The power of logic
President Franklin Roosevelt spoke 70 years ago this week on one of the most traumatic tragedies that our country has ever faced: The bombing of Pearl Harbor. In his Infamy Speech he said that "The American People, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory." His words ring true today, as well.
Our country is in disarray right now. We must focus on the issues that will bring us together and make us stronger. The resilience of the American people has overcome great trials, and we will survive these hard times, as well as those we stand on the brink of, and come out stronger than ever on the other side. However, in order to do so, we must change our focus back to the American people and shrink the size of the federal government. This means a major paradigm shift from the current one of looking up to the government for answers to instead looking to our own hands to rebuild the country.
Our current approach has a fatal flaw: It defies common sense. It does not make sense that increasing the size of the health care bureaucracy will save the system money, and no amount of voodoo math will ever make it pencil out. It does not make sense that giving money to corporations who have failed business plans will save the economy, and no amount of praying will bring back the money we have wasted trying to do so. It does not make sense to take away tax exemptions for those who contribute to charitable organizations who perform social services better and more efficiently than the government ever could, when no amount of bureaucracy can replace the value of our nonprofits. It does not make sense to give the federal government more power over individual rights under the guise of protecting individuals, and the harm of conforming to a more invasive government is irreversible.
None of it makes sense...unless you are operating under one singular misconceived assumption: That the government can do it better. Each of the moves above and countless other recent agenda items make perfect sense if your goal is to push this country into a state where the collective is valued more than the individual, where rights are secondary to order, where personal responsibility is optional, and where the government has the final say on every aspect of our lives.
Through rhetoric of fear and politics of confusion, this is the agenda that is being pushed on us. And, admittedly, there is plenty to fear. The pain in the country, in our families' eyes, is palpable. To make matters worse, we know the end isn't yet in sight. Our government has spent too much time trying to cover up the wounds with fancy bandages, rather than engaging in the deep painful surgical cuts that are necessary for true recovery of the economy.
But now isn't the time for anger and fear. Now is the time to meet our challenges with resolve, and provide our leaders with the will to make the difficult decisions: Decisions that value freedom and foster innovation that will lead to economic growth. Those decisions will hurt now, but will provide future generations with a healthy, prosperous future. By embracing the truth, we can do now for future generations what the greatest generation did for us: Face our challenges with courage and push past the fear.
Luke Malek is a Kootenai County native and an attorney. He can be reached at awakeningremarks@gmail.com.