Monday, April 22, 2013

Reading On the Trip

I got smart and downloaded two books I've wanted to read for some time (I regularly put books on my Wish List for future purchases).

The first, Lift at the Bottom, by Theodore Dalrymple, is a true treasure. I enjoyed it because it focused on specific examples of areas in which British culture has coarsened, cheapened, and declined, as well as WHY the social policies - so beloved by Leftists, and so thoroughly put into play in modern Great Britain - have led, not to Paradise, but to a figurative Dante's Inferno.

Leftists identified lack of money as a problem - therefore, money is given to those who haven't a job. If they got a job, they'd have to work, but get no more money than they had prior to employment. This financial support can exist indefinitely.

Is it really a surprise that they stay unemployed?

Similarly, housing is provided, free of cost to the "poor" - many of whom have LOTS more money to spend than the working people. Just like in American public housing, trash, condoms, and "adult" beverage bottles are everywhere.

Not surprised? You might be a potential conservative...

An even more disturbing outcome of the Welfare State is that family life is disintegrating. Few bother to get married. Each child is another mouth for the PUBLIC to feed, so who cares? Family dinner hour is virtually nonexistent - along with the life lessons imparted there.

Dalrymple interviews many criminals in the course of his work - he is also a medical doctor. Few of the people he talks to take any responsibility for their actions - whether it's committing a crime, fathering/birthing a child, drifting from one place to another, drinking/drugging, or helping their children to acquire the skills to succeed in life. All of life's decisions and responsibilities have been abdicated to the State, along with the blame when their lives turn out badly.

Great Britain started this process before the USA. I'm hopeful, but not confident, that we can learn from their mistakes before it's too late to stop the process.

I strongly urge all to read this book. In harrowing detail, it is a warning of what WILL happen here, if Leftists are not stopped.

The other book I've been reading (just started) is Bullies by Ben Shapiro. Leftists worry about bullies - by which they mean those nasty people who disagree with them, even those who take no action, speak respectfully, and act civilly. What they do NOT worry about are the MANY bullies of the Left:

  • Government - which is increasingly using underhanded tactics against dissenters. This includes the IRS, police (SWATTING is directed almost solely against conservative dissenters), and the courts. Even if provably innocent of charges, the cost of litigation forces most to make a settlement.

  • Media - You may HATE Sarah Palin. However, the vicious tactics used against her, her family, and her private life, which reached a level of anti-woman hate crime FAR worse than any endured by ANY Leftist - and I specifically include Hillary Clinton - was laughed off as deserved by many Democrats, Progressives, and Liberals.

    NO person - man or woman - should have to endure being referred to as "cunt", "bitch", "mother of a retard", or other slur. But she was - often and unashamedly. Her daughters were referred to as "whores" (were they Liberals, they would be "brave, free, and courageous").

    Would she have been at least as good a VP as Biden? She could hardly be worse. He regularly gives evidence of non-functional brain cells. Notice that I disparaged him WITHOUT using profanity, trashing his very accomplished wife, or commenting on the sex life of anyone related to him?

    The Left might take that as an example of how to fight political fights without hitting below the belt.


  • Thought Crimes - better NOT even think less than approving thoughts about Gays or other "protected" minorities. Don't DARE use words that might be confused with slurs (can we say "niggardly"), belong to a church that disapproves of homosexual activities, or complain that students who have not demonstrated verifiable qualifications are accepted into programs before other, less privileged minorities - like Jews and Asians.

    The Left will come out in force to destroy your business, your employment, your reputation, your home and your neighborhood (picketers think nothing of terrorizing children living in your house by gathering in thuggish groups, trespassing, and refusing to leave when ordered by police). MIchelle Malkin had to move her family due to having her home address published. This a a woman who gets DEATH THREATS against herself and her family. What does she do? She publishes a conservative blog.



Many, if not most, of these actions are of questionable legality. Some of the governmental actions are unconstitutional. All use force to achieve Progressive goals.

Lies of the Left

This COULD be a lengthy post. But, I'll try to winnow it down to a reasonable length. The CA Parent Bribery 'Scandal' - the 1...