The Solomon Solution
We all fantasize what the world might be like if only we were able to make all the rules. We know we could do a better job than those morons running the show. The following is what I would do if I were king.
Irreconcilable Differences
Being a rational sort of person, I realize that my solutions to the mess we are in may never be implemented because of the greed and corruptness of those in power. This combined with the reluctance of the dependent class selfishly benefiting from the current clustersmuck - to help change it makes it very tough. It is in this vein that I offer a Plan B first. One can’t have a Plan A without a Plan B. The best way to save the nation is to come together and embrace smaller government and individual responsibility. In the absence of a prosperity agreement as outlined ahead, we must have an alternative; Plan B. Never having been one to follow the accepted protocol, let’s start with Plan B first.
Plan B is offered to avoid Plan C, which is armed revolution. There are those who are genuinely concerned about a violent revolution in this country. They usually take place when the citizenry becomes so divided in thought that they believe there is no other choice and are willing to risk their lives for their principles. It has happened before; it erupts from extreme frustration. Both sides appear to be relatively equally frustrated. There are other non-violent solutions, to survive we really need to decide on one.
Plan B - Divorce
The difference of political thought here in this country has reached critical level. Conservatives and liberals can no longer live in peace under the current system. When the liberals take control, conservatives feel disenfranchised by the policies implemented, and vice-versa. There seems to be no room any more for compromise. The left has shown that they will become violent if they don’t get what they want, and the right would eventually refuse to turn the other cheek. It wouldn’t be the first violent revolution in world history; in fact it would be the norm rather than the exception. We can avoid Plan C (revolution) with a peaceful separation. Here again, this idea has been proposed and there is real interest in secession, but we take it to the next level with a little more detail and reason.
As attendees to political debates become increasingly more and more verbally abusive and physically violent, it is apparent that the animosity between the socialists on the left and the right’s growing conservative base is increasing both in number and in intensity to alarmingly dangerous levels. We needn’t wait for a bloody revolution, we can solve this peacefully. If you’ve gotten this far, you are probably on the right side of the isle, but we will attempt to see this from both sides, no matter how irrational the other may be. We can avoid bloodshed with a peaceful separation. It won’t be painless, but like a traditional divorce the wounds will heal faster than we might expect.
Think about it this way; Karl Marx and Thomas Jefferson could never sit down together, have a beer, and compromise on how a nation should be governed. Why would we think a hundred-fifty million conservatives can peacefully co-exist with an equal number of liberals? This is where we are. We have the far left Marxists Socialists / largely statist and atheistic, redistributionist democrats on one side, and the conservative right wing Christians, Reaganites, Trumpistas touting personal responsibility, independence and freedom on the other. The difference between a capitalist free enterprise system and a socialist or communist centrally planned economy is not just a matter of degree, it is overwhelming.
The left touts “Social Justice” as their primary objective. It is most critical factor in their definition of a fair nation. The right insists that individual independence and freedom must be paramount. These are diametrically opposing viewpoints. Maybe we just can’t agree.
Each believes they are right, and will do what they can to make it happen. There are not all that many who could live happily ever after in opposite land. Like Superman can’t live in the Bizarro World, conservatives can’t prosper in a leftist nation, and liberals can’t live happily in ours if they never see the light.
Our nation may politically lean slightly right for a little while again, but not permanently. Perhaps we can temporarily reduce taxes and spending some, but there will be a constant battle with the leftists over our vastly differing ideologies, regarding how a country should best be run. Do we prize freedom or safety; equal redistribution of wealth or equal opportunity to succeed; Low taxes or high taxes and entitlement programs; big government or small. These are not negotiable issues for either side, they are fundamental principles.
Maybe conservatives could slow the increase in size of government for a while, but for how long? – And what good does that do if we believe it is 100 times bigger than it should be already? We can’t reduce the size; we only seem to be able to slow the growth now and then, and then only a little. Even that will change only until the next media-hyped republican scandal, or when the natural pendulum swings from the left and the liberals get themselves back in the driver seat, again with the objective of increasing government intervention.
