It's TOO big....

7:21 am - Thursday - 61 F degrees, humidity 34%, wind 5 mph out of the north......clear blue, sunny skies......it is good to be alive, and it is good that the election cycle is finished.  It seems to me, and this is just my own personal observation, that people take politics too seriously.  Far too many people today invest too much of their lives in political outcomes......they somehow believe that the success, or failure of their candidate reflects upon them personally.  Politics is not real life.....it's just politics.  I think there is another thing at work which may explain why we are seeing wide spread demonstrations (some of which have devolved into rioting and destruction of personal property) protesting the result of our most recent POTUS election.  It seems many, if not most of these folks we see protesting are too heavily invested in government largess.  For them, it seems, a change in POTUS means they might lose something they are getting from the government.  We have become too dependent on government largess, and when that happens those who have substituted government for family get scared.  We used to go to family and churches for help in times of need.....we didn't want to be dependent on the charity of others for any longer than necessary, and worked hard to get back on our feet as soon as possible.  We used to work our way through college, and not take out college loans which will take us longer than a mortgage to pay in full.  Now we see an entirely different culture which is heavily invested in what they can get from government......frankly the government has no money......they take money from people who work and pay taxes, and turn around and hand it to others who may, or not be in need.  There is this disconnect in this current culture......they look to government for assistance on everything under the sun, and just seem to think they, the government, have all this money and they want some of it.  The problem is, as I said a few lines ago, the government has no money.......they take money from one group of citizens and give it to another group of citizens.  They don't seem to realize the money they get comes from their neighbor, who does not have endless amounts of money.  Their neighbor lives on budget which, hopefully, sees more money flowing into their checking account than goes out.  The government has no such restraint.  They just decide to spend more money.....whether they have it, or not.....raise taxes a little more here and there, and suddenly you have one half of America supporting the other half.  I have no doubt some have genuine need, and I am not speaking to those with genuine need....I am speaking of our millennial generation which believes they should get a college degree for free, have all their healthcare for free.....well, that's all well and good, but that stuff they want for free comes from their neighbors, not the government.....free stuff is wonderful until you run out of other people's money to pay for it.  So, essentially you have one half of America voting for the guy who will transfer more of the other half's money to them, and you have the that half saying 'enough is enough'.  

Let's face it......government has gotten too big.  A few years ago I was walking down a street in Washington D.C. and noticed that the Department of Agriculture was on both sides of the street for TWO blocks......why is it that big?  Right now there are more people working for government (local, state and federal) in this country than there are people working in the manufacturing sector in this country.......come on, really?  Those who voted for Trump want LESS government.......they want less centralization of power.....they want the government to take less money from them.......they want their fellow citizens to be more self sufficient......they want the government to LEAVE THEM ALONE.  And isn't that really the bottom line?  When people become too dependent on the largess of government they become too invested in political outcomes, and then you have what we are seeing today, two days after the election......people protesting the election of Donald Trump, because they think they may lose something from the government. The bottom line is BIG government divides our country......the government has gotten so big that the concept put forth by the founding fathers of a limited Federal Government with 'enumerated powers' no longer exists.  Once the Federal government decided they could force us under law to not only buy health insurance, but what kind of health insurance we had to buy the concept of limited government vanished like a fart in the wind.  With the complicity of the Supreme Court they can now pass any law they wish, and force us to do whatever they deem is 'good for us'.....there is no restraint on BIG government anymore.

This is why you see this revolt in the country......half of America does not believe BIG government knows best, and they certainly don't know what is best for them individually.  We have seen the complicity of both parties (R & D) with the other two branches of government (Executive and Judicial) to make us less free, less independent.  You hear people talk daily about the evils of BIG business....well, frankly, BIG anything is not good.....BIG government, BIG business, BIG unions, BIG school districts.....you name it.  With BIG you get corruption, and our government institutions have become completely corrupt.  Those who live inside the bubble we call the 'Beltway' not only have no idea of what those of us who live in the middle of the country want, or need, frankly they don't care.....they look at us with disdain and contempt.  The leaks of all the emails show how corrupt and rigged the system has become.  You see the complicity of MSM (main stream media) with the political parties to get the result they desire.  They refer to those of us with out 'college degrees' as UNeducated.....it's insulting, and demeaning.  If being UNeducated means I have more common sense and life experience than a 20 something who just graduated from college with a degree in 14th century French poetry, then yes, I'll wear that badge proudly.

Only one of my five children has a college degree (education), and yet they are all self sufficient, and prosperous (insurance, electrician, property manager, chef).  We raised them to be strong, intelligent, smart, self sufficient citizens.......we did not teach them to be dependent on BIG government.

So, I guess what I am saying after all the above blather is those who are not invested in political outcomes because they are not dependent upon BIG government tend to get over undesired political outcomes more quickly, and get back to living their lives, which depend in no way on what BIG government might give them......they don't protest and riot. Those who are dependent upon BIG government don't get over it when their guy doesn't win......they protest, they riot and generally throw a group tantrum.  They call for the assassination of the their political opponents, they engage in ad hominem attacks alleging fascism, sexism, racism, misogyny, islamophobia, homophobia.....and every despicable pejorative you might imagine.

Yesterday a Facebook 'friend' who voted for the losing candidate demanded that I affirm that I am not a bigot, a racist, homphobic, etc. and that the winning candidate should do the same.  This 'friend' said they thought we were friends, and I replied that we could not be friends, because if we were they would not have made that demand.....they would know my character and values as a true friend would.  That's the problem.......if you are conservative you are judged by those who have opposite political views to be guilty of all the 'phobias' and 'isms'.  After all, it must be true, because you have a different opinion than they.....this is where we have come......unless you hold the 'correct' political opinion you must be a bad person.......no I just have a different political opinion.   There is no longer political discourse, there are only ad hominem attacks.....attacks designed to impugn the character of one's opponent.

Nonetheless, just as I did four years ago when the other guy won, I will go on with my life today and live my life as I did before.  Granted I will have more of a smile on my face today than four years ago, but in the end it is just another political outcome....the political pendulum will continue to swing back and forth and life will continue.....the sun will rise each day, and hopefully BIG government will be a little less intrusive in my life.

Thanks for stopping by!