Friday, February 09, 2007
The Collectivist Left
King's recent post highlighted one more American feminist crying for the "nanny" state of Europe. There's a reason Europe is declining - too much time to criticize others and too little work. Granted they lost a lot after two world wars but it also appears they lost their appetite for productive life. Their response was to put controls on their lives while denying the creative side of human nature.
Europe became a nation of takers. As a result, they work less, care less as individuals about their parents and children. That's why at least 35,000 people died in the 2003 heat wave in Europe, including almost 15,000 primarily elderly people who died by themselves in France. That's also why native-born Europeans have largely stopped having children. Providing constant "nanny state" procedures, though done under the guise of "caring" actually removes incentives for people to look beyond themselves. They abdicate responsibility to a non-living entity (government). But, life is not risk-free, it requires work. Once a society decides to "sit down", it is on its way to extinction.
I agree we have a lot of stuff but everytime someone raises this issue (usually those on the collectivist left), I ask them what they want to give up. No one, not one leftie has voluntarily identified anything they personally are willing to give up. Car? No. Air-conditioning? No. Free market pricing? No. The ability to buy almost any food anytime of year? No. A vacation to wherever? No. Indoor plumbing? No. They just want "you" to give up stuff or have the government impose controls. Now I'm sure there are some out there who do give up for the "good of society" (including those in religious orders) but how many of the rest of the population want to have decisions forced on them because someone (too often a feminist) wants to control the lives of others? You can't have a free market system with choice and then impose a ton of rules that limit choice.
All these "ideals" to "help" people are mechanisms of the collectivist left to control our lives - they may intend to be helpful but when any subset of society takes control of most personal decisions, it's control. The vast majority of humans, when given the facts, will make good decisions for themselves. They don't need a "nanny" state enforcing someone else's ideas of what is "good for all".
Europe became a nation of takers. As a result, they work less, care less as individuals about their parents and children. That's why at least 35,000 people died in the 2003 heat wave in Europe, including almost 15,000 primarily elderly people who died by themselves in France. That's also why native-born Europeans have largely stopped having children. Providing constant "nanny state" procedures, though done under the guise of "caring" actually removes incentives for people to look beyond themselves. They abdicate responsibility to a non-living entity (government). But, life is not risk-free, it requires work. Once a society decides to "sit down", it is on its way to extinction.
I agree we have a lot of stuff but everytime someone raises this issue (usually those on the collectivist left), I ask them what they want to give up. No one, not one leftie has voluntarily identified anything they personally are willing to give up. Car? No. Air-conditioning? No. Free market pricing? No. The ability to buy almost any food anytime of year? No. A vacation to wherever? No. Indoor plumbing? No. They just want "you" to give up stuff or have the government impose controls. Now I'm sure there are some out there who do give up for the "good of society" (including those in religious orders) but how many of the rest of the population want to have decisions forced on them because someone (too often a feminist) wants to control the lives of others? You can't have a free market system with choice and then impose a ton of rules that limit choice.
All these "ideals" to "help" people are mechanisms of the collectivist left to control our lives - they may intend to be helpful but when any subset of society takes control of most personal decisions, it's control. The vast majority of humans, when given the facts, will make good decisions for themselves. They don't need a "nanny" state enforcing someone else's ideas of what is "good for all".
