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The Vision of the Left (Thomas Sowell)
Jewish World Review ^ | September 9, 2008 | Thomas Sowell

Posted on 09/08/2008 8:35:41 PM PDT by jazusamo

Conservatives, as well as liberals, would undoubtedly be happier living in the kind of world envisioned by the left.

Very few people have either a vested interest or an ideological preference for a world in which there are many inequalities.

Even fewer would prefer a world in which vast sums of money have to be devoted to military defense, when so much benefit could be produced if those resources were directed into medical research instead.

It is hardly surprising that young people prefer the political left. The only reason for rejecting the left's vision is that the real world in which we live is very different from the world that the left perceives today or envisions for tomorrow.

Most of us learn that from experience — but experience is precisely what the young are lacking.

"Experience" is often just a fancy word for the mistakes that we belatedly realized we were making, only after the realities of the world made us pay a painful price for being wrong.

Those who are insulated from that pain — whether by being born into affluence or wealth, or shielded by the welfare state, or insulated by tenure in academia or in the federal judiciary — can remain in a state of perpetual immaturity.

Individuals can refuse to grow up, especially when surrounded in their work and in their social life by similarly situated and like-minded people.

(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; leftism; sowell; thomassowell
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To: Gene Eric

I’ve been out of school so long it’s hard to relate but both our kids when going to college were amazed at the liberism of the students and profs and that was over twenty years ago, it’s got to be worse now.

For young people who haven’t been raised in a conservative household I can see where it would be easy for them to take the lib route and not just because of colleges but also high schools.


21 posted on 09/08/2008 10:39:25 PM PDT by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: jazusamo

The road to Hell is paved with Democrat intentions.


22 posted on 09/08/2008 10:47:37 PM PDT by DGHoodini (Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand)
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To: tet68
Yeah, but when a disciple of Saul Alinsky "community organizer" "uh uh uh and, I, uh, uh uh um, and uh uh" takes the national stage with all that power, and thinks he's the solution to everyone's problems, he becomes dangerous.

Obama NRA rating F, GOA rating F-.

23 posted on 09/08/2008 10:54:48 PM PDT by FlyVet
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To: jazusamo

The Left has their old utopian dreams of where they are the elite, all-knowing masters of society. They act as if they were gods, and they don’t recognize the fallenness of mankind so their dreams are unrealistic. Arrogant fools!


24 posted on 09/08/2008 11:14:23 PM PDT by DeweyCA
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

“to begin with, the left is caught up in the judeo-christian mythology...”

huh???


25 posted on 09/08/2008 11:36:41 PM PDT by ripley
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To: Dilbert San Diego
With out our strong military, I see Saddam Hussein owning the middle east and a sea full of pirates. Lord knows what else.
26 posted on 09/09/2008 12:10:14 AM PDT by oyez (Justa' another high minded lowlife.)
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To: jazusamo

Some people don’t like the idea of effort and ability being rewarded. They prefer a guranteed win for themselves, enforced by government thieving action quotas.


27 posted on 09/09/2008 12:21:13 AM PDT by 185JHP ( "The thing thou purposest shall come to pass: And over all thy ways the light shall shine.")
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To: jazusamo
Conservatives, as well as liberals, would undoubtedly be happier living in the kind of world envisioned by the left.

Actually, I rather like my relationship with Jesus and would rather not discard it to live in the imaginary "utopia" of the left.

28 posted on 09/09/2008 12:58:04 AM PDT by highlander_UW (In addition to being able to field dress a moose, Gov. Palin can field dress a donkey too!)
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To: jazusamo

What he’s talking about is the “soft” society, sadly most politicians from both parties live in this un-reality, immature cocoon. The best reason for term limits, less dreamers looking to pad their resume or “change the world”.


29 posted on 09/09/2008 1:07:36 AM PDT by word_warrior_bob (You can now see my amazing doggie and new puppy on my homepage!! Come say hello to Jake & Sonny)
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To: jazusamo
The big lie is that all men are NOT created equal. In a Socialist society someone has to "Be the Boss!"

