Apr
28
Top 10 Things Liberals Have Taught Me about Myself (Part 2 of 4)
“It is just like Gaddaffi killing his citizens, only the Republicans do it with legislation rather than bombs and bullets.” — commenter at Huffington Post
Continuing, now, with the lessons I’ve been learning about myself from the learned liberals:
Wisconsin labor protestors
4) I hate ‘working people’. I mean, it’s obvious, really. It’s because I strongly dislike Big Labor. I think it is corrupt and does at least as much bad as good these days. In the early days, unions seemed to be a good idea. As the industrial age gathered steam, the laborers in certain industries were being taken advantage of (e.g., long hours, low pay, terrible conditions, etc.). But, as they say, there is power in numbers. Union membership gave workers bargaining power, so they could negotiate fairer wages, hours, working conditions, etc. Over the decades, the unions gained a lot more power. Those in charge managed to cut deals that made them richer and more influential, and corruption became the norm. (Organized Crime helped with that.) Unions became infamous for using strongarm tactics, threats & intimidation to get their way. Beyond the more obvious thuggery, they also managed to “negotiate” unusually high wages and incredible retirement deals for their constituents, such that it has become a major financial drain in both the public and private sectors. I thought these were reasons to dislike most unions and union leaders.
Recently, events in states like Wisconsin and Ohio have thrust unions into the national spotlight. I was behind the efforts of Governors Scott Walker (WI) and John Kasich (OH), who played hardball in order to reduce the monopoly bargaining power of government-sector unions. I support Right-to-Work laws to fight forced unionism. I am also against the efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) (aka “Card Check”) in Congress, which would deny union members their right to a secret ballot and make them subject to intimidation by union enforcers. I thought this was an indication that I wanted more rights and freedoms for “working people”. But, liberals have shown me the light. If I want to take power away from unions, then I must hate the people they supposedly represent. Right?
Plus, I want to make sure my rich friends have lots of cheap labor to exploit. On the other hand, why wouldn’t I just support illegal immigration, if that were the case? Gee, sometimes I confuse myself.
5) I hate “seniors” and the elderly. Yep, sorry Mom & Dad. This was revealed when I said I thought Obamacare was (and is) a big mistake, particularly for seniors. For one, it monetarily incentivizes medical professionals to encourage the elderly against life-saving/prolonging treatments. For another, it gives the government bureaucrats more control over who would have access to life-saving and life-prolonging drugs, surgeries, and treatments. Thirdly, some of Obamacare’s funding was at least initially to come by re-appropriating funds that would otherwise have subsidized Medicare Advantage, which many seniors need and cannot afford without the assistance. More generally, it’s going to cost more than it saves, while rationing care, reducing coverage, reducing competition among insurers, and disincentivizing doctors.
In addition, I think that Social Security and Medicare (and Medicaid, for that matter) need some drastic reforms. The government just doesn’t (and won’t) have the money to continue payouts if serious changes aren’t made. But, my liberal friends have schooled me on this. Truth is, I don’t like old people. I want them to pay more money for benefits. Heck, I probably even want them to die. That way, there will be more money and other benefits for me and my young(er), “rich” friends.
I’ve also recently become aware that I have to be careful criticizing the views or policies of those over a certain age, because it reveals a subconscious age-ism on my part. Strangely, if the individual in question is more conservative in his politics (e.g., Ronald Reagan or even John McCain), liberals seem to forget this rule. In fact, some have been known to call conservative-minded seniors “senile” or joke that they have Alzheimer’s. Maybe it’s just liberal seniors who should be given special treatment, even when they are of sound mind yet still make inane comments? I don’t know. I’m still learning….
Protests against Proposition 8 in California
6) I hate homosexuals. Yeah, I’m what they call a “homophobe”, a bigot. Now, I was always under the impression that bigotry reveals itself by an irrational fear and/or hatred of _________ (in this case, homosexuals), particularly characterized with hostile speech or action. You know, beating people up and yelling abusive epithets at them. That sort of thing. And if you ask the typical bigot why they hate/fear the object of their hatred & fear, you’d be lucky to get a half-coherent explanation. That’s what I thought those terms meant. But, liberals have a much broader definition of “homophobe” or, more generally, “bigot”. (So, this is relevant to what I said about racism, too.)
See, to my mind, I did not think I harbored any ill will toward homosexuals. I certainly never abused any (or wanted to), either physically or verbally. (If it turns out that I did, it wasn’t because they were LGBT.) Now, I did approve of California’s Prop 8, and I am a proponent of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (for lack of a better solution), and I am against same-sex marriage (SSM). Nothing to do with denying homosexuals the right to love whomever they want, or equality, or civil rights, or whatever. To be clear, it is homosexual sexual behavior and anything that promotes the lifestyle that I oppose, not homosexual people. I thought it was because I had rational, principled concerns — for society in general, the institution of marriage, children, the physical & spiritual well-being of homosexuals, etc. But, apparently, I am still a homophobe.
Why? I confess that I am, shall we say, uncomfortable around some homosexuals, particularly if they are flamboyant and/or militant. It’s the in-your-faceness that I find distasteful. (Seen any pics from a gay pride parade, lately?) But, to the politically-correct, liberal mind, you have to be comfortable with just about anything — except for conservative ideas & attitudes, of course. From being nervous around a group of Black or Hispanic youths on a city street to being uncomfortable in the presence of aggressive homosexuals, that makes me a bigot. As the friend who pointed this out to me said,
“Not being comfortable around more flamboyant gays is homophobia, plain and simple, I’m guilty of it too,….”
An interesting admission from a gay man. Now, to be fair, I don’t think he thinks that I actually hate homosexuals, per se. (He obviously doesn’t.) But, he would probably be in the minority among his liberal comrades. They’re the types who inform us that, if one believes in traditional values, s/he must be in favor of violent assaults, such as the recent beating of a cross-dresser in a McDonald’s outside Baltimore, MD, or the arson of a gay rancher’s barn full of horses in Ohio. Nothing in my religion or worldview states or implies that I should condone such action, and I don’t think I ever have. But, I must be mistaken, because liberals know my heart & mind so much better than I do. Deep down, I must really want to hurt homosexuals in any way possible. I’m one bad dude.
Stay tuned for the next installment of “Why Chris is a Cold-hearted, Hate-filled, Bigoted Jerk.”
