Lingamfelter: Revealing the Right Path
We live in a time of proliferating frauds. Moreover, we must recognize them if we are to save our grandchildren from crushing national debt, address racism honestly, embrace substance over symbolism, expose the truth about progressivism, and save our Constitution from destruction.
The frauds are many. Consider a few.
Something for Nothing: As a legal principle, courts frown on the idea of “something for nothing” when cases before them make that argument at trial. But unfortunately, the slow—albeit sure—march toward socialism in America has for many years embraced the idea that “we’ve got it coming to us.” Social programs of the New Deal era were designed for the government to be our financial guardian. But all the social spending accompanying the New Deal did not rescue America. World War II did. How? Through a huge investment in manufacturing military equipment. In other words, America literally worked its way out of the crisis. Yet the legacy of social programs after WW II persisted and now we are looking at a $30 trillion deficit. From the “War on Poverty” to “Obamacare” to the gargantuan “Covid Relief” packages, we are thoroughly draped with the expectation that we can have it all, and for nothing. No we can’t, and thinking so is a fraud.
Racism: Racism is sin. Period. All of us are vulnerable to commit it in thought, word, and deed just as we are any hateful act toward another. Yet we are told daily that racism is systemic in America, fundamental to our government and free enterprise systems. It’s not systemic. It’s endemic and common to all people individually. That requires a change of heart, not a change of system. Laws can help, but rarely change hearts. If we dabble in the false narrative of “systemic” racism, we will fail. That includes advancing the idea of critical race theory that postulates that America was founded on racism, not enlightenment thinking. That’s a fraud too. Racism will not be cured by social programs, reparations, or fanciful and false historical revisionism designed to advance a political agenda. Nor can racism be cured by imposing racist policies or laws that impose inequality in the name of equality. Doing so makes a mockery of justice.
Symbolism over Substance: Accompanying the upheaval in race relations recently, there are demands that range from defunding the police to tearing down Civil War statues, particularly those honoring the Confederacy. Unfortunately, ones honoring the Union were also caught up in the righteous zeal we saw from social justice warriors. Somehow, these folks thought that if we took down the statues, all would be better, particularly for offended Black Americans. Did it? Look at the urban murder rates. Sadly black-on-black homicides remain at 88 percent of all murders while black mothers continue to fear for the lives of their children. And just when you need police to protect these very centers of innocent life from those who would visit violence on them, the calls to defund the police there are the loudest. We must understand that we won’t save lives by engaging in symbolism. That requires substance as well as a good dose of virtue. Pursuing symbolism won’t end the pain and misery in the Black community. Asserting so is a fraud.
Progressivism: When the political far left in America realized that the label “liberal” hurt them at the polls, their political consultants tested the word “progressive” to see if that would be more palatable to voters. It worked. Progressives, therefore, were now able to wrap their socialist agenda in a package that was appealing. After all, who could be against “progress,” the automobile over the horse-drawn buggy, manned (I mean “peopled”) flight, the moon landing, and the internet? All good, right? So now—like many of us—progressives are for those things, except the fossil fuels, mineral mining, and manufacturing that enabled them. Those things are awful for the environment, right? Here’s the point. The only “progressive” thing about liberals masquerading as progressives is their desire to progressively move us toward socialism. They are frauds in both substance and name.
The “Living” Constitution: The most dangerous fraud, however, is asserting that our Constitution is transitory. It’s not “living,” as modern liberals assert. It’s literal, that is, its words matter and must be followed as our founders intended. The Constitution is not a convenient set of suggestions that can be applied however the Congress and the courts decide. It is the law, and we are ruled my law, not by mankind. That alone was a revolutionary concept in 1789 and it must remain so in 2021.
If there is any one thing people of good conscience must do in the days ahead of us, it is this. Reveal the frauds. Doing so will also reveal the right path to take.
