Marc My Words - 2 June 2006

Marc My Words - 2 June 2006

A socialist is someone who arrives at a bring-a-plate function with an empty plate and a big spoon.

Since the dull and predictably interventionist budget, Labour has been increasingly on the back foot. Even more so now that it looks like the quiet internal dissentions have erupted into open warfare. Taito Phillip Field - one of the less than stellar, arguably ethically challenged and short-lived past-minister looks set to upset his colleagues slipping grip on the Treasury benches. It'll be interesting to see that story unfold. More worthy of note though, is that a confident government rarely resorts to sloppy name-calling. "Digger Don"? Is that really the best Labour can come up with?

Labour spinmeisters seem to run with the dictum that they can never underestimate the intelligence of the Kiwi voter. How else to explain such a farcical and lame attempt to try and undermine Brash's patriotism in the court of public opinion?

What it really boils down to is that Labour is mightily embarrassed about having listened to the more extreme socialists within its ranks, and pushing their agenda against the interests of Kiwis, expecting everyone else to pick up the pieces and pay the tab! Helen and her motley crew have been caught out by having their elongated Pinocchio noses rubbed in "it" by Australia, the Australian government and the Australian Labour party.

They have circled their wagons on the ninth floor, hoping that by painting Don Brash as unpatriotic (and for once at least HER signature will be genuine); it will deflect from their current woeful performance. Fat chance. Not even sitting through one of Cullen's Budget speeches will render a person that stupid (though I'd quietly put the knives away).

There is nothing more patriotic than pointing out bad policy when it is detrimental to the interests of our country - and having no tax cuts are detrimental. Clark and Cullen seem to imagine that hitching their misguided economic policies to notions of patriotism will be believed by Kiwis. Hate to tell you Helen, but the public just aren't that stupid. My advice for what its worth is to get your CV up to scratch, concentrate on your post-parliamentary career with the UN, and work quickly to cull the deadwood from the Labour caucus. There'll be enough for a cord outside every dwelling with a fireplace this winter.

It is this government that is far too obese. Every year, at budget-time, it loosens its bureaucratic belt and indulges in its gluttony as it dines on our wealth, interrupted only by the periodic belching of welfarism to keep the scrawny voting hounds temporarily sated.

Truth be told, there is no such thing as government welfare; it's really government supervision of wealth distribution. The wealth it chooses to dispense in accordance to the dictates of its own needs must first be collected from every person, community, town and city across our country. And it does so against the will of those who are plundered.

Those who bleat about wanting more money to be spent on their preferred cause are never the ones who write a cheque for an amount over and above the taxes they are forced to. We have far too many who clamor for resources they themselves are unwilling to create.

Genuine welfare would be the reduction of taxes so that kiwis at the grass roots level would be empowered to meet their own personal and community needs. Some don't like this idea; either because they profit from the present unjust robbery or, because they have been hoodwinked into believing in their eternal helplessness. They must be reminded however that the real cost of falling prey to Labour's welfare driftnet is a loss of their not only their own aspiration but their humanity as well. The government can only give to selected recipients what it has previously taken from them, minus the costs of administration. And the costs are invariably too high a price to pay. Governments should never be encouraged to waste the labors of the taxpayers under the pretense of caring from them because they don't.

There are a number already who, for the best of intentions, believe that government should be our brother's keeper. Trouble is, the more the government attempts to fulfill that role - even if it could be trusted to do so with the best possible motive - it would be at the expense of the spirit of individual enterprise and compassion. No government can hand out a dollar without the implied control of how it might be spent and the influence on the life and decisions of the recipient.

Helen Clark and her band of socialist flunkies hate individual success as they hate capitalism. Every bone in their ideological bodies bristles at the very idea of letting the average Kiwi having control over their own lives - that they can enjoy the fruits of their own labors without the governments' interference. What this sad lot who call themselves the Labour government really wants is enough control to create a world in its own image. That's why it passes silly laws to control the law abiding (and their dogs) while doing sod all to defend them against the lawless criminals who prey on them. Its why you can be rewarded with education, gym access, tattoo removals, drivers' licenses, sex change operations, and day excursions without the requirement to earn the cost of your own upkeep if you go to prison, but have to pay for them all and taxes if you don't break the law!

So who's really unpatriotic? This Labour government has done just about anything and everything in its power to destroy the faculty of individual ambition. It has destroyed what's left of families by bankrupting them onto state dependence and it has driven many of our best and brightest to seek refuge overseas. It has also dampened the reason to succeed for everyone else.

What is so needed now more than ever, is strong advocacy to pursue the assertion of individual liberty with its role in re-building, and meeting, the authentic demands of true welfare in this country. And yes, that means we must have the chance to fail because that is the price of having the chance to succeed and reach our potential. We need our lives filled with challenge. We need the encouragement that goals provide for to do our best in attempting to reach the high water mark of purposeful living. We do not need governments to insulate us from the twists and turns, trials and tribulations of life. They are the fodder that nurtures our development, renews our sense of purpose, and help craft our ethical considerations.

Opportunities may sometimes be difficult, but they have the capacity to enrich us beyond all measure. To always rely on government for "save us" from the vicissitudes of life depreciates and absolves us from the possibility of becoming all we can be - a people of character in keeping with our heritage. Instead of climbing the mountain of achievement and its corresponding reward, we will be forever trapped at the bottom - our dreams and aspirations withering on the vine of mediocrity.

All we really want from a government, any government, is a chance to ascend the summit under our own steam; to enjoy the view from the challenges we have surmounted. It's what gives us purpose, accomplishment, and a sense of hope.

It's what makes us human.

ENDS

© Scoop Media