Re: Maternal Instincts And The Fall Of Civilizations

Eric Chomko wrote:
Actually I have no idea where you are going with this and wonder if you
do.

I know his posts may sometimes be a little confusing and hard to
understand.

But I think his point here is clear enough.

The "welfare state" is where the government looks upon the people as a
mother does her children - accepting their well-being as its
responsibility... *and* as the highest good.

That last bit is the problem.

Since mothers, in taking care of their children, are self-sacrificing,
any suggestion that they are being *selfish* can be rejected out of
hand. So they get to engage in NIMBY politics without a twinge of
self-examination.

Thus, his argument is clear. If the United States becomes a welfare
state, then it will cease to behave responsibly on the international
scene. Instead, say, of respecting the right of Arab countries to set
the price for their own oil, if it sees that high oil prices make life
difficult for low-income Americans, it will instruct the Arab world to
disband OPEC or be nuked (You don't think mama raised her boys to be
*soldiers*, did you? They could get _hurt_ that way; we invented the
atom bomb so no one would ever have to fight a war in person any more.)
without even thinking twice.

No *option* of a measured response that requires sending American boys
into harm's way. No *option* of tolerating any external events that are
deleterious to the American economy. If keeping a national medicare
program running, and lifting African-Americans to full equality are not
only the *first* priorities of government, but also absolutely override
all other considerations, that's where it might lead.

John Savard

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