A Bipartisan Note Before the Conventions

Three observations before the political conventions.

1.

An elderly and very traditionally minded preacher became concerned about the direction of his youngest son, and so he devised a test. He placed a Bible, a silver dollar, a glass of cheap whiskey, and a DVD of an infamous porn movie on the coffee table in his living room, hid in the kitchen, and waited the young man to arrive.

If he picks up the Bible and reads it, the old man thought, that would mean he is going to be an upright and righteous man, maybe even a preacher like his father. If he steals the dollar, he is going to become a sneaky little thief. If he drinks the whiskey, he is headed to becoming a drunken wastrel, and if he watches the movie, he is going to be a lecherous pervert.

The son came home and walked into the living room. He picked up the Bible, cradled it to his chest, and stared soulfully at his pious and thoughtful image in the mirror over the mantle. Then he furtively pocketed the dollar, drank the whiskey in one gulp, and popped the DVD into the player.

“God help us,” the old man said. “He’s going to run for office.”

- source unknown

2.

“If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for . . but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. “

- Robert Heinlein, 1973.

3.

The functional superiority of a freer society to a less free one (whether fascist, socialist, theocratic, or whatever) has been demonstrated over and over again both in theory and in practice. Yet even in America where we should know better, the government grows like a metastasizing carcinoma where every time we heal one tumor, a new one develops. One very big reason for this is the fact that there is so little in it for officials and their sycophants in a free society. There is no big payoff in wealth, prestige, or power, and the ordinary citizens are free to ignore the pronouncements of their betters. It is easy to see why so many public spirited people find this intolerable.