The Fuzzy Side of Liberalism

I equate being a liberal to being a socialist. I know that this may not be a fair comparison for all liberals but experience has led me to believe that if you claim to be a liberal, you are more inclined to the thinking of Karl Marx than Ronald Reagan. One of the main tenants of socialism is equality for all. That primarily means financial equality and typically applies only for rich, evil capitalists. We should tax the rich and redistribute the wealth to those who are less fortunate. All in all it is a vision of a utopian society where no one can exert power over any one else simply because they have the means to do so. In practice, all we have to do is look at the former Soviet Union to see how putting this in practice leads to one screwed up society.

If you look at people that have achieved financial success, you find that they either worked very hard to get there or were very lucky (which translates into being in the right place at the right time.) The ones who put their sweat into the process usually continue to strive for additional success. I would translate this kind of success as winning. After all, you have succeeded in achieving financial success so you have won that leg of the race. So winning would be something a wealthy person has achieved.

Athletes also play to win and are rewarded in a similar manner. When is the last time you heard someone complaining about the high wages they are paying athletes and saying they are not worth it? But we continue to root for our teams and pay to watch them either live or on the idiot box. When our teams win, we are excited because they have proven they are better than their opponent. For someone who appreciates that the spoils of success should go to the victor, they can appreciate the win. For those who think that success should be distributed equally among everyone, it is hypocritical to even root for a team. There should be no success because that leads to inequality. The idea of winning and distribution of equality are mutually exclusive.

People desire to be noticed and appreciated. It is part of human makeup. We want to be recognized and achieve some level of success. That level greatly depends on our own ego and sense of self esteem. For those who understand that you are responsible for your own destiny, they get the meaning of winning. For those who think that the world owes them, winning is nothing more than something to celebrate. Just wait until the next round of championship games and order another beer.

Icool

Cobb