Quote Originally Posted by delusionsofNORMALity
you two are both so typical of what is wrong with modern liberal thought that it's almost scary. equating success with evil is the product of a culture of entitlement and the envy of the have nots of those who may very well have earned every bit of their wealth. taking isolated anecdotal evidence as proof of an endemic criminal tendency has fed the mob's undirected rage and turned it against the very entities that provide them with a means to survive and flourish. the foolish notion that business is bad and that only government can save us from such evil denies that business is made up of the people and that it is government that has set itself up as judge and jury, deciding what our labors are worth instead of leaving that up to the marketplace.


this strange idea that wealth is evil and its creation a sign of ill intent dooms us to an inevitable mediocrity. as citizens of one of the world's wealthiest nations, we should be particularly aware that it is only the concentration on the material at the expense of all else that is evil. it is wealth that enables charity and the very innovation that has created products and services that have saved countless lives and alleviated the suffering of millions. it certainly isn't our altruistic nature that has led the u.s. to become the single most charitable nation on the planet. it is the freedom that such wealth engenders and the leisure it affords that has bred any greatness this country may have attained. belittling that wealth by demonizing its creators and demanding that the state rein in the entrepreneur leads us down the path toward the abolition of the individual.

you seem to forget that it is government that hires armed thugs to force the common man to submit to its will, that enforces conformity under penalty of violence and demands obedience to its every whim. where private industry may offer up any commodity at any cost, a free marketplace also allows for competition and the destruction of unfavorable business practices by an aware consumer base. while it is only with the collusion of authorities that any business may force consumers to use an unwanted product, government has no such safeguards. there is no recourse to the will of the state. the lie of the ballot box may have deluded the masses into believing that they have some control over their representatives, but the evidence to the contrary is undeniable. by demanding that government restrict businesses where we should be using the marketplace as a tool of control, we cede our liberties to the whims of a political elite that we ourselves have created and continue to enable.
Too begin with I'm not a liberal but am what used to be called a compassionate conservative. Where that now means you have 2 gods, Yahweh and manna, I believe in neither. So I don't use that term any more. I'm just a libertarian that believes in the constitution and bill of rights as they were originally entended. I see no reason why conservatives can't help there fellow man as liberals should. I just have a different version of how that should be done. It should never be done with government mandates as that is hollow. It should be done by people from there hearts with no intention of ever receiving anything in return.