Feel-Good Arrogance

Feel-Good Arrogance

Charlie Earl

What is it about those people who insist on telling us how we should live? What drives them to nip and nibble every little aspect of our lives in their misguided efforts to force us to live as they think we must? Their constant nagging and brow-beating is enough to drive a guy to drink, but they preach that consuming copious amounts of alcohol is not good for me. I know that already, but a gradual failure of my liver is preferable to death from grinding my teeth as the mavens of “feel good” pester me. From the time one first becomes aware of one’s self identity, other people feel compelled to dispense lifestyle advice.

Mommies, Daddies, Aunts, Uncles, grandparents and kindly neighbors all chip in to guide and direct the child. (It takes a village, you know). I sometimes wonder how our frontier families managed to get by without other people hovering around them dispensing unending advice and prescriptions. It is a wonder that so many of our forbearers managed to survive without the beneficent hands of Big Brother, Nanny State and the Feel-Good lobby. Even when we turn to our escapist entertainment sources, we cannot escape the “you-ought-to-do-this” crowd. Multiple commercials tell us how to avoid all the physical and emotional tripwires we may encounter as we blindly stumble through life. A potent body spray will insure that we’ll be sexually attractive, and using the proper baking soda-sugar compound of toothpaste will preserve our fragile choppers forever. Being alone is too great a burden to bear so we are told/admonished to join “Hook-up dot com” so that we never have to suffer the consequences of solitude and peace again. It is so true in today’s world that if you’re not in, you’re out of it, and lots of people are willing to tell you how to be “in.”  

The difference between an exile, an outcast, and a recluse is based on who makes the decision to choose isolation. The end result is the same. The person involved is set aside from the community. The primary difference is the outcast is frequently shunned while some do-gooder folks may feverishly attempt to integrate the recluse into the social structure. The passionate communitarians cannot conceive that the self-exiled person prefers that type of life when for most people it is a punishment. It seems that anyone who chooses a lifestyle that does not conform to the feel-good model must be cajoled or coerced into the social mold lest she or he make others feel uneasy. The feel-good, do-good mentality cannot face the possibility that its pattern for living may not be universally accepted. Aberrant behavior is seen as threatening, and the do-gooder cannot understand nor countenance those who resist the “norm.” In addition the do-gooder is incapable of comprehending the recluse’s desire for solitude and suspects it may be indicative of some underlying disorder. The arrogance of the feel-good do-gooder is the actual social disorder because they believe everyone must conform to their view.

Feel-gooders are smiling well-intentioned autocrats. Their innermost desire is to rule, but they lack the cajones to seize power. Instead they seek to wield power through manipulation and guilt. Their constant reminders about what is good for you and me represent hordes of guilt-laden pinpricks to eventually force us to accept their superior wisdom. We are expected to yield and to comply with their remedies for what ails us, what might ail us and what “no way on earth” could affect us, but you should prepare anyway. When a cat gets severely injured, it crawls away to die in peace. The do-good Nanny Staters want us to live forever in despotic agony. The cat has the right idea. To them I plead: Just leave me be. To them I say: I don’t want your help. To them I insist: I will not yield to the force and power of government while making my personal life decisions.

There were probably some bureaucrats in the Soviet Union who believed that a few years in a Siberian gulag would be a good thing for wrong-way thinkers. There were undoubtedly some folks in Salem, Massachusetts who assumed that a good dousing would cleanse the soul of a suspected witch, and there were probably many people during the Middle Ages who knew that a trial by fire would purge a sinful person of all impurity (and earthly life). The progeny of those types are still with us, and they continue to torment us with their solutions for mythical problems. Busy-bodies, bureaucrats and do-good politicians will be the death of us….sooner rather than later.

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

  

Fictions and Factions

Fictions and Factions

Charlie Earl

Public service is supposed to be a noble pursuit. That’s the way it has been described in our history books and civic classes. Given that our elected and appointed officials have assumed a stance of imperial superiority, they are neither servants nor noble, and they often ignore the will of the public. Public service today is a sentimental fiction…somewhat like Santa Claus or Roy Hobbs. Compounding the myth of service is the sense the governments consistently lie, misrepresent or “misspeak” to us. It’s a veritable cornucopia of fictions heaped one on top of another. And…when governments do not lie, they classify important information so that we cannot discover what mischief they are pursuing.

