WEBCommentary(tm) - The "Gimme" Culture vs. the "Stay Out of My Way" Culture

Our nation's political division manifests a growing cultural division. On the one hand, we have the "gimme" culture typified by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the takers, those who leach off government (food stamps, unemployment, welfare, etc.). On the other, we have the "stay out of my way" culture who formed the backbone of this nation during its most productive years from its birth in the late 18th century until the early 20th century when the plague of Progressivism began its destructive course in the United States. Where has Progressivism gotten us?

Our nation (and culture) is divided. On the one hand, we have the "gimme" culture typified by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the takers, those who leach off government (food stamps, unemployment, welfare, etc.). On the other, we have the "stay out of my way" culture, typified by the Tea Party movement, who formed the backbone of this nation during its most productive years from its birth in the late 18th century until the early 20th century when the plague of Progressivism began its destructive course in the United States. Where has Progressivism gotten us?

We are now at a point where our cultural division is more stark today than at any time in our history.

Far too many people are poorly-educated, have no real understanding of the real Constitutional nature of our Federal Government, are all-too-willing to take rather than give, and are completely oblivious to the dire consequences for their lives that a second Obama term will bring.

We need wholesale change, not just in the administration of our nation's Executive power, but also throughout Congress, on both sides of the aisle. We need a wholesale cultural change that includes changing politicians from self-serving, poorly-educated purveyors of "goodies" to the "needy" to nation-serving public servants dedicated to restoring our Constitutional Republic. Make that change and all our other problems will fade to oblivion.

But for that to happen, dedicated and well-informed citizens have got to take over their state and local party apparatus. Members of both political parties have got to retake their parties from the progressive socialists who currently dominate the "leadership" of both parties. Ignore their self-proclaimed labels; look at where they have brought this nation, whether by destructive acts (e.g., "Obamacare") or passive inaction.

Of course, there are some exceptions in some state and local governments, but across the country, far too many states' political party structures are controlled by the same demented mindset liberal/progressive mindset that is driven by the notion of "government solutions" to problems that are generally of government's own making (the consequence of poor governance, unconstitutional governance, and failure to consider adverse consequences of extreme governance).

According to the liberal-progressive mindset, there should be no consequences in life. They believe it is government's role to make life "safe" from consequences of poor decisions.

The Liberal/Progressive Left is agenda-driven and platitude-waving supporters of causes that continually expand government power so that it can care for all those who they deem "in need of assistance" whether or not "those in need" have any desire for government assistance. Such non-thinking has brought this nation to the brink of collapse.

It is the liberal/progressives, typically not self-sufficient (the "whiner class"), who will suffer disproportionately because they will be whining and complaining ("demonstrating" and resorting to violence) while mature people will be actually taking control of their own destiny.

A second Obama term will hasten the accelerating collapse of the United States into a national chaos that liberal/progressives hope to exploit to solidify a permanent power grab over the lives of every US citizen. We cannot allow them to succeed.

A collapse will absolutely be triggered by continued massive unsustainable spending (as proposed by Obama recently) of federal and state funds for which their is vastly insufficient revenue to justify. Revenue shortfalls will require further devaluation of US currency when federal and state bond ratings plunge, leading to the loss of any investors willing to purchase bonds to cover deficits.

Massive inflation that this country has never before experienced will ensue. Those on fixed incomes will find that, while prices are soaring, their incomes are stagnant. Even if fiat government (which will more and more resemble totalitarianism) ups the ante by increasing payouts to those on government support (welfare, food stamps, social security, medicare/obamacare), that will only cause inflation to soar ever higher, compounding the misery.

As the saying goes, "There Ain't No Such Thing as a "Free Lunch"" -- no matter what the Left claims.

All it will take is failure of citizens to act. Failure to take strong action to reverse the headlong dive of the US economy and state of governance into the abyss of state socialism and chaos. Failure to prevent a second Obama term will guarantee this disaster. Is this what citizens really want?

It was discouraging to hear the GOP front-runner, Mitt Romney, proclaim in last night's FOX debate that he would need two terms to bring unsustainable Federal spending under control and achieve a balanced budget. Earth to Romney: We don't have that much time! Romney's statement strongly suggests that he has no real understanding of the magnitude of the change that is needed. He needs to understand that massive over-governance by Washington has cause the situation we are currently facing. It was not caused by simple mismanagement that Romney's executive business experience can fix. It requires a completely new direction that includes jettisoning redundant and unconstitutional progressive federal agencies in their entirety, including all laws and regulations in support of such unconstitutional governance! The change will require a reversal of 100 years of progressive decline, including releasing massive federal land grabs back to states so that productive use of such lands can proceed.

