What I believe...

I keep mulling over in my head what Ryan wrote in his “Obama” post.

I am not a Marxist, and I do not believe that Karl Marx was correct about anything he said or wrote. In fact, I have fought quite eloquently to the contrary of nearly everything he DID say or write. Communism cannot and will not work because it goes against some of the very foundations of human nature, foremost the fact that every generation raises its offspring with the sole hope of seeing it in a better position than the last generation.

I do not believe in the redistribution of wealth, as it flies in the face of a guiding principal in this society since its foundation: a day’s wage for a day’s work. Why would someone do his or her best work, knowing only a small portion of that work is going into their pockets… with the rest going to those that haven’t worked their best, or at all?

I do not believe that Marx or Lenin’s “Labor Theory or Value” has any value at all… in fact, it is a complete load of horseshit. No better refuting statement has been penned concerning this “theory” than Robert Heinlein’s quote from Starship Troopers: “All the work one cares to add will not turn a mud pie into an apple tart…(pg 92)”, so I will not expand on this any further.

What I do believe is that this nation is at WAR. We are at war with forces and ideologies that are constantly striving to destroy everything we believe in as a society, and that no facet of our society is safe from these attacks. Since 9/11, more than 6,000 Americans have died in this war, and more than 3,000 of them were civilians. The sad reality is that by 9/11/01, this war had been going on for more than 10 years… most of us just didn’t know it.

Politicians like Obama, and Hillary and most other far-left members of our government would have us believe we are NOT at war, and that no threat exists outside of what Bush and Co. have manufactured to further their own ends. They would have us believe that they, and they alone, have the capacity to end this (and all future) conflicts by changing this society from what it is NOW to what the rest of the world wants it to be in the future.

I also believe that, while this is a fight we MUST win, much of what has already played out in this war has been very poorly managed and directed by its civilian government. That goes for the fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the fight against global terrorism in general. I believe our current President, from the very days following 9/11, was so focused on keeping the cost of this war as low and immeasurable as possible that HUGE amounts of money, material and human lives have been wasted in the effort. Bush and Co. wanted us to back the “effort”, but didn’t want to have any of us “see the bill”, so to speak. This would be a “lightning-quick” effort… the Taliban over-thrown in only weeks, Saddam’s regime crushed in less than 28 days, bin Laden a hunted, hounded shadow of his former self, and new, democratic governments installed and functioning by the end of his terms. All this, and not a bump or hic-up in the American economy to show for it. I believe that this is the most asinine and juvenile way to manage a nation at war that I have heard of since Chamberlain waved the paper and shouted “Peace in our time!”

I believe I have been told, in 5 out of 7 State of the Union Addresses, that the President is grateful for my sacrifices and sufferings during these troubled times. Travel hang-ups and delays due to increased security measures at airports, higher gas prices at the pumps, a general restructuring of HUGE portions of the Federal Government before, during and after such hard-hitting natural disasters as Katrina and Rita. Bad news from Iraq would be followed by good news, I was assured… Secretary Rumsfeld and the President had it all well in hand, I was assured time and time again. I believe I have been told countless times that a strong American economy is our greatest defense against the trials and tribulations that the “jihadists” want to bring down on our homes and our lives.

I do NOT believe that my trials and sufferings should be driving the profits of 6 multi-national oil companies into the tens of billions of dollars every six months, however. If I am to feel the pinch at the pumps and suffer stoically, why should the 122,789 individuals that own 57% of the shares of those six largest oil companies in the US gain by it? (source here) By this same token, I do NOT believe that Ryan’s analysis of the “shareholder” reaping the benefits of the Big Oil profits equaling the hike in value to 401k accounts and increased job opportunities… not when just over 120,000 INDIVIDUALS are sharing 57% of $28,000,000,000 dollars in 2006 ALONE, I don’t. That’s an awful lot of dividends I’m not seeing, my friends… and no one else reading this blog is either, I’d bet.

In 1942, the Hershey Chocolate Company of Hershey, PA saw the cost of West African cocoa increase 1800% due to German U-boat interdiction in the Atlantic and the need for commercial vessels to transport military supplies and material overseas. 1800% increase in the commodity vital to its viable production of chocolate… that’s a whole lot more than the $34/barrel of crude oil since 1991, I can assure you all. None the less, because the company had guaranteed contracts with the US military for (literally) millions of tons of chocolate bars, the company was able to freeze the price of chocolate at pre-war prices. Limits on chocolate after that were based on rationing availability rather than cost-production ratios. This is, in my opinion, a very good example of a company forgoing record-profit potential to benefit the entire nation, while still maintaining a profit suitable to keep shareholders and consumers happy and dedicated to the product. If the American public was expected to “do without”, then Hershey Chocolate could certainly “make it last” as well.

I believe that this is even more important today because the commodity we are discussing isn’t cocoa beans from West Africa… it is 18 million barrels of light, sweet crude imported from the very nations that are working to see the US destroyed EVERY SINGLE DAY. As long as the commodity behind these profits is coming from nations whose policies and agendas are directly contrary to our own AND this commodity is as vital to every aspect of our society and culture as oil is, then I feel that a company like Exxon-Mobile (the largest importer of Saudi and Syrian oil in the US) posting returns of $28 billion in the last half of 2006 borders on criminal. Why is it wrong to think that more than a paltry $88 million over the last 7 years (by Exxon-Mobile) out of estimated (by me, understand) $392 billion they have earned in the same 7-year period might be re-invested into domestic or alternative sources of energy? Or in the production and distribution of such sources as hydrogen fuel cells or bio-waste fuels? I’m sorry, my friends. I have traded in my gas-guzzler and gotten a fuel efficient 4-cylinder car with nearly 30 mpg… and the $3.17 I paid to fill it up just tonight at 6:30 pm EST is still too much. How much sacrifice and suffering am I supposed to put forth to see this “war effort” through to a successful conclusion, while watching these kinds of numbers roll across my cable news channel’s stock ticker minute by minute?

I believe our grandparents and great-grandparents put up with rationing and availability issues because they could see the progress of the “war” each and every day. Yes, there were set-backs and failings… there always are. They saw the progress, though, and reaped the rewards in the end. I don’t see an end to this problem in the near, or far, future. I see no concerted effort on the part of the Federal government and private industry to invent, produce or develop solutions to this crisis the way we did in the early 40’s.

I believe that is our greatest failing in this current effort, as well.