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Charles Kopp - Contributor

Charles Kopp is a graduate of the New School for Social Research. He is a composer and musician, and an ardent lover of poetry. He has been a teacher and a systems analyst. In Lafayette, California, he now designs websites and works on creative projects. He can be contacted at charleskopp@earthlink.net [go to Kopp index]

The Real Lies Are From the Left
The Dangerous Pleasures of Delusion...
[Charles Kopp] 7/22/04

There is a natural weakness in our human nature, and we pay dearly for it when we raise to leadership those who appeal to this weakness. Leaders of the Democratic Party have been saying and shouting for months that President Bush has misled our country into an unnecessary and costly war. But it is they who are engaging in misleading -- and of the worst possible sort: We'd all like life to be easy, and we'd all like the future to be comfortable, and they promise beneath their every word, Life will be easy! The future will be comfortable!

Believing easy and comfortable things is a dangerous thing. They say we will have universal health care and it will be so nearly free as to be of unobtrusive cost to us. This is a delusion, girded by the worst possible sort of intention to remake American medicine in the image of Sweden or Canada. But it sounds comforting and we do love to be comforted. At least this particular delusion is not dangerous to our continued existence, though it could wreak havoc in a healthcare system which has enough problems already.

They say high employment and high paying jobs can be created and protected by punishing corporations who hire overseas and by taxing corporations at higher rates. They say the struggle is against "our" enemies, the rich Americans. Sadly, it is an appealing lie; we'd love to think the things we want to buy could be ours by some other means than our own hard work and diligence.

Communists called religion the opiate of the masses, being ignorant of the personal examination the truly religiousrequire of themselves; the real opiate is redistribution of wealth, the pain free, work free road to prosperity. It has destroyed both personal liberty and prosperity everywhere it has been tried. But this does not keep the party of Kerry and Edwards from searching for ever more clever means of redistribution, be it accomplished by trial lawyers, activist judges, reparations or old fashioned tax increases.

There are so many things we love to hear and long to believe. They say we will have world peace, and will overcome the threat of terrorism without any loss of soldiers or money. The planet will simply overflow with good feelings, in a sort of euphoria ignited by the personality and reasonableness of John Kerry. The nations of the world will see the light of enlightened mutual interest. The diplomatic logic of avoiding confrontation, never calling any person or government "evil," will lead to a new day in which confrontation with evil is never necessary for us.

Of all the big easy lies of the Democratic Party, this one is the most dangerous to our existence. Al Gore has hammered on his podium shouting that President Bush has played upon our fears; but it is the Democrats who play upon our innate weaknesses so recklessly. If we are too well prepared for danger and conflict, the price of this is much lower than if we are too little prepared, plain and simple. Totalitarianism, of which militant Islam is but a branch, is a real evil that will suffocate all peoples it comes to control, in an endless night without joy or music, to say nothing of individual rights or women's rights.

Interestingly, that evil arises in the world because those people are raising up leaders who appeal to the weakest and worst within their natures. I'm sure they would rather believe their hardships are caused by Jews and Christians, by Israelis and Americans, rather than confronting their own mistakes and failures.

We can only hope that one day they will produce a truly great leader, who guides them with the truth rather than misleading them with easy and comforting delusions. In the meantime, it is disappointing that while their leaders teach hatred and violence against the innocent as a path back to past glory, leaders of the Democratic Party teach a similar seductive lie -- that an earnest cooperation from us is sufficient to handle these enemies.

This delusion to which the Democratic Party so vigorously invites us is dangerous to our very lives. It is hard to remember that this is the party of Roosevelt, who confronted Nazi-ism so vigorously, and of Kennedy, who said to ask "what you can do for your country."

The remaining hollow shell of this party now announces that free peace, free health care, free security and free prosperity for all is at hand. We only need to vote for them and wait for heaven to come to us. We need do nothing for our country -- our country will do everything and anything for us!

On our side, we have our President talking straight about life after September 11th. He says we have to confront terrorism wherever it lives, and that it will involve years of hardship and loss of life. He says there will be mistakes made and bad days, but that by being persistent we can prevail in the end. He says that even though we do all we can to protect our citizens, more attacks upon us are likely. His message is not sweet, and his answers though simple and straightforward are not easy.

On the other side, they are running a medicine show. "A bottle of this medicine will cure all your ills." We will create a government that is everything for everybody, or at least, everyone who's on our side. You won't have to take responsibility for your own family, or for your own community, for your own health or prosperity, or for your own freedom. You won't have to pay more, unless you're one of our enemies. If Democrats prevail on November 2nd, it will be partly the fault of Democratic Party leaders who've chosen to give easy answers, to say what people want to hear rather than what they need to hear. And it will be the fault of all of those who allow themselves to swallow the easy answers.

Most of all, it will be the fault of those of us, who know that personal responsibility and limited government are the bedrock of the most successful nation on this planet. We will have been the ones who failed to speak the truth, clear and loud. CRO

copyright 2004 Charles Kopp

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