So, at about 3 PM yesterday, I was sitting on a rock in the parking lot of the apartment complex. I got up, turned around, and saw what looked like a little stick floating in the air. I thought maybe it was a stick that got caught in a spider web, until it started wiggling. Clearly, this little stick was alive, and it was climbing. It was working real hard at it, too, and doing a pretty good job, in spite of the wind and all. I figured it was probably some sort of caterpillar, and I found the skin it probably shed on the ground nearby. It was probably climbing up to form its cocoon and to the whole metamorphosis thing to become a butterfly. So I just stood there, admiring its hard work, when out of nowhere a wasp flies in and starts attacking the poor thing. Before long, the silk thread broke. The wasp tried to haul it away, but it was too heavy, and they both went down into the grass somewhere.
The reason that this really stuck out to me, and really, the reason I was sitting on a rock at 3 PM in the parking lot, was that it was a perfect example of what had just happened. I was waiting for the police to show up to investigate the fact that Ashley's truck had a smashed window and the amplifier was stolen. I wondered, "What kind of person does that sort of thing?" I mean, do they really think that having that amplifier will make their life better? That whatever rewards they get from breaking into cars will give them happiness? Do they think of themselves as good people? Do they even care if they aren't? Does anybody respect them? Will they ever become contributing members of society? Will they do anything memorable that will outlive them after they are gone?
My conclusion was no - as long as a person remains in the mindset that permits them to do this type of thing, they have no respect, no true happiness, make no contribution to society, and will be forgotten when they are gone. In short, it takes a greater man to create than to destroy.
Let's go back to the caterpillar. I was thinking about that a lot after it happened, and it seemed to me that this is a lot like what's going on in the United States. Let the caterpillar represent the private sector. It was something big and beautiful - the caterpillar before it shed - until the recession. Now it's a lot smaller - the floating stick - but working as hard as it can to make itself something bigger and better - the butterfly. Suddenly, the government - the wasp - swoops in, and, for its own benefit, begins attacking the private sector. The government may not think it's attacking the private sector, but it is. And the sad truth is, just like the wasp could support the weight of the dead caterpillar and carry it off to its nest, if the government kills off the private sector, they are both going down.
Let's look at this. The government has:
- Attacked the banking industry by forcing bailouts onto banks that didn't need or want them, and by not allowing them to pay them back while writing laws giving them sweeping new powers over those banks that had accepted bailout money. Wells Fargo is probably the best example here.
- Attacked the hotel and convention industry through the public vilification of any company deciding to hold any kind of conference involving booking a hotel or flying to some conference center. Las Vegas is a prime example of this.
- Attacked the energy industry by threatening to put a massive carbon dioxide emissions tax in place using a cap and trade system. If this ever goes into law, it will literally bankrupt the coal industry, something Obama himself was proud of on the campaign trail.
- Attacked the auto industry, most recently by firing the CEO of GM. However, this attack is not new; the auto industry was already ailing due to parasitic labor union contracts, but things got much worse with the CAFE standards, and the recession was just the breeze that pushed them over the cliff.
- Attacked the tobacco industry with massive new taxes in order to pay for new health care spending. If you don't smoke (which I don't), you probably don't care, but the shear magnitude of this tax hike is incredible. The tax on a pack of cigarettes is going from 39 cents to $1.01. The tax on a pound of tobacco for rolling your own cigarettes increases from $1.09 to $24.78. That's about a 2200% tax increase, and that is insane! I mean, I'm all for not smoking, but the government's job is not to save you from yourself. That kind of taxation is ridiculous.
- Attacked the health industry, by including provisions in the budget and stimulus bill that would pave the way for socialized, government-administered and government-controlled medicine.
- Attacked the defense contract industry by shrinking the defense budget and trying to stop production of F-22's. Incidentally, aside from the jobs that defense contractors lose if this happens, our nation is also less secure by giving up on the most dominant weapon in the history of mankind, besides the atomic bomb. You can bet that Russia and China are licking their chops - and oiling up their Sukhois... (Fun fact: According to our analysts, the Sukhoi 27 fighter, which is used by Russia, China, and India, among others, is superior to the F-15, F-16, and F-18. That's why we need the F-22. Why doesn't our government get that?)
- Attacked the food industry by attempting to regulate the production of food on farms of all sizes, right down to your home garden. Ridiculous? Yes. Real? Absolutely. It's called H.R. 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009. It's still in committee, so you may have a chance to stop it. Act quick, and call your congressman!
- Attacked all private companies by introducing legislation to allow the government control executive pay in several situations - usually in conjunction with bailout money, but sometimes even without.
I could go on, probably, but I don't want to get too pissed off. Shouldn't it be enough that they've attacked your bank, your car, your food, your health, your troops, your energy, your garden, your vacation, and your company? What will it take before we finally say, "Enough is enough - you're fired!"? If we want to be truly great, we need to stop these destroyers so that we can continue to create what will hopefully remain the greatest nation on earth.
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