History Begins Again

[jmshepard]

An interesting opinion piece-

http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledeen/2008/08/14/war-and-democracy/

"The belief in the inevitability of peace and democracy rested on one of the great conceits of the European Enlightenment, namely the belief in the perfectibility of man. In this view, man’s basic goodness (as found in “the state of nature”) had been corrupted by a selfish society (a notion that finds much favor among today’s more extreme Greens), but that once the heavy weight of misguided was lifted, man’s intrinsic goodness would reemerge. In our modern rendition of that Enlightenment folly, an appeal to reason is sufficient to change the world. Back in the Clinton years, it was widely believed that all future conflict would be solely economic; the age of military warfare had passed, henceforth products, markets, and human ingenuity would determine who is rightly top dog and who needs to get with the program. And so the defense budget was slashed, military men and women were treated with contempt by the president and his wife, and we turned inward. After all, if historical inevitability ruled, why bother with national security? Tyranny was considered a passing phenomenon, headed for the ash heap, and certainly no threat to us."...

..."The American Founders knew it: recognizing man’s innate capacity for evil, they designed a system of checks and balances to thwart the accumulation of power by any group, lest the entire enterprise fall into wicked hands. They knew the battle for liberty would never end, Benjamin Franklin famously warned we would have to fight to keep our republic."

[island911]

Originally Posted by jmshepard

An interesting opinion piece-
".... of that Enlightenment folly, an appeal to reason is sufficient to change the world. ....."

Enter the naive junior senator from Illinois. ...and all the idiots clinging to to hope ...hope that we can persuade those who want us exterminated to just chill man . . don't taze me bro . ..can't we just all get a long? . . Hope ...

interesting piece. When the wall came down we certainly did enjoy some good years. ...our concerns changed. We got so lax. I'm still amazed how open we are with technologies and intellectual property.

[tabs]

Bs

[red-beard]

I wonder, as I sit in here in Europe, why so many (liberal) people admire Europe and the social nets, etc. Every one of us in the USA owes our existience to people who left some sort of bad situation, and took a chance in America. The people wanted to make it by their own personal responsibility.

I am in a country where most do not have fire in their belly. In a discussion this morning, I was told, again, that as long as they have "Food to Eat, Something to drink (alcoholic) and women to (substitute your own word here) then they are happy". The USA, and early on, most of the Western Hemisphere, was this way. It was founded by people of action, who wanted to make thier own way.

We need to get back to personal responsibility. We do not want to be serfs, as they are and always have been in Europe. We are citizens, not subjects.

I am NOT sorry if I offend some of our brethern in Europe. A Serf to the socialistic governments is no different that being a serf to a king. The only difference is one royal caste has been replaced with another. If the USA is not careful, we will no longer be citizens of the USA, we will be serfs.