Amazing how seemingly small and insignificant matters can make a huge difference! Consider the baking of a cake. Use a wrong ingredient, or even an incorrect amount, and your result may look like a cake but no one will willingly eat it. What about beginning a trip using wrong directions? Follow them to the letter and still you end up someplace you never intended. Worse yet is following good directions starting from the wrong point. The disappointment and frustration are merely compounded.

These examples illustrate a much over-looked reality: Most Americans Want The Same Things!

Our citizens want freedom, peace, safety and prosperity. We want freedom from criminals within our borders and freedom from attack by foreign powers. The people of this nation desire jobs, commerce and economic opportunity. The following will, hopefully, be familiar to the reader. “We the people…establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity…” We can safely conclude that most Americans agree on the what of our desires.

Now for the simple profundity…

How we go about achieving our goals is all the matter and stuff of politics. For the most part it really comes down to method, to how rather than what. A short story will help illustrate.

Imagine a guest in your home notices an ugly fly on your family’s most prized heirloom. There’s no doubt but that the fly must go. (Agreement on the what.) But think of your horror were the guest to proceed and dispatch the offending fly with a sledge-hammer rather than a fly-swatter! (Disagreement regarding the how.) This little story helps clarify the fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives. They differ on how to reach objectives. Unfortunately, the debate soon degenerates into fruitless, name-calling partisan strive with liberals accusing conservatives of being “heartless” and conservatives accusing liberals of being “brainless.” Those in power cannot possibly fail to take advantage of the lack of focus on real issues. (After all, no one’s looking.)

American government, since the time of President Wilson, has taken a decidedly “progressive”, i.e. liberal, direction in its method, the “how” of our goals. The federal government has taken leading roles in the banking system (Federal Reserve), education (making it “public”), health care and retirement (Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.) So it is altogether appropriate for us to examine and determine just what has resulted from application of liberal methods.

A PhD is not required to see the unmistakable pattern of inflationary “boom” followed by corrective “bust” our economy has been subjected to by the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency. This has to be considered a failure in regards to stability and real growth.

Can anyone, with out blushing, claim our educational system is producing superior results over the last sixty years? By any objective measure we have and are losing ground. (In spite of valiant efforts by dedicated teachers who deserve our appreciation.)

Medicaid and Medicare are broke with “unfunded liabilities” which boggle the mind. And let’s be honest, Social Security is a ponzi scheme that makes Bernie Madoff’s felonious activity look like jay-walking.

Reality can be a bitter pill but perhaps that’s why it’s called medicine. Our society has followed liberal directions and ended up someplace we never intended. It is time to admit our mistakes and turn around. Every minute we delay leads us further from where we want to be.