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This has been a far more vocal
close election than any I have been through, which fairly well
reflects the strength with which people feel their convictions as well
as the litigious nature of our social order now.
Note: because of the closeness of the election, I will use the
term "half" to represent each side. I am not quite sure that the Gore half really understands what they voted for. I am fairly certain they voted in approximately this order of priority: * Continued prosperity * More social programs *
Greater medical coverage If that is indeed what they
thought they were voting for, I would like to enumerate what they
really voted for: * Higher taxes * More pork-barrel programs disguised as social programs * Gun control rather than gun responsibility * Environmental controls far beyond what is needed * Socialized medicine that no one wants * Government control of education * More government intervention into our basic freedoms *
A threat to the stability of the Constitution itself Just how could American
citizens want this type of control?
Actually, most of them do not want it.
This close race showed the nation that half the people are
willing to assume more personal responsibility, and the other half
voted for "more for me" but not the same "more"
they will get. Somehow the notion of personal
effort and personal responsibility, the qualities that built this
nation, simply is not there for the half who voted for the Democratic
ticket. What is utterly
amazing is that the UAW and Teamsters unions are strong enough and
curious enough to endorse a self-declared radical environmentalist who
is against the very internal combustion engines that make the living
for their unions' members. This is strange indeed. But it is not the election itself that divided America. The nation had to be divided already, and the election outcome has only served to publicize these divisions. It seems to boil down to those
who want an America in which they have the intended voice in
government, and those who want not only to be told what to do by the
government, but to be rewarded for it. Those who want to be told what
to do by the government will get a lot more than they wished for.
As for being rewarded for it, well, that depends on how one
defines the word "reward." I thoroughly expect that
redefinition will now become a way of life rather than a curious
element of one president's thought (or dodge) mechanism. Accepting the
"victim" mentality produces victim behavior.
We have seen that half our nation believes they are in some way
victims rather than challengers. Now, we should really stop and
consider what makes a person a "victim" if it isn't their
attitude toward their circumstances? What if they get all those "mores" enumerated above? Will they be winners... or victims? The time to think about these things is before the election, but the election being over, it is also time to reflect on just what this election produced. Join the conversation about the election... © Dorothy Anne Seese, 2024
See our latest columns: View expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Political USA.
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