Dakota Beacon

A Universal Reaction

We’ve all experienced the gut-wrenching physical and psychological symptoms of being proven wrong.

We go through life expecting with all our heart and soul that a firmly held belief is factual, indisputable, unquestionable, set in stone, incontestable, absolute, undeniable, conclusive, incontrovertible, without a shred of doubt. Perhaps Ronald Regan said it best:

“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”

Debate Etiquette and the “Debate World”

High school debaters learn early in the process that falsehoods must be responded to without even a hint of personal animosity toward one’s debate opposition. Pre-debate research, adherence to facts, and employing proveable axioms are a few of the most successful tactics of debaters. The judges are usually educated enough to check out the assumptions and conclusions presented and properly rate the efforts of the debaters on each side of any specific issue in question.

The Real World

Unfortunately, in the real world, the “judges” are… let us just say… “less prepared.” We all have the potential to be good debate judges, it is just that we have not all been extensively trained in that expertise. Our reaction to being proven wrong is less professional… more visceral; sometimes downright menacing. Of course, what we need most in a national President is “business brutal” negotiating skills… debate etiquette would be nice, but is perhaps over-rated in one-on-one negotiations with hostile competitors who may even be downright enemies of freedom and free markets.

The Suburban Democrat

I am referring to the often guilt-ridden, reasonably wealthy, and socially adept suburban professional (too often agnostic and occasionally atheist) who just cannot accept that their hard work, courage, and thus love for their “fellow man” (a common reference to both men and women) … is what made them successful. Because they may exhibit fewer demonstrable Christian virtues, they tend to exercise less personal philanthropy and expect “government” to fulfill the duties of “society.” Their definition of “Society” may be more narcissistic (an excessive interest in or admiration of oneself) but includes a need for relational and collective inclusion. In simple terms, they “just want to be loved… is that so wrong?”

Have You Noticed?

As more and more Marxist ideology is exposed for what it is… a dividing and conquering of capitalism towards replacement with collectivism, socialism, communism, we are seeing the edginess, the angst, the discomfort, the disgust, the anger, of suburban Democrats with the realization that Marxism does not work. The destruction of capitalism, free markets, individual land ownership, rule of law, individual responsibility for one’s actions, patriotism (love of country), spirituality (belief in something bigger than ourselves) and other virtues that made America successful despite ourselves… has not created the Utopia that Marxism promises.

What do we do?

What we must do is offer unconditional love with every approach to our friends and loved ones who are inherently resistant to the realization that their life’s creed has abandoned them for an autocracy that accuses patriotic Americans of the evil the “Marxists Within” commit day to day as they abuse the power they receive from the lazy and “re-election-fearful” politicians and the “aphid-like lobbyists” destroying both political parties.

We must salvage both the “knowledgeable” and those that “know so much that is not so” toward individually building for the future and collectively paying off the debt we are leaving to our heirs; not through higher taxes… but through fully private development of our national potential…where government returns to its “punishment only” role, as envisioned by our founders and proven by our history. Only then will private “Society” return to its rightful role as “benefactor” of those in dire straights through no fault of their own. As we look around us, is it not obvious, however, that most of the problems individuals are experiencing at this time in history, are due to their own life choices?

Love = Work + Courage