What Should America Be?

A free marketplace of capitalism with it's time-honored equality of opportunity? Or, a Marxist, socialistic country of equal outcomes?

Bill O'Reilly's column points out the difference between the left vs. right view of what America should be. The left wants a country of "socialistic entitlements" which, translated, means "capitalism must now be 'tempered' by the federal government." O'Reilly continues, "That means income redistribution through higher taxation on wealthy Americans."

Is that a good thing for our country? I don't think so.

The right view remains that American attitudes should focus on equality of opportunity.

Where a person stands on this division within economic worldviews might very well determine in what direction our country will go after the outcome of the November election.

O'Reilly asks, then challenges the mantra of the New York Times which claims we are currently A Nation in Decline?

Read the column and find out how we fare compared to most countries around the world.

Excerpts:

[O]f course, many liberal Americans blame the USA for the world's misfortunes and side with those who, for whatever reason, verbally downgrade the United States. However, considering the sad state of a world that will not even unite against a nuclear weapons-seeking Iran, our so-called "decline" is a terrible misreading of the global picture.

Against all odds, U.S. forces have almost single-handedly defeated Islamic fascism in Iraq, one of the most complicated battlefields in history.

[B]ack home, the Bush administration has succeeded in making it ultra-difficult for terrorists to kill us. The FBI and other federal agencies have been effectively reorganized, and the nation is much safer for it. That doesn't sound like a decline to me.

But what really has the New York Times furious is the gap between rich and poor Americans, a gulf that is now being exacerbated by escalating gas prices that rob workers of take home pay. Never mind that it is largely liberal policies that have shut down much U.S. oil exploration and made America even more dependent on foreign oil; the left believes that capitalism must now be "tempered" by the federal government. That means income redistribution through higher taxation on wealthy Americans.

In this month's Harvard Magazine, the liberal position is clearly stated: "Americans, on average, have a higher tolerance for income inequality than their European counterparts. American attitudes focus on equality of opportunity, while Europeans tend to see fairness in equal outcomes."

"Equal outcomes," of course, means socialistic entitlements, something many European countries have embraced and a philosophy the New York Times deeply endorses.

So, it comes down to this: the committed left believes that America has been too aggressive fighting the war on terror and not aggressive enough when it comes to government mandated economic and social engineering. Thus, in their view, the country is in decline.

But that's opinion, not fact.

Continue reading here.

HT: Bill O'Reilly.com