A huge conservative victory may be good news to some, but to me, it is just another reason we may need to call for a permanent national separation, a divorce. We would be in better position to implement our national value system if much of the opposition lives in another country and can’t vote against it.
If we will never agree with the left, and they will never agree with us, why continually argue about it? They are not all evil, some have good intentions. But we all know how the road to hell is said to be paved. Let them discover that for themselves, on their own dime.
Plan B is a call for two governments, two nations independent of each other. This idea is not original, but maybe we can understand that it is possible for it to be implemented if we can’t agree to gradually get back to what conservatives would consider sanity by implementing the regressive methods that follow.
If King Solomon were to be handed the dilemma of this nation, he would unsheathe his largest carving machete and slash the country through the middle and hand each group their half. Maybe the left would eventually see the light, but I could be perfectly content if they never do because it would no longer directly impact my family.
There are many well-intentioned concerned leftists. They believe in compassion for their fellow man, providing for the needy, but have little empathy for the hardworking taxpayers paying their freight. Sure some (many) in power believe primarily in maintaining and increasing power. Feigning compassion for the downtrodden seems to work as the most effective way to acquire it, but many honestly do believe in socialism and social justice damn the cost. They believe so strongly, that they are willing to force the rest of us to do what we strongly believe is evil to meet their objectives. They are so certain that they are right they will force it if they can. So convinced are they in fact that they don’t even engage civilly in honest debate about the real damage done coddling people from cradle to grave in a socialist environment.
Conservatives want to be left alone. Let the liberals give away all their hard earned money if they want to, but don’t come and take it from us to satisfy your idea of social justice. We believe justice means people are rewarded for success and suffer consequences and learn from failure, not the reverse.
Unfortunately, it seems we can’t operate a nation allowing people to do what they want anymore. We have to be united in a common cause, as defined by government bureaucrats. The reality is we really do need a national objective and belief system. The objectives of each on the left and on the right are shared by about half, their half, their allies – the other half must suffer under a rule they despise. Or do we?
We have to admit that political cooperation may no longer be possible. The differences between us are not a simple matter of degree, they are gargantuan. We are diametrically opposed now. These differences are not superficial, but are fundamental in their very nature. We can’t just compromise on some issues and satisfy most of us – these are core beliefs that are far apart fundamentally.
Conservatives can’t merely lower taxes a little, they are far too onerous and must be cut drastically; the entire tax code can’t even be adjusted a bit, it must be revamped completely, shredded and replaced with something sane. We can’t let a few government employees go, or just not hire when some retire; we can’t merely not expand quite so much this year, we are to the point that we must slash and burn. We can’t just stop new regulations from handcuffing businesses; we have far too many interfering with our ability to make money now, we have to eliminate most of them. Now.
We can’t compromise on the right to defend ourselves and property in our own homes. Either we believe we should be able to, or we turn to the state to protect us. We believe in the Constitution of the United States as written, with some tweaking (amendments) for error or oversight, - or we deem it irrelevant and ignore it because it was written by men centuries ago who couldn’t possibly have a clue about life today.
There may be too little middle ground to try to compromise. A separation agreement or even a divorce could be the only answer.
Like the husband and wife who have grown apart, each can argue their points rationally, but in the end, they won’t convince the other and so shouldn’t live together anymore, they would be happier apart. Neither is necessarily evil, they are just incompatible. They have irreconcilable differences, and everyone would be much happier away from each other. Why not? This national philosophical gulf isn’t getting any better.
This diametrically opposed ideology has grown to an overwhelming and unyielding level as evidenced by increasing violence at polling booths and at political debates and speeches. It makes no sense to try to compromise when one side always wants bigger more influential government and the other less government and more individual freedoms and responsibility.
Next: The Role of Government