Conversation with a Reasonable Liberal
Yesterday, I started a conversation with a liberal, or rather he with me on Twitter. His tone is civil and he seems to genuinely want to try to understand my point of view as a conservative. He believes that socialism is the way to help the weak and poor better their lot in our society. Did I mention that he is black and I am white? As I said, the conversation has just started and the short bursts of Twitter make it difficult to explain a position in any detail. In fact, if you’ve spent any time on Twitter, it makes you wonder why you spent so much time learning how to spell. I’ve offered him my e-mail in an effort to expedite the process. Patience is not a virtue I’ve quite mastered yet.
The problem with Socialism is that you soon run out of other people’s money.” Margaret Thatcher, Former Prime Minister of Great Britian.
I really want to tell him more about my background and how I came to believe what I do and learn more about his experience and beliefs. I grew up in a suburb of Denver. The area was a dividing point between the city and the wheat fields of the High Plains. There was only one black family in the area and their son was a year ahead of me in high school. I barely knew him, but we did sit at the same table for lunch one day in 1967. The conversation was about the civil rights movement. He and I wondered at the violence and did whites really treat blacks like that in the South? Nothing much came of it except that I took a greater interest in news of the civil rights moment. I often wonder how he’s done in life.
I didn’t grow up privileged as the second of four children. My father was a retired Air Force Sergeant who was disabled. He was able to pay the rent and put food on the table, but not much else. I began working at 12 and from that point on bought my own clothes; and, any luxuries like movies and soda came out of my own pocket. I’m not complaining, it taught me early that I didn’t want to ever be in my father’s situation. I joined the Army at 19 and went through helicopter flight training. I served a year in Vietnam and a year in Germany. I then went back to college and in 1976 received a commission in the Air Force.
In the Air Force there are no black airmen or white airman, there are only “blue” airman. I served with every minority you can think of and none thought of themselves as such. Nor do I think being white made me any different from my fellow airman. The military is a great equalizer and allowed me to achieve my goal of becoming a pilot, even coming from a poor background.
Today I own two real estate companies and am struggling in the worst economy of my lifetime. Both are small companies but provide a good living for my family. I’ve never had a goal of being rich. My goal has been to provide a comfortable life for my family and allow my wife and me to enjoy retirement when that comes.
What does this have to do with the conversation between me and my new liberal friend? It’s about freedom verses socialism. I’ve been free to choose my circumstances. I didn’t let the poverty of my childhood determine the direction of my life. The tools for my success were all around me in a free society. I could be whatever my efforts and God given talents would allow me to be. My efforts determine what kind of house I live in, car I drive or the amount of money I make – not the State. I wish I knew how to communicate to every poor kid out there that you don’t have to settle for your current circumstances. Pick a profession and work toward it. Stay in school, learn a trade and do whatever it takes to rise above poverty. Taking government handouts makes you a ward of the State, not a free man. For Black Americans especially, socialism is an economic form of slavery – reject it.
Shortlink:
One Response to Conversation with a Reasonable Liberal
Leave a Response
Translator
Well stated. Bill Cosby pretty much has said the same thing for as long as I have followed his career. But he was called a traitor to his race. Very few black Americans agreed with him or was afraid to speak out. I once heard a young black women express her anger that people just presumed she earned her attorney’s license through affirmative action. She was proud of her achievement earned by her hard work and not affirmative action. That’s the way everyone should feel, black or white. Affirmative action has enslaved even as it might have helped some. Like most government interference, has it done more harm than good?