Two years ago, we called our Fourth of July post “Happy Dependence Day,” noting the erosion to our personal freedoms, increasing dependence on government entitlements, enactment of new regulations without Congressional approval and other trends that have been chipping away at our democracy.
Two years later, much has changed and much has not. Some things are better and some are worse. The United States remains the greatest world power and freest country in history, but current trends are troubling.
What can we do to re-establish our freedoms and create a better world for ourselves and our children?
Bring back balance. Media and academia have become closeminded. While editors, in many cases, used to demand objectivity, media today is off-the-rails to the left and does not reflect the broad range of American beliefs.
Check out the Media Research Center for a litany of examples. We’ll share just one. After socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off an upset victory over incumbent Congressman Joseph Crowley in the Democratic primary last week, Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan criticized The New York Times as being insufficiently progressive.
Sullivan wrote that the media similarly overlooked the campaign of socialist Bernie Sanders, yet she dismissed comparisons to media coverage of the Trump campaign. No wonder polls show that a majority of Americans believe most of the news they read or see is biased and inaccurate.
For that matter, why is government control of our lives considered “progressive” by media, while free markets and economic freedom are considered “right wing?”
Media are struggling to survive. Those that recognize the need to provide news straight-up, without bias, may be able to stand out from the others and thrive.
Make economics an academic requirement. Academia may be even more biased than the media. College professors often advocate for socialism. While socialism is presented as egalitarian, in practice, it is just the opposite and it inevitably leads to fascism.
Look at examples throughout the world and you’ll find that socialist/Marxist/communist countries inevitably are led by rich, all-powerful tyrants. Why would anyone prefer that to the freedom we have in the United States?
The problem is that fewer and fewer people understand how capitalism works. The economy has a tremendous impact on our lives and everyone should understand how it works.
Making economics a required class presents the potential for the same pro-socialism/anti-capitalism bias that exists in academia today, it might be prevented if classes were taught by business leaders, rather than academics.
We need to educate our children, not indoctrinate them.
We’ll present more ideas about re-establishing our independence tomorrow.