Dismantling America

From time to time, I run columns consisting solely of random thoughts on the passing scene. These columns seem to be especially popular with people who like my columns in general—and especially unpopular with critics. Because most of these columns contain some references to events that were topical at the time but are not any longer, these columns will not be reproduced here. Instead, individual selections from these columns will be presented.

Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene:

Some people seem to think that we live in more “liberated” times, when all that has happened is that one set of taboos has been replaced by another and more intolerantly enforced set of taboos.

We all enter the world knowing nothing but, by the time we are teenagers, we know it all. Sometimes it is decades later before we know enough to realize how little we know.

One of the scariest aspects of our times is how easy it is for glib loudmouths to turn us against each other, weakening the whole framework of society, on which we all depend.

The adage “follow the money” will be hard to apply in the current administration, when there is so much money going in all directions that it is doubtful whether anybody can follow it.

It is amazing to me that there are people who still take seriously claims by some politicians that they are against “special interests.” All politicians are against their opponents’ special interests and in favor of their own special interests—which, of course, they don’t call special interests.

You may scoff at the Tooth Fairy if you like. But the Tooth Fairy’s approach has gotten more politicians elected than any economist’s analysis has.

Stepping beyond your competence can be like stepping off a cliff. Too many people with brilliance and talent within some field do not realize how ignorant—or, worse yet, misinformed—they are when talking like philosopher-kings about other things.

If politicians stopped meddling with things they don’t understand, there would be a more drastic reduction in the size of government than anyone in either party advocates.

Since this is an era when many people are concerned about “fairness” and “social justice,” what is your “fair share” of what someone else has worked for?

Many colleges claim that they develop “leaders.” All too often, that means turning out graduates who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do. There are already too many people like that, and they are a menace to everyone else’s freedom.

Despite people who speak glibly about “earlier and simpler times,” all that makes earlier times seem simpler is our ignorance of their complexities.

Can you cite one speck of hard evidence of the benefits of “diversity” that we have heard gushed about for years? Evidence of its harm can be seen—written in blood—from Iraq to India, from Serbia to Sudan, from Fiji to the Philippines. It is scary how easily so many people can be brainwashed by sheer repetition of a word.

The reason so many people misunderstand so many issues is not that these issues are so complex, but that people do not want a factual or analytical explanation that leaves them emotionally unsatisfied. They want villains to hate and heroes to cheer—and they don’t want explanations that fail to give them that.

For university presidents, as for politicians at all levels, one of the most valuable talents for the success of their careers is the ability to say things that make no sense, with a straight face and in a lofty tone.

One of the ways in which people are similar is in the lengths to which they will go in order to show that they are different.

Doing 90 percent of what is required is one of the biggest wastes, because you have nothing to show for all your efforts. But doing 110 percent of what is expected is one of the smartest investments because it can pay off with a big reputation for just a little more effort.

A public opinion poll back in 1964 asked if America was worth fighting for—and 87 percent of blacks said “yes.” Today, it is doubtful if any segment of the population would give that answer that often.

“We are a nation of immigrants,” we are constantly reminded. We are also a nation of people with ten fingers and ten toes. Does that mean that anyone who has ten fingers and ten toes should be welcomed and given American citizenship?

Sometimes we seem like people on a pleasure boat drifting down the Niagara river, unaware that there are waterfalls up ahead. I don’t know what people think is going to happen when a nation that already sponsors international terrorism has nuclear bombs to give to terrorists around the world.

The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly. Only when you do something is it almost impossible to do it without mistakes. Therefore people who are contributing nothing to society, except their constant criticisms, can feel both intellectually and morally superior.

“Global warming” seems to be joining “diversity,” “gun control,” “open space” and a growing list of other subjects where rational discussion has become impossible—and where you are considered a bad person even for wanting to discuss it rationally.

I have never understood stuttering. Once I heard a well-known economist, who stuttered, spend 45 minutes singing humorous, tongue-twister songs without a slip. Yet, after he finished—to rousing applause—he could barely get out the words “Thank you.”

One of the signs of how easily we are bullied by small and vocal groups is how many universities, among other institutions, dare not even refer to the Christmas vacation but instead refer to “the winter holiday.”

Who says that there is no difference between the political parties? When Democrats are criticized, they counter-attack. When Republicans are criticized, they whine that they are innocent.

I don’t feel any different as I get older. However, I do notice that, when I am out biking, a lot of other bikers seem to be passing me and I don’t seem to be passing anybody.

