Yesterday I attended a meet and greet even in my hometown in south eastern Kentucky by Rand Paul. The event was short; he gave a ten minute speech about how the EPA and Obama's war on coal have destroyed the economy of this part of Kentucky and how many families have sunk into poverty because of the lost mining jobs. He spoke about how coal is the most economically viable and efficient means of energy production and is vital if the US seeks energy independence. He concluded his speech by showing how even when the government subsidizes "green" energy jobs (eg. Solyndra) these jobs are economic nightmares.
Rand Paul may have only spoke for a few minutes, but in those few minutes he spoke about economic viability, pragmatism, and true energy independence--essentially things liberals hate to talk about. This showed very clearly at the end when Paul asked if there were any questions. There was only time for three questions (sorry Virgil Edwards, I didn't get to ask.) The first of these three questions, however, showed me more than the answer to any question I could ask could have. It went like this:
PAUL: "So we have time for three questions or comments. Anyone?"
LADY: "Mr. Rand, you said that the EPA and Obama are causing miners to lose jobs, but that is untrue! It's because coal is harder to mine now so they have to mechanize the process and the people are losing jobs to the machines. The EPA regulations don't affect the mines."
PAUL: "Right...so the comment was that jobs are being lost because of machines, not regulation; but the coal industry is like every other industry: when they become mechanized there are more jobs created, not fewer. They become more efficient and can mine more coal, people work on the machines as mechanics, there are factories producing machines; but this isn't what is happening. Entire mines are being closed down because they're taxed to death....[Continues with a very thorough and concise argument]
LADY: [A frown permanently freezes on her face]
If you know anything at all about coal, this lady's argument is absurd. Coal mining has been mechanized for decades. From the early days when carts were used to rush coal to the surface to today when giant augers and drills are used, machines have always been inextricably linked to coal mining. This dissonance between the lady's perception of reality and how things actually are is (sadly) very common among liberals. They don't care about things like economics, reason, or even logic. They invent reasons why things are the way they are and ignore the facts.
What you witnessed by that lady being there is how Liberals are beating the rest of us to the punch by being at these meetings attempting to corner their opposition in a corner with questions. Perhaps had this been Mitch McConnell or another republican who more than likely not been up to snuff with Rand Paul, this lady would have been successful in her agenda of painting the speaker as a liar.
ReplyDeleteIgnoring the facts is their only defense. If she can't understand how increased production and capital allocation in a free marketplace work, than she must be a product of the government monopolized school system. In some way it serves her own personal self-interest; she must be a enviro-nazi.
ReplyDeleteAnd Virgil has a great point, if only the Republican establishment was spoke more articulately or eloquently of free market solutions and able to rebut mindless libs, we wouldn't be having this problem. Sadly, the truth is that the Republicans don't want to change the status quo, they want to be in charge of it.
You bring up an interesting point; capitalism and the free market is perhaps the most ingenious social improvement program ever devised. However, the Republican party is marketing it in a way that doesn't appeal to the average American. Most people don't care very much about money or about corporations or about free markets--they care about feeling good, and that is where Republicans should advertise it as a moral superior. Socialism makes people feel good because they feel like they are doing something to stop poverty. But when capitalism is shown to be much more effective, then I wouldn't be surprised if the Republican party grew a bit larger.
DeleteI know this is a bit off topic, but even though the Republican party has its flaws, they aren't impossible to fix. Once real conservatives rebuild the party and bring it back to its roots of classical liberalism and social conservatism, then the party will be unimaginably strong for a simple reason: Conservatives are correct.