You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against – then you’ll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We’re after power and we mean it. – Dr. Ferris, Atlas Shrugged
One thing I’ve been mulling over recently is whether or not those who want big government and the restriction of freedom can be “decent people.” I know that they probably have good intentions, but we all know which road is paved with those, right? I also know that the argument is not black and white, but what shade of grey is acceptable?
Put simply, when a person has been shown proof that their world view (gun control works, we can spend our way out of debt, health care is a human right) is not only based on falsehood, but harmful to others, and continues to cling to that world view, can that person be considered to be “decent?”
I have to say no– either they are insane (quite literally,) or they are (for lack of a better term) evil. I know that this sounds like hyperbole to some of you… but I have to hold to this position. I have had people say to my face that they deserve to live high on the hog, and that it is the duty of future generations to pay for their lifestyle. I cannot accept that such views are merely “misguided.”
For a few examples, what about politicians that use a crisis to enact legislation? What about those who are so frightened of liberty that they desire to rid everyone else of it? At what point is it reasonable to say that this is no longer simply ignorance, but has become malice?
Most of the people who oppose individual liberty are simply misguided, but there are some who know what they are doing… and that frightens me.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! – Isaiah 5:20 (King James Version)
