Socialist Fairyland
With the White House promising cradle-to-grave state care, pushing a mandatory “voluntary” youth corps, and acting as a major player in deciding everything from Wall Street bonuses to who runs General Motors, here’s a line that caught my eye among news reports of the past week:
“The towns and countryside are being converted into a socialist fairyland and paradise good to live in.”
Who said that?
a) President Obama
b) Speaker Nancy Pelosi
c) NPR
d) North Korea’s KCNA (Korean Central News Agency)
Hint: It’s not a trick question. The answer is (I hope) obvious. But as a piece of North Korean propaganda, it does have this intriguing feature: Had it come from Obama, Pelosi or NPR, it would probably qualify as the most honest articulation yet of the hope-and-change fantasies that now animate Washington.
Claudia,
You forgot:
e) all of the above
All thanks to The Dear Leader.
David Horowitz recently argued that the President’s desire to move us to European style socialism is more respectable than many on the Right think, and LGF seemed to back him on this. Jay Cost at RCP thinks the American electorate is non-ideological, and the big issue the majority are concerned with is prosperity: no economic fix, then the other party wins.
I think all these notions fail when one considers that a secular government devoted to freedom cannot really account for whether its own people are ready to defend it or not. In other words: it’s easy to say that whatever choice the American people make, it’s respectable.
But forget “cradle-to-grave state care… mandatory “voluntary” youth corps… acting as a major player in deciding everything from Wall Street bonuses to who runs General Motors” for a second. I think if one is concerned about defending democracy, the major issue is prior to all of that. The question is what kind of people would want that sort of thing.
I’m not saying European social democracy is evil. But there is something about it which pushes an extreme secularism, can only respond to things with populism and hype, avoids serious deliberation about costs b/c everyone needs everything, and cannot at all come to terms with the fact that not everyone can have everything. And I haven’t even mentioned whether Europe can actually prevent the rise of fascism, whether from natives or immigrants: it looks like it is increasingly strained by extremists on all sides.
The real issue is the character of a people. Socialism does destroy that, for the reason that we have no other real way of educating people in civics other than equality of opportunity.
Funny thing about playing with the fairies; their gold always turns to ash in the morning.
Socialist Fairyland: too funny. OT, but for a side field trip, consult the movie version of Breakfast of Champions, and note the repeated references to “Fairyland” in the movie.
Bizarre, but hilarious.