In the old Soviet Union the "Masters" were those elites who controlled the means of production. They set priorities and managed the productivity of the business sector. the long shopping lines for the bare necessities, i.e. toilet paper, were some of the most obvious failures of providing the common goods.

Of course these "beloved leaders" had mansions and summer dachaus on the Baltic, Black Sea and vacation destinations like Cuba while multiple families lived in a one room apartment where the beds were never made because someone was using it in a multishift environment.

Watched Blowhard Bombaast on OReilly last nite and the same warmed over socialism was bantered about!

Sowell is supreme and needs to speak up on the campaign trail.

30 posted on 09/09/2008 2:01:19 AM PDT by Young Werther (Julius Caesar (Quae Cum Ita Sunt. Since these things are so.))
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy; ripley
the left is caught up in the Judeo-Christian mythology, even as they deny Judeo-Christianity.
huh???
They merely substituted different versions of the same ideas. So what are their goals?

Eventually, a return to the Garden of Eden. A place where history, and the knowledge of good and evil do not exist, where man is just another animal, never again straying from the Garden.

They have renamed the Garden of Eden “The State of Nature”, and it represents a rejection of learning, society, civilization, science, technology, art, and individuality.

To achieve this goal, the left has to dismantle civilization and return man to small tribes, living in isolated villages, with “masters” whose purpose it is to keep man from evolving back to civilization, living in fear and ignorance.

Excellent post. Excellent. Easily worth posting as a vanity article, IMHO.

What references would you cite?


31 posted on 09/09/2008 2:21:38 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion (The conceit of journalistic objectivity is profoundly subversive of democratic principle.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy; jazusamo

Bookmarked


32 posted on 09/09/2008 2:22:58 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion (The conceit of journalistic objectivity is profoundly subversive of democratic principle.)
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To: FlyVet

Yes, community organizer = communist agitator.
Obama is the same as any Komsomol activist out stirring up
trouble and class warfare. Bill and Hill were clueless grifters, he is a real threat.


33 posted on 09/09/2008 2:29:44 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

Great point, but one sentence left me scratching my head:

>>For some reason, they long ago selected the ratio of 1:10, one socialist to rule ten slaves, and keep them in their place.

Could you provide some examples?


34 posted on 09/09/2008 2:57:50 AM PDT by oblomov
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To: jazusamo
>"Personally, I wish Ronald Reagan could have talked the Soviets into being nicer, instead of having to spend all that money. Only experience makes me skeptical about that "kinder and gentler" approach and the vision behind it."

This quote sums up the "vision" of the left VS reality.

TS's ability to sum up life in two sentences is astounding.

35 posted on 09/09/2008 3:15:45 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist (I will stand with the Muslims ~B Hussein Obomunist ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Verito Possumus~Verified Sleeper!)
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To: Gene Eric
It is hardly surprising that young people prefer the political left.

I also disagree with that one. Young people are not drawn to the political left. They're indoctrinated into it. In a blue state, the educators, politicians, and media are biased to the left. Often this is true of the parents, too. Everything the growing kid hears is from the perspective of more taxes and more government as the solution to all problems. Of course, this is not true in the case of military opposition, when the idea that people can protest an army into submission still reigns. It takes years to excape all that brainwashing.

36 posted on 09/09/2008 3:51:56 AM PDT by sig226 (Obama '08 - No, You Can't.)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Leftists are idealists and just aren’t realistic about certain things.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

What is it about which they ARE realistic?


37 posted on 09/09/2008 6:35:24 AM PDT by RipSawyer (What's black and white and red all over? Barack Hussein Obama)
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To: sig226

I was always conservative, but in my teens and college years went underground due to time period, peer pressure, dating needs, and social life. Nobody could see how I voted though...


38 posted on 09/09/2008 7:08:21 AM PDT by Wildbill22
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

That was a great post.


39 posted on 09/09/2008 7:09:06 AM PDT by Wildbill22
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To: jazusamo

That’s all well and good, Dr. Sowell. Now, tell me how to deal with the kool-aide drinking 60-somethings I work with? You’d think 60+ years on this planet would’ve taught them SOMETHING!

Old Hippies are the WORST!

BUMP!


40 posted on 09/09/2008 7:30:04 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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