Dakota Beacon

The Ruse: “Not Left. Not Right. Forward.”

If we were playing charades and the initial clue was “label”, we would likely respond with, union, black, white, address  etc. If the initial clue was “no label”, we would likely respond with cheap, generic, imitation, home made, inferior, bootlegged, etc.

When any group of politicians decides to get together to start a movement, there is cause for concern. When that same group decides that the principles, beliefs, and standards associated with a political party platform are ideals that get in the way of good government, our first instinct may be to laugh uncontrollably…then perhaps wonder how these people ever made a living in politics? In this case, the question is the answer. These people are largely unemployed political strategists marketing for new clients in the 2012 election cycle.

Collectivism versus Individualism

Two examples of societies come to mind, collectivist societies and individualist societies.

The best example of an almost Utopian collectivist society that comes immediately to mind is that of the montagnard tribesmen in the central highlands of Viet Nam who dressed in loincloths, hunted with crossbows and poisoned arrows, and worshiped animalist spirits who lived in trees. These primitive societies thrived in their naturally protected environment largely through “voluntary collectivism” which had been instilled in the members from birth and supported by generations of successful collaboration. Unfortunately, the very societal trust and compassion of these people that made them successful for centuries also ends up being their demise due their naïveté to unscrupulous invaders. The key to success of such societies involves the fact that “central planning” can apparently work when the leaders are largely within eyesight and earshot of their fellow collectivists. Control and obedience are cherished values.

The best historic example of an individualist society is, I believe, our own United States of America. We have historically invited individuals from all over the globe to come here and make their unique individual contributions to our great experiment. What threatens to end our experiment is the steady growth of the same “central planning” that we call “government” which simply cannot work effectively on a scale much larger than a village.

The Left and the Right

The far left and far right in America today represent two distinct concepts of government.

The Left insists that society and government are the same, both destined to help those who cannot help themselves for one reason or another. “Victims” of various perceived evils of society are the prime constituencies of the left. And expansion of the left has involved convincing the lazy and the fearful that the hard working and the courageous should be forced to “share” their wealth with the lazy and the fearful.

On the other hand, the Right understands the differences between society and government, as so eloquently explained by Thomas Paine.

So we have two political parties in the United States today. One, the Left, represents the “takings coalition” that eventually competes within itself for the spoils of legal plunder (theft) from the Right. The other, the right, just wants to be left alone to produce goods and services, benefit from the profits, and eventually pass on the wealth to heirs and infinitely variable charities and philanthropic institutions…on a voluntary basis!

Unemployment in the “Left”

The problem for those involved in the “No Labels” charade is that of late, the Left is taking a shellacking as “Independents” realize what the Left really stands for…namely the “equality” that is “poverty itself”. Of course Independents are those that are too busy living their lives to become entangled with the “takers” or the “leave-us-aloners”. And Independents, because of their disinterest, can rather easily be lured into new marketing techniques such as the “No Labels” ruse. Individualists, we have a lot of educating to do!

November 2012 is coming!

© 2010 Lynn A. Bergman