We are surrounded by fictions. Most of our entertainment is fictitious including so-called “Reality T.V.” Our athletic superstars are caught using illegal substances to enhance their performances, our singing diva lip-syncs the National Anthem at the inauguration, and our preachers and priests are buggering children. Nothing or no one can be taken at face value anymore because we are inundated with fictions and deceit. Given how many lies and fictions permeate our daily lives if you’re not cynical or skeptical, then you probably do not deserve to consume oxygen. If you do not view nearly every statement from every imaginable source as doubtful, you are undoubtedly a low information member of the human species.

Factions are groups or organizations that work together for a common cause or goal. That definition sounds very inclusive, but in the present environment filled with deception and distortion, factions become very exclusive. We have become so jaded by the volume of lies that confront us that we severely restrict our sources of information to the point that we live on remote islands of knowledge. The progressive-socialist leaning crowd has their reliable sources, the libertarian-conservative group has theirs, the neo-con statists, the mushy middle…all tune in to their preferred bases of distortion and dismiss the others. The “working together” aspect of factions morphs into “never the twain shall meet.”

So….here we are, clustered with our little ideological or philosophical groups surrounded by other factions just as committed as ours. We take pot shots at one another while knowing that they lie continually while our side doesn’t lie as often. We are engaged in a massive war of attrition with each faction holding on until one or more of the other groups wave the white flag of surrender. It never happens. Rather than meekly giving in, each group becomes more firmly entrenched in its ideological fox hole. The issues and their remedies that divide us are numerous and perplexing, and we all have our preferences and ideals.

The key to minimizing the overwhelming weight of fictions that oppress us is to insist that the messages are distilled to the point of common understanding. I suggest we begin with: “Does this proposal, law or idea enhance our individual liberty?” Forget the perceived “good (a very subjective qualifier),” and concentrate on the purest attribute of personal freedom. The reduction of the arguments and talking points should lead to the dissolution of some of the factions. We should discover that while our methods and means may differ, our cooperative goals are to expand our opportunities for choices without government coercion. Obviously, there are factions who seek to invest the government with more power (perhaps even absolute power), but the distilling process should reduce the plethora of factions to a minimal, manageable number…..perhaps only two…those who love freedom and those who would deny liberty.

In the final analysis the real work must be done by each of us as individuals. We must force ourselves to look beyond the lies we favor and those we reject. We must insist on the fresh air of liberty. We must boil the arguments and statements down to their simplest base: Is MY freedom enhanced or encumbered? Liberty….first, foremost and forever!

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

  

  

Loving Loons

Loving Loons

Charlie Earl

It’s not easy being a loon. My clueless friends and relatives think I’m paranoid. My paranoid acquaintances think I have my head up my anal orifice because I’m not yet into panic mode. Family and my readers want me to stop over-using the liberty crack that seems to be guiding my addicted life. My two children and their spouses continue to hope that Dad may grow up before he gets too old, and my grandchildren are somewhat intimated by it all. My poor saintly mother just shakes her gray-haired head and wonders where she may have gone wrong. And….an extremely tolerant wife of more than 44 years prays that lightning may strike me and burn some sense into my addled brain. I am truly blessed, however, because the people who mean the most to me aren’t afraid to love a loon.

One of the great advantages of going off the deep end is that it is a long, long way until you hit bottom. I may continue to sink, but I have not yet resolved to give up and lie quietly on the bottom of the liberty pool. This task, this mission would be fruitless and impossible without the support (however reluctant) of those who inhabit my life. I couldn’t do it alone without their feedback, support and tolerance. Although I am not in their league, there have been many loons who led the way for our nation. Their peers thought them to be crazy, and their foes often underestimated them. But…the loons of our past have been transformed into wise prophets and brave oracles.

Samuel Adams was reviled by many of his friends and neighbors because of his incessant complaining about what he claimed were the Crown’s abuses of the colonists. His constant haranguing drove some people away from him and caused others to question his sanity. Many, however, consider him to be the Godfather of the Revolution due to his untiring agitation for freedom. He was a loon, but those who love liberty love Sam Adams….and probably his namesake brew as well.

