National Defense? Possibly to provide roads? A system of laws? I’d even go as far as for the education our young.
These are all good, important things. Things most intellectually honest Americans would agree on. So how do we get to these ends? How does government with this list of what it ought to do, then accomplish this agenda?
Well, any businessman worth his salt is screaming at his screen right now, “Set goals! Decide what it is to be accomplished and institute plans to reach those results. Then get to work to meet them!’
Doesn’t seem too complicated, huh? Well, that was the easy part.
We as citizens of this great land should demand results. We should be able to identify what problems need to be solved and set goals to accomplish them. We should plan accordingly. Well, that is the logic at least.
But what at present do we actually see in action?
Let’s look at some examples and see what we can learn.
Social Security as it now exists is heading for disaster. It can not stand in its present form. It will be a noose around the financial necks of our children and their’s as well. One party has identified this problem. Decided on the goal of making the system solvent and offered plans to affect that end. The other party has dismissed the coming disaster as hype and used fear and half truths to attack any attempts to avert it.
America needs a real energy program. A program that weans us off our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. One party sees this dependence as a national security issue. It has proffered the ideas of increased drilling in ANWR and off shore, more nuclear reactors for electricity, and investment in new technology. The other party screams of total destruction of the ecosystem, global warming, and an American consumption society gone wild.
Our national school system is a mess. We spend nearly $10,000 per student per year. More than most industrial nations. Yet our children continue to do worse than those of countries that spend much less. The efforts of our students in math and science is embarrassing...and dangerous. One party has offered vouchers as a plan to induce competition to the education system, thereby increasing its quality. It has questioned the power of the NEA, wondering if the protection of bad and dangerous teachers is really such a good idea. The other party rails against any change in the system. It claims any change from business as usual would be a cruel experiment on our children.
There are poor people in the United States(I refuse to use the word poverty as one man’s poverty is another man’s splendor). One party believes the way to help the poor is to empower them. To welcome them into the ownership society. To let them own their retirement, their health care, their homes. The other party harps ‘the rich are getting richer’, ‘record profits’, and ‘the income gap’.
OK, that’s enough examples. Here is the point of this post. Conservatives are goal oriented. They look for results. They develop and institute plans to reach these results. Liberals act and speak simply for impression. For effect, for appearance.
One more point. When a problem is identified and a goal is set, sometimes hard choices must be made to reach that goal. Keep this in mind.
Let us use the examples above and see just how this works out.
Conservatives want to fix Social Security. Liberals choose to frighten people, by claiming the Right wants to steal their retirement. This leaves the impression that they are protecting the elderly. They have no plan, just impressions. Hard choices need to be made on this issue, but the Left will leave those to the Right. Again leaving the impression that they are the good guys. No plans, just compassion.
Conservatives want a realistic energy policy. The Left cries for the caribou. They blame evil drivers of SUVs for all the evil in the world. They decry the horrors of nuclear energy. All so that they appear as environmentally correct. Many impressions, few realistic plans.
Conservatives want better more efficient schools. Liberals cry, ‘what about the children’, ‘we need more money...or they’ll cut after school programs’, and ‘schools are worse in poor neighborhoods’! OK, then you on the Left, let’s have a program! Enough emotion, how about a plan?
Conservatives care about the poor, but understand that only the individual can change his own circumstance for the long haul. Liberals shout that they lack opportunity. There must be a living wage. Or that Walmart is evil. The War on Poverty has been with us for over half a century, yet there are still poor among us. Can we finally agree that government is not the answer...can we quit with the emotional rhetoric? Can we get a workable plan?
I have no doubt that this essay has angered many who call themselves Left of center. But in reality, I am giving you Liberals a break. Because if the above is in fact untrue, it leads me to only one other conclusion. And that is that our goals are actually different. That you do not wish to fix Social Security, that it is simply one more notch on your belt of Socialism. That you do not wish America to be oil independent. Instead, you hope for a weaker America in the global community. That you do not wish to reform our educational system. That a dumbed down citizenry fits nicely in your future plans. That you do not want the poor to do better. Because this would mean you would loose an ‘impression’, no more use of ‘the politics of envy’.
I will end with this simple point...Compassion and rhetoric are meaningless if in the end they lead to no solutions.

Crossposted @ The Wide Awakes