Collectivism's Armageddon - Larry Elder

Larry Elder is one of my favorite reads. The guy is a genuinely nice person (having met him a few times here in L.A.) and really gets it. He wrote a great article I've been dying to quote for a few days, so finally, here it is.

Please take a few moments and read the entire post at Larry's site.

"I'm not exaggerating," said President Barack Obama. "Leaders of the Republican Party ... called the passage of (the health-care reform bill) 'Armageddon.' Armageddon! 'End of freedom as we know it.' So after I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling or some cracks opening up in the earth. Turned out it was a nice day. Birds were chirping. Folks were strolling down the Mall."

Post-Obamacare the sun indeed rose in the east, Denny's remained open, and California stayed attached to the mainland. Therefore, according to Obama, Obamacare opponents engaged in baseless fear-mongering. This is an interesting definition of success: Government tax-spend-spread-the-wealth works if, come morning, our cars start.

The corrosion caused by the relentless expansion of the welfare state doesn't work that way. The costs are harder to see, the damage more difficult to discern – especially given our leftist media/commentary class, which doesn't know Milton Friedman from Milton Berle.

and...

Collectivism is a bargain that most people – if they knew the real price tag – would reject. These trade-offs include lower productivity, diminished initiative, fewer jobs, rewarding reckless behavior and poor choices, a lower-than-otherwise standard of living, less economic freedom, greater government dependency, and fewer resources to spend on national security and to secure our borders.

By that definition, then, yes, Armageddon is already here.