The departments of Labor, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, EPA, and CPSC are all sapping the economic strength of this nation while they contribute nothing of real value to the long-term survivability of our nation. Every one of those agencies is a "pie-in-the-sky" overextension of federal power well beyond the constitutional constraints of legitimate federal activity.

Virtually every state has its own functioning version of the agencies cited above. The 17th Amendment eliminated the Constitution's "check and balance" built into the structure of our Constitution. We must repeal the 17th Amendment in addition to devolving those agencies listed above to states willing to take on those functions. Existing programs like Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid would be devolved to the states and transitioned to programs that allow for transference from state-to-state and increased privatization, as each state's people determine is best for their interests.

Failure to take these dramatic steps will ensure the complete political and economic collapse of this nation as funding sources for "Leviathan" government will simply dry up.

Such a collapse will be very difficult for all, but most difficult for the Left as they have the Leftist culture has little self-confidence (posturing doesn't count) and no real comprehension of how to "make do" on their own. The collapse will be just retribution for the Left's generations of deception (including self-deception) that has destroyed the eduction for far too many generations of today's young and middle-aged citizens.

Those who believe their security and well-being are best served by the state (federal, state or local) are doomed and have learned little from history.

When the collapse comes, states would do well to reform our Federal Government, once again adopting "from scratch" our original Constitution, but clarifying and severely restricting the "commerce" and "general welfare" clauses and forbidding from the amendment and convention processes any tampering with how members of Congress are elected.

The "one man, one vote" notion (or, to be politically correct for liberal/progressives, "one person, one vote" provisions) should be jettisoned and a standard requiring a self-supporting citizen in good standing re-established as a prerequisite to vote. Of course, any mentions of slaves or restrictions based on sex found in the original document would be eliminated as completely inappropriate today.

A definition clarification for "natural born citizen" would be mandatory, as well as a provision requiring each state to assure to its citizens that candidates seeking election to federal office meet the constitutional requirements for age and citizenship.

A provision requiring gainfully-employed head of household status should be included as a prerequisite to vote. This would mean that those who are "wards of the state", whether at the federal, state, or local level, (e.g., on unemployment, welfare, or food stamps), should be denied a vote in federal elections until they are gainfully employed or retired head of household (meaning main income provider) and living off their own savings.

It is the height of depravity to allow those who are taking the fruits of labors of others to vote for politicians who promise to give them even more at others' expense!

The cultural abyss into which this nation has descended can only be curtailed and the dawn of an age of responsibility begin with wholesale jettisoning of the trappings of obscene unconstitutional governance of the past 100 years.

To achieve the necessary political and cultural revolution this nation needs, we must immediately begin to reform our education system from top to bottom, university to kindergarten. We must educate real teachers not propagandists for progressivism. We must assure that unions do not dominate teaching and that wherever unions are found, they are only allowed to exist when open competition and multiple unions (or none at all) are allowed to compete for employees and any benefits offered by unions come at the expense of the union and not the employing entity.

It is time for the average American to stand up and help put a stop to the madness that threatens to swamp this nation and destroy the standard of living for everyone.

If we work together, we can put this country back in the hands of the productive sector, and it will out-produce, out-employ, and surpass in living standard the rest of the globe and by a massive margin.

A free, united, constitutionally-dedicated America is the best thing that can happen for everyone. Let's make it happen!

Author of "Looking Out the Window", an evidence-based examination of the "climate change" issue, Bob Webster, is a 12th-generation descendent of both the Darte family (Connecticut, 1630s) and the Webster family (Massachusetts, 1630s). He is a descendant of Daniel Webster's father, Revolutionary War patriot Ebenezer Webster, who served with General Washington. Bob has always had a strong interest in early American history, our Constitution, U.S. politics, and law. Politically he is a constitutional republican with objectivist and libertarian roots. He has faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and reason over deception and emotion. He is a strong believer in our Constitution as written and views the abandonment of constitutional restraint by the regressive Progressive movement as a great danger to our Republic. His favorite novel is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and believes it should be required reading for all high school students so they can appreciate the cost of tolerating the growth of unconstitutional crushingly powerful central government. He strongly believes, as our Constitution enshrines, that the interests of the individual should be held superior to the interests of the state.

A lifelong interest in meteorology and climatology spurred his strong interest in science. Bob earned his degree in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, graduating in 1964.