What is especially disturbing about the political left is that they seem to have no sense of the tragedy of the human condition. Instead, they tend to see the problems of the world as due to other people not being as wise or as noble as themselves.

We can only hope that the rumor that Israel is going to take out Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities is true. If they do, Israel will be widely condemned by governments that are breathing a sigh of relief that they did.

Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God.

I hate to hear about “partnerships” between government and business, or between government and other organizations. When there is a partnership between an ant and an elephant, who do you suppose makes the decisions?

There are too many people, especially among the intelligentsia, who will never appreciate the things that have made this country great until after those things have been destroyed—with their help. Then, of course, it will be too late.

We have now reached the truly dangerous point where we cannot even be warned about the lethal, fanatical and suicidal hatred of our society by Islamic extremists, because to do so would be politically incorrect and, in some European countries, would be a violation of the law against inciting hostility to groups.

Perhaps the scariest aspect of our times is how many people think in talking points, rather than in terms of real world consequences.

Liberals seem to think that they are doing lagging groups a favor by making excuses for counterproductive and self-destructive behavior. The poor do not need press agents. They need the truth. No one ever said, “Press agents shall make you free.”

Socialists believe in government ownership of the means of production. Fascists believed in government control of privately owned businesses, which is much more the style of this government. That way, politicians can intervene whenever they feel like it and then, when their interventions turn out badly, summon executives from the private sector before Congress and denounce them on nationwide television.

Democrats could sell refrigerators to Eskimos before Republicans could sell them blankets.

I am so old that I can remember a Democrat, at his inauguration as President, say of our enemies: “We dare not tempt them with weakness.”

In a democracy, we have always had to worry about the ignorance of the uneducated. Today we have to worry about the ignorance of people with college degrees.

I can’t get as fiercely involved as some other people do in controversies about the origins of human life on earth. I wasn’t there.

Does it tell you something about our times when a representative of the Taliban is welcome on the Yale University campus but representatives of our own military forces are not?

The political left loves to depict its ideas as “new”—a practice which is itself centuries old on the left, as are the ideas themselves.

When I think of the people with serious physical or mental handicaps who nevertheless work, I find it hard to sympathize with able-bodied men who stand on the streets and beg. Nor can I sympathize with those who give them money that subsidizes a parasitic lifestyle which allows such men to be a constant nuisance, or even a danger, to others.

If we each sat down and wrote out all the mistakes we have made in our lives, all the paper needed would require cutting down whole forests.

When you have 90 percent of what you want, think twice before insisting on the other 10 percent.

A sense of logic underlies a sense of humor. The same professor who wrote the first treatise on symbolic logic also wrote Alice in Wonderland.

Someone said that good judgment comes from experience—which in turn comes from bad judgment.

When I see people dealing lovingly with small children, it makes me feel that there may be hope for us, after all.

Climate statistics show that, with all the “global warming” hysteria today, our temperatures are still not as high as they were back in medieval times. Those medieval folks must have been driving a lot of cars and SUVs.

When my sister’s children were teenagers, she told them that, if they got into trouble and ended up in jail, to remember that they had a right to make one phone call. She added: “Don’t waste that call phoning me.” We will never know whether they would have followed her advice, since none of them was ever in jail.

One of the painful signs of years of dumbed-down education is how many people are unable to make a coherent argument. They can vent their emotions, question other people’s motives, make bold assertions, repeat slogans—anything except reason.

People who refuse to face the reality of hard choices are forever coming up with some clever “third way”—often leading to worse disasters than either of the hard choices.

Equal treatment of individuals does not mean equal treatment of behavior. That is why a polygamist is on the FBI’s “most wanted” list. He is not allowed to redefine marriage to suit himself any more than the advocates of “gay marriage” are.

Since electricity is generated mostly by burning coal, has anyone calculated how much pollution is created by electric cars, even though none of that pollution comes out of their tailpipes?

Now that the British television documentary, “The Great Global Warming Swindle” is available on DVD, will those schools that forced their students to watch Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth” also show them the other side? Ask them.

Maybe the current bailout fever is Congress’ way of getting into the spirit of the Yuletide season—saying in effect, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” They will undoubtedly also be saying, “Yes, New Jersey, there is a Santa Claus... Yes, Ohio, there is a Santa Claus. . .”

Wal-Mart has done more for poor people than any ten liberals, at least nine of whom are almost guaranteed to hate Wal-Mart.

If people had been as mealy-mouthed in centuries past as they are today, Ivan the Terrible would have been called Ivan the Inappropriate.

Will those who are dismantling this society from within or those who seek to destroy us from without be the first to achieve their goal? It is too close to call.