Musings on WWII

May 13, 2009 09:11

J&I have been doing a lot of learning about WWII. Of course, being European, he'd learned a lot more about it in school than do Americans as well as having parents and grandparents who lived through it in a way few of us can claim. In school, there's usually a whole lot of names and dates and events to memorize, but little really hits home ( Read more... )

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waya3k May 13 2009, 15:16:47 UTC
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

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gemmintheruff May 13 2009, 15:26:13 UTC
I think he supposedly said it in the Continental Congress when they were debating the subject of declaring independence, as well. That quote is often cited in our home.

The sad thing is that a lot of these people don't see the government handing them money (taken from someone else, of course) and healthcare and other goodies as a form of slavery and dependence. They usually see it as someone else owes it to them or that they can't (read: won't or didn't plan to) procure it on their own so someone else should.

I'm probably preaching to the choir, though.

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waya3k May 13 2009, 15:37:43 UTC
One summer my grandfather told me these two things that have shaped my political view. I am not sure in which context he told them to me nor if he realized how much I would take them to heart, but he said:

The government that has the ability to give you everything also has the ability to take it away.

The more that the government taxes you the more freedom it takes away. The freedom to purchase a better house, to go to a better school, the choices you make since in this world most choices are based upon the ability to purchase what you need or want.

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gemmintheruff May 13 2009, 16:23:59 UTC
He was a wise man. I'm familiar with the first thing he told you, but I'd like permission to pilfer and use the second to teach my kids, too, please.

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mormonhuliay May 14 2009, 16:55:02 UTC
If only people were righteous and honestly hard-working enough to have the Law of Consecration actually work. Growing up in school, I had teachers who would explain Socialism and Communism and I couldn't understand what was necessarily wrong with it... until I was older and realized all the corruption that goes on within government and just people in general.

At this point, the idea just wouldn't work on a practical level because people are just way too selfish, power hungry, and even lazy to be honest about it. Instead of honestly working as hard as one can, it would be used as an excuse to not do as much... much like the Welfare System now. It's too bad, really.

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gemmintheruff May 15 2009, 00:08:19 UTC
You hit the nail on the head: laziness. Work is a four-letter word meant for other people to do. It's hard to believe that it was two Mormons who created the Welfare system used by the government, isn't it? It was based on the workfare that the LDS Church used to use. I know people who use the Church system, though, to maintain their lifestyle rather than to stay afloat as a means of last resort.

We're an opportunistic species, though, and if we can stay aloft via someone else's efforts, we tend to seek that route, if possible. :-/

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