I Am No Longer a Liberal

Nor am I a conservative or a libertarian, a socialist, a communist, or an espouser of free radicals. These are labels, I am do not like being labeled. Because by picking a label, you now have to become all that that label thinks of itself and what everyone else thinks about you. In one sense, you must now stop thinking for yourself and I for one will never stop thinking for myself. I can sense that many reading this are saying, I’m liberal and I think for myself! Or I’m conservative and I think for myself! And you might. But the label you have chosen has certain beliefs that personally I may or may not agree with at this time. I like to think that my thinking is evolving and changing as I grow older and get some elder wisdom.

I happen to have some beliefs that do not fit into liberal or conservative. I am not for a smaller government or for a large government. I am for right sized government. I am not for no regulations for businesses nor am I for a lot of regulations to manage the businesses. I am for enough, but not too much. I am not for government to cut all spending nor am I for spending wildly, but to spend where it is necessary. Oh and this means then no earmarks. That is not spending as necessary, but making sure your constituents (and donors) get a little more than everyone else. I can not see the benefit of lobbyists. The job of informing politicians of their issues is one thing. Junkets, money, campaign contributions, etc isn’t teaching about the issues, it is bribery. I do not like debt, either to a bank or to a lobbyist.

I am for helping people who are in trouble. Like kids, sometimes you have to let them fall down, dust them off and have that talk about why what they did was harmful. But I don’t agree with letting them fall down over and over. Nor am I for putting them in a bubble. Here I’m thinking about the people who made very bad loan decisions as well as people who don’t want to get off welfare. People will make mistakes, but assuming someone will always be there to help you out is silly. So if you gamble your house and life on a chance to make it really big and lose, you should take it and deal with it. There shouldn’t be a bail out for stupidity.

I am for education. We cannot grow without a well-educated population. But again, our teachers are underpaid in the most part and everyone says we need more teachers. But try and get a teaching job. The jobs are held by under performing teachers who have union backing and tenure. As well as the bureaucracy that keeps the teachers, administrators and other staff insulated from reality.

I am for unions. But not for unions who do nothing for the workers except line their pockets with dues and are only the managers of another resource for the company, labor. I don’t mind union workers getting good wages, but there is a point where they are a second tier privileged class behind the over priced management. However, when workers are being exploited by management, then it is time to organize.

I am for business. But businesses forget that they are nothing without workers. And not workers in India, but the workers that live here. The people who buy the products. No one is worth making millions of dollars, unless you have some risk involved. And a golden parachute isn’t risking anything. And I am for right sized regulation. Hey, I don’t want you pouring your waste water into my drinking water, but I don’t think we need regulation to make sure you have enough left handed wrenches in case you hire some left handed workers.

I am for banks. But banks need to understand the risks and expect like all of us that if you take risks and fail, you will need to close. If I risked everything on a business venture and it failed, I would have to file for bankruptcy and start over with nothing. So management of risk is important to me and to the banks.

So when you spew some liberal or conservative mumbo-jumbo at me. I will read and nod politely. Because you have drunk your respective kool-aids, read the appropriate books and have stopped thinking for yourself. My label is I am me.