Thomas Paine was often despondent and frequently unkempt. A steady job seemed to be impossible for him to hold because he was a quarrelsome rascal. Some suspected that “Demon Rum” held him in its evil clutches and was responsible for his sometimes anti-social behavior. Paine was a loon. He was a brilliant misfit whose understanding of freedom ignited the flames of liberty among many of his fellow colonials. Even today Paine is a divisive figure among those who study and write our history. His bright red nose was a shining beacon of liberty and lunacy in our early days.

In a social structure that favors “fitting in” the outlier, the radical or the most passionate advocate will be identified as a “wacko” or a “loon.” Those who define the liberty proponents that way are often fearful of seeming too committed or too zealous. They seek to be viewed as measured and moderate when in fact their placid flaccidness can be considered symptomatic of someone who lacks principle and conviction. In a recent example John McCain and Lindsey Graham made harsh statements about Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster efforts on the Senate floor. Although several of Paul’s colleagues joined him in the marathon, McCain and Graham bemoaned the “pointless and grandstanding” nature of the captivating event. McCain characterized Paul as a “wacko”….which probably did not enhance comity among the members of the GOP Senate caucus. Paul’s performance was extraordinary in the sense that his entire presentation was thoughtful and germane. He did not engage in frivolous banter or read odd passages to consume his time. He believed that he was standing on principle, and despite McCain’s description many people were impressed. It seems the loon won this round.

Loons may frequently stand alone, but those who have support from people who love them can be unstoppable. If you know a loon who loves liberty, tell them you love them. Please don’t slink away to hide your embarrassment. Your favorite loon may be the spark who keeps liberty alive for many others.

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

Raging Lethargy

Raging Lethargy

Charlie Earl

Former WLW, Cincinnati, radio personality Gary Burbank regaled many of us with his idiosyncratic characters. One of his most enduring and endearing was “Earl Pitts” who closed his bits with “Wake up, America!” followed by his signature, “Pitts off!” If only we had Earl Pitts dispensing his down-home advice and wisdom on the airwaves today. His ‘redneck’ persona and plain talk went straight to the core of his selected issue of the day. While “Gilbert Gnarley” was the curious but often naïve loon, Pitts told it “like it is” and the way it ought to be. We should be screaming at the top of our liberty-loving lungs that it’s time to “Wake up, America!!!!”

It is understandable that so many of our fellow citizens appear to be semi-zombies in their attitudes toward a huge and oppressive government/statist/crony-corporatist infrastructure. Either they have decided to capitalize on the “freebie” aspect of government (taxpayer) largesse, or they perceive that the issues and problems are too large and numerous to withstand. They are experiencing over-load withdrawal. Our highly medicated culture is consuming anti-depressants at an alarming rate. One wonders if the natural tension between an individual’s desire for freedom and an overwhelmingly intrusive government is a major contributor to our national malady. Depression often leads to withdrawal, and on a cognitive level people perceive that they should not retreat from their obligations to others and their posterity, but they believe themselves to be inadequately armed for the preservation or restoration of liberty. Frustration is manifested in indifference and despair.

Most of us are capable when confronted by a single task or barrier, but even the strongest among us sometimes falters when we feel surrounded by a legion of problems and foes. We hesitate…not knowing which difficulty to tackle first. We flinch and attempt to prioritize, but the challenges grow larger and more ominous as we struggle to devise a strategy. We freeze in place because we cannot act. To attack an issue head-on may expose our flanks to other vital considerations. We retreat and we withdraw from the battle. We justify our lethargy by claiming that it’s better to live so we can fight another day. We fall behind as the battle rages around us, and we either attack with a suicidal charge or curl into the fetal position and pray for it to end. Lethargy and immobility are natural and understandable during conditions such as those we face today.

