A Void of Leadership

If your friend is self-destructing, intercede. If your automobile engine is self-destructing turn it off. But what do you do when your nation is self-destructing? Or perhaps more accurately, what do politicians and judges do when the ignorant masses are demanding the destruction of the system that is the basis of all prosperity in the country and most of the prosperity in the world.

One of the most important things that leaders must do is to stop their people from choosing self-destructive behaviors. Parents do this all the time when they tell their kids "no." The socialist-welfare state has been tried all over the world and it has never worked. It won't work here either.

I saw a statistic that a majority of Americans favor universal healthcare. I don't know whether it's actually true, but it doesn't matter. It's the wrong thing to do. When the issue is presented as: "Would you like someone else to pay your doctor bills?", people say yes. Big surprise! If you took a poll of Americans and asked if the government should seize the assets of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and the other 98 wealthiest people in America and split it evenly among everyone, I'll bet that more than 50% would tell you "yes."

If you ask the same people if they want to give everything to poor people in Africa, they would say no. But the funny thing about that, they're so selfish and ignorant, they wouldn't detect their hypocrisy.

When many take property from few by force, it's called a mob-rule. Think about a few gang-bangers stopping you on a dark street and demanding all your valuables. Their numerical superiority allows them to redistribute your property.

I'd love to hear leaders take this one on head-to-head. I'd like to hear a leader tell a bunch of spoiled kids that socialized medicine is stealing. I'd like to hear them explain how all the extra bureaucracy adds cost and makes everyone get less for their money. I'd love to hear them explain how too much health insurance does the same thing.

Is there such a leader? I doubt it. It's been a long time since we had such a leader. Ronald Reagan was one. I remember Teddy Kennedy's brother John saying something about "Ask not what your nation can do for you, but what you can do for your country." When it came to asking people to sacrifice for the war effort, FDR was one too. Abraham Lincoln was one. So was George Washington.

Telling people what they need to hear when they don't want to hear it is one of the reasons leadership requires courage. An absence of courage prevents that. An absence of courage causes a void of leadership.