I find it amusing that a few people have commented on my political views, believing I have become less conservative.
Change is good. My mother used to say, “Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” But in fact, I have changed little in my views.
What has changed is the political leadership in the state. For decades, the Democratic Party dominated, making numerous bad decisions which I criticized. That made me appear pro-Republican.
Now the Republican Party is dominating the state, making numerous bad decisions, which I have criticized, making me appear pro-Democrat.
It’s not me that’s changed. I am doing the same thing I have always done – my job as a journalist, exposing bad policy and corruption. The only thing that has changed is the political party in power.
What I’d like to see in this state is competition. Competition is good. It drives excellence. Having one party dominate, whether it be Republican or Democrat, is not good. We need two competitive mainstream political parties that can serve as a check and balance on each other.
Unfortunately, race is standing in the way of this. We have devolved into essentially a black Democratic Party and a white Republican Party. This is about the worst possible result that could have happened.
I don’t watch TV news. The blurting heads bore me. I’ve heard it all before. I suppose I am lucky not to be a fanatic. Fanatics scare me. Fierce ideological adherence to any viewpoint typically leads to disaster, violence and tragedy. Just look at ISIS and the communists. I felt sorry for the Obama haters and now I feel sorry for the Trump haters. It must be miserable to be so angry all the time.
Libertarians also scare me. I appreciate their faith in the free market, but their pursuit of ideological consistency can lead to some monumentally bad decisions.
My political ideology goes right back to the founding fathers of the United States. They were like the Beatles of political philosophy. The perfect group at the perfect time. There will never be another. The greatness of our country goes directly back to them.
Like George Washington, I am skeptical of political parties. I have always been registered as independent.
Balance of power, reliance on personal initiative, primacy of liberty, respect for the free market, appreciation of original sin, faith in God, international neutrality, decentralization of government . . . these were the cornerstones of the founding father’ political philosophy and they are likewise the cornerstones of my political philosophy.
There is a role for government, but when possible, the first solution should be to harness the power of the free market and personal initiative to achieve the objective.
For instance, I am glad we have a government for roads, law enforcement and national security. I am glad we have an anti-trust division to keep a huge corporate monopoly from capturing markets and stifling competition. Unfortunately, these days, Google and Facebook don’t have to worry much about that.
Just because I am for charter schools doesn’t mean I am anti-public schools. I am for competition and letting the best system prevail.
Same with the Kemper power plant. The problem there was no competition. We need to dismantle our archaic power grid monopoly and let competition prevail.
Where government has a legitimate role, it needs to do it well. Allowing our roads to crumble is a dereliction of governmental leadership. What a shame. It will end up costing five times more.
The government ought to focus on performing excellently the functions it has legitimate reason for undertaking. Likewise, the government should abstain completely from interfering in the parts of life in which it has no business being involved.
There is no monopoly on political insight. As a world, we are engaged in international on-the-job training. As the communists proved, rigid, centralized governments don’t work. But the moderate welfare states of Europe do, even though they may be too socialized for many Americans.
One has to be pragmatic. That’s my biggest criticism of the current state Republican leadership.
There is one position on which I am ideologically fervent: Liberty. When I see the thugs and dictators in China, Russia, Cuba, Zimbabwe and Venezuela, it makes my blood boil. Politics is one thing, freedom is another.