To protect the future we must win the present. With so many out-of-whack elements bombarding us on a daily basis, the truly difficult task is deciding when or where to fight. If we err, we may not be capable of recovering in time to make the proper adjustments. Tea Party and Liberty groups have similar issues. The field of devastation is so littered with big government debris that every week brings new challenges and new “alerts.” Prioritizing, personal interests and divisions of labor seem to offer the best strategies going forward. Individuals should choose one or two critical elements that are most important to them and marshal their resources and energies on those fronts. Groups should follow a similar game plan by identifying and prioritizing the assaults on our liberty followed by the creation of “task forces” to research and respond. Clearly… the members of each task force will be individuals who are most concerned or passionate about the particular issue under scrutiny. Additionally…each group and task force should attempt to work with other liberty and Tea Party groups on their parallel paths. Feed one another information plus give one another encouragement and share strategies and solutions. With the technological capabilities we have, we can be as effective as our forefathers’ committees of correspondence.

We cannot remain in the fetal position because the progressives/statists will kill us….literally and figuratively. We must overcome our indecision and lethargy or we’ll be radically outpaced. Our rally cry must be liberty! Our unbending goal must be freedom! Any other purpose (e.g. single issue) cannot generate enough support for an effective coalition. Liberty! First, foremost and forever!

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

     

 

Salad in the Sun

Salad in the Sun

Charlie Earl

One of the highlights of my youth was the annual church picnic. The entire congregation would go to an area park, enjoy an outdoor service, a scrumptious picnic lunch and an afternoon of softball, swimming, volleyball and friendly chatting. Typically the food would remain on the tables until it was time to go home. Invariably…our tasty fare included potato salad, macaroni salad and various other types of egg-based delicacies. Frankly I’m lucky to be alive given the July heat and long exposure to the sunlight those delectable dishes endured. I haven’t attended any of those church picnics for many years, but I assume that today after lunch is over, the food is securely packed into 5-day coolers with cold packs. It’s a new “wussie” world we inhabit, my friends.

We didn’t have a “5-second rule” when I was a kid. Even when a tasty morsel was dropped on gravel, we would rinse it and consume it. If one were fortunate enough to drop the culinary creation indoors, a slight taste of “Pine-Sol” or “Murphy’s Oil Soap” would enhance the flavor of the recaptured sustenance. As a consequence I never had worms or internal waxy build-up. The only exception was the dung or manure pile. We wouldn’t try to salvage the wayward food….but would attempt to convince younger siblings that it was still “OK.” By the way… my younger sister and brother are still alive although they both have an addiction for breath mints.

As a youngster growing up on the farm, I managed to avoid ornery cows, angry sows and rampaging roosters. My luck wasn’t always perfect because I had the mumps, measles and chicken pox, but I somehow escaped the polio threat of the 1950’s. We children did a lot of stupid things back in the day such as attempting to fly from hay lofts, climbing tall and slippery windmills and engaging in BB gun fights. We worked around dangerous machinery and ignored whatever child-labor laws may have existed in those days… and most of us are still here. Maybe a few of us were maimed, but we learned the lessons of survival and how to overcome fear. As an example, one of our adult acquaintances contracted the mumps but continued riding his tractor while working the fields. I can recall hearing that the mumps “went down on him,” and my pre-pubescent mind recoiled at that painful notion. We learned from others as well as from our own mistakes.

Times have changed and Big Brother and Nanny State are committed to protecting us from ourselves. We no longer learn from our own stupidity and recklessness as quickly as we did in earlier generations. Our innate ability to acquire wisdom and common sense from our adventures has been stunted by government’s “bubble-boy” mentality. Our learning comes from secondary sources and does not carry the power or endurance of hands-on mistakes. The Nanny State’s over-protective stance may indeed prevent some tragic consequences from our lack of judgment, but we are failing to learn the lessons of losing as vividly as we might if we erred. We are becoming soft and dependent as government protections increase their controls over our lives.

The ultimate government interference in our lives is epitomized by the “death panel’ provisions of Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare). When we become infirmed or grow older, government will assume that we are incapable of addressing our own “end-of-life issues.” Care will either be withheld or administered depending on a series of undefined criteria….which given Big Brother’s lust for secrecy may never be revealed. Well….pay attention, my government masters, I defy your insistence on determining the quality and quantity of my life. It represents my personal decision to nullify your egregious over-managing of my life. I have lived to this age by consuming dirty food and outwitting surly sows, and I neither desire nor will I tolerate your notoriously inefficient meddling. So far, Big Brother and Nanny State, you have undermined my quality of life. I will not allow you to determine its end. Please pass that gnarly potato salad…. time for a snack.

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com