Reasonable men accept the world as they find it, unreasonable men attempt to change it. Therefore, all progress depends on unreasonable men.
hmmm I wondeer what Central and South America would look like if Kerry had been president?
"Some people see the world as it is and ask, "Why?"That is a tribute Teddy Kennedy gave to his brother."Others see the world as it never was and ask, "Why not?"
Ronald Reagan's vision of "the world as it never was" is that of the framers of the Constitution. Not of a world instantly made free from "want" but of a world in which the people have the opportunity to pursue happiness and the responsibility to accept the results of their own efforts. Not a world where the people are told what they "need" but a world in which modest labors are rewarded with prosperity of which the rich of past generations could only dream.
Already the framers' vision has resulted in a country in which - because of the application of technology by the people to her needs for food and effective medicine and her desires for transportation, entertainment, shelter and convenience - a secretary's prosperity can be compared to that enjoyed by Queen Victoria in her (1819-1901) time.
The socialist vision is one in which the elite are important because they dispense such blessings equally among the people - and assign to us only the responsibility to recognize their importance and virtue and to be content with what they give us and accept their right to take from us. It is a vision which, as the Soviet Union demonstrates, sharply limits the pursuit of happiness in any but the zero-sum realm of politics.
The socialist vision is to destroy the incentives and freedom which, we can hope, will otherwise produce a similar transformation in living standards in coming generations. The socialist vision is simply selfish - blind or indifferent to the benefits to our posterity which their nostrums would predictably strangle in the cradle. And indifferent to the compromise of our present happiness in the pursuit of that future which their desire for power tends to cause.
The difference between the socialist vision and the Framers' vision is the difference between the America of Jimmy Carter and the America of Ronald Reagan.
That really a fine definition of a Republican. Think about it, the Democratic party presently offers no ideas – other than to preserve and protect the welfare-regulatory state status quo at all costs.They won’t take responsibility for advocating their actual ideas,but the American people keep demanding ideas. If Hillary Clinton represents the best of the 'Rat party, then they're really in trouble. Hillary (in particular) is afraid to articulate her real ideas, of course, because if she did (declaring herself a Socialist) she would end up like she did after her infamous 1994 health care debacle. So Hillary (and John Kerry right beside her) her supporters throughout the country, are left with a single emotion and a single policy: bitterness. What happens if someone like this ever gains real power?
I'm paraphrasing Michael Hurd of Capitalism Magazine 12/31/02.