What Would the Country Look Like If the Far Left Won?

I read this piece by Dr. Tim Daughtry titled “Calling for a true conservative strategy” from Feb 4. 2013 today, and thought: What would our country look like if we simply capitulated to the far-left and let them win?

Daughtry has a line in the piece which is tragically accurate:

“The strategy (of the far-left) was one of immersion more than conversion. It was not necessary to convert students or consumers of news to leftist thinking; it was only necessary to surround them with liberalism as if there were no other respectable way of thinking. While conservatives were focused on winning the next election, the left focused on winning the next generation. And they are succeeding.”

Their “immersion” strategy has been a tremendous success. It has changed the debate landscape by altering the playing field from one where two different ideological belief systems competed against one another (individual liberty and limited government vs. heavy-handed rule by government elites), to one where heavy-handed government intervention in our lives is accepted as “the norm,” and arguing against big government makes you an “extremist” or something far worse in the eyes of the cultural “elites.”

Consider for a moment what the country would look like if we completely gave up and let the far-left win, here’s what you would be looking at:

Taxes

You would be living a country with no limit on your tax bills. The far-left consistently argues for higher taxes but, did you notice that that never give you a tax rate number and only talk loosely about your “fair share?” They will never give you that actual number because they do not want to limit their access to your wallet. If the far-left won, and conservatives stopped fighting, the assault on your wallet would only end when they claimed all of the money in your wallet and the wallet too.

Healthcare 

You would be living in a country where access to doctors and hospitals is tightly controlled by government bureaucrats. Never forget this; there are only two ways to allocate scarce resources in this world we have been given and a doctor’s time, and a hospital bed, are scarce resources. We can either ration those resources, and let the bureaucrats pick and choose who gets to see the doctor and who gets the hospital bed, or we can price them and let a free-people make decisions about which doctor they want to see and which hospital they want to use. If the far-left won, and Conservatives stopped fighting, your health would no longer belong to you. Your health would belong to a government bureaucrat and his permission slip.

Education 

You would be living a country where your children can only attend government schools and where the curriculum is tightly controlled by bureaucrats. The far-left fights against school choice, despite the fact that your tax dollars entirely fund the public education system because, when given the choice, parents choose schools that actually educate their kids and this severely limits the power of the bureaucracy/special interests. If the far-left won and conservatives stopped fighting, the legions of children in school choice programs who finally have a future to look forward to would be yanked out of these programs and their better tomorrow would be heartlessly stolen away.

Liberty

You would be living in a country where your speech and religious expression were tightly controlled by laws and regulations which bureaucrats deem “acceptable.” The far-left only believes in “free speech” when that speech strictly aligns with leftist thinking. Any other speech or religious expression which conflicts with leftist thinking is to be declared “non-inclusive” or “hate speech”, and the person speaking must immediately be labeled as an “extremist.” If the far-left won and conservatives stopped fighting, it would only be a matter of time before this “war on language” encompassed anyone and everyone who opposed the DC power players and the cultural elites.

It is precisely for this reason that we need a Republican nominee for President and a new generation of candidates who are not beholden to this failed strategy of yesterday. A failed strategy which apologizes for fighting for effective, conservative principles first, then meekly tries to lay out a “managed-decline” plan next. We cannot and will not be any part of any “managed-decline” of the most prosperous country on earth. We must support candidates who disavow this and proudly speak about liberty, free-market prosperity, limited-government and the boundless potential of tomorrow where the American people are unrestrained by government. A better tomorrow is right around the corner and it’s up to us to stop watching the boxing match, put on the gloves and get in the ring. The future of the country is not a spectator sport.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the Conservative Review. The featured image is by OLIVIER DOULIERY | AP Photo.