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12/12/2004: "The Con-munist Manifesto"

Let’s talk about the “nuts and bolts” of Con-munism, the social-political-economic system now embraced by the GOP. First, the nuts are Dittoheads. (Sorry, sorry, couldn’t resist). Anyway, Con-munism is best understood as reactionary opposition to the basic tenets of liberal democracy. No doubts about that, right? Rush and Co. certainly wouldn’t disagree that they hate liberalism. What are the tenets of liberal democracy that they hate so much? Well, as practiced throughout the Western World, liberal democracy holds that the default approach to social and economic issues is freedom. When applied to social issues, freedom means absence of censorship and an open marketplace for ideas. Religious beliefs are protected, with the caveat that no one religion’s beliefs can impede freedom by being enforced in law. Applying freedom to the economic sphere produces capitalism, the system where individuals create wealth for society and for themselves by fulfilling an economic need. The only constraint that liberal democracy imposes on freedom is sustainability. People and companies must exercise their freedoms in a responsible way, a way that does not harm other people, including people from future generations. Closely aligned with the concepts of freedom and sustainability is the concept of a social safety net that enables vulnerable individuals like children to achieve their full potential despite disadvantages of birth and random chance. Liberalism’s simple formula of responsibly exercised freedom has produced unprecedented human progress, wealth, and happiness. Enter Con-munism, which is to the success of liberal democracy as a parasite is to a body. Con-munism is founded on the principle that there is short-term wealth to be gained by eliminating sustainability as a constraint to wealth creation, and short term power to be gained by pandering to constituencies that desire to limit freedom. (“Constituencies,” special interests seeking to overrule the freedom of others to enforce their personal beliefs, are the third “con” of Con-munism, along with “Conservative” and “Confidence Scheme.”) Small wonder that Con-munists rail so much against liberalism, considering that their entire movement is defined as a negation of its fundamental principles. What’s really happening, unfortunately, is that the axe is sweeping down on the neck of the goose that has laid golden eggs for Western society for the last 200 years!