Portents of Hope and Change?
This is an excerpt. The full article can be accessed from the link above or on straightlinelogic.com.
Do not get too excited, it is not the second American revolution, but there were a few straws in the wind this year, changes in the terms of political debate. The aspiration for liberty never dies. After at least a century of statism ascendent (2013 was the one hundredth anniversary of the income tax amendment and the Federal Reserve), here are few portents that the pendulum may have started swinging the other way.
1.The right to bear arms is a right. 2012 ended with the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and gun controllers determined to pass stronger gun control laws. They were stopped by an intractable NRA, which capitalized on burgeoning recognition that the biggest firearms’ danger is an armed government and an unarmed citizenry.
2.The sky still stands. Before the sequester and the government shut down, we were warned of dire consequences. None of these prophesies came to pass. The sequester (unfortunately eviscerated in one of those bipartisan deals the punditry loves) reduced the deficit. Other than inconvenienced tourists, the only people harmed by the shutdown were those arguing that the government blob cannot be radically downsized.
Do not get too excited, it is not the second American revolution, but there were a few straws in the wind this year, changes in the terms of political debate. The aspiration for liberty never dies. After at least a century of statism ascendent (2013 was the one hundredth anniversary of the income tax amendment and the Federal Reserve), here are few portents that the pendulum may have started swinging the other way.
1.The right to bear arms is a right. 2012 ended with the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and gun controllers determined to pass stronger gun control laws. They were stopped by an intractable NRA, which capitalized on burgeoning recognition that the biggest firearms’ danger is an armed government and an unarmed citizenry.
2.The sky still stands. Before the sequester and the government shut down, we were warned of dire consequences. None of these prophesies came to pass. The sequester (unfortunately eviscerated in one of those bipartisan deals the punditry loves) reduced the deficit. Other than inconvenienced tourists, the only people harmed by the shutdown were those arguing that the government blob cannot be radically downsized.
