By Bob Edwards
Former Payson Mayor
Former Michigan Legislator
As a person who spent years
representing the inner city and working with the poor, the working man and low
income elderly, I am puzzled why the liberals, who in the past sent their
hearts out to these people, have so willingly, of late, joined the progressive
movement , a movement that is at war with these same principles.
The progressive movement was
born out of racism and class cleansing, and, while it has dropped these stripes to a large degree, it has
continued in its disregard for law and society as it uses class warfare and
suppression of the poor as tools for its success. It is a movement that distrusts the common
person and sees government as a tool to be used to social engineer society toward
their vision. It rejects the greatness
of America and sees Christianity and financial success as enemies.
The true liberal movement,
on the other hand, is not about suppressing and using the poor and the
downtrodden for personal gain but is about reaching out and understanding their
needs and trying to help them get back on their feet. In the past the true
liberal, while often not a Christian, worked well with Christians because of
similar goals as spelled out by the Apostle Paul when he said we should “help the widows and orphans”. That liberal is
marked by personal efforts and not personal gain.
Today, we see many people
react to their politicians like teenagers at a rock concert, a trait that seems
to pervade our society in many areas as we worship sports players and sports
teams, Hollywood and music stars, cult leaders, etc., causing us to be blind to
the real world. I have spent years
working closely with politicians at all levels, and, while I have often put great effort toward
advancing their cause, I have never found one that comes even close to
qualifying for worship status. Blind worship is what despots use to get the
masses to drink the Kool-Aid.
One can understand the
appeal of a government welfare program to replace street level aid because of
the promised ease of effort, continuity of benefits and elimination of need,
but that appeal should not blind us to the reality of the poverty prisons it
has created. We can also understand the appeal of a “Model Cities” program that
promises golden streets and shiny cities but, again, we should not let words
blind us to the reality that it took once proud cities and turned them into
cesspools of crime.
One can also understand the
desire to turn all our problems over to government so as not to let the
downtrodden darken our thresholds or interrupt our lives. But a person not lost
in governmental or politician worship should be able to see that government at
all levels is broken, corrupt and self-serving; current political parties are useless;
and the current liberal and conservative movements are off target.
It would appear that America
needs to rekindle proud, but humble Americans on the greatness front, honest
business people on the jobs front, true liberals on the society front, true
conservatives on the government front and people with open eyes, open hearts
and a love of man and appreciation of country on all fronts.
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