Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Aug 28, 2008, at 10:37 PM, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:

> He gets it.  He is right. (On energy).  But every single policy he has
> proposed is based on the notion that energy will be more or less  
> business as usual
> for the foreseeable future.  This is why I do not expect great  
> things from him.
>
> The social programs, medical programs, greening programs and all the  
> other
> social programs in his are based firmly on the paradigm that we will  
> all still
> be driving around in cars in the near future about as cheaply as we  
> drive
> today.

Any politician who tells Americans that they must even partially  
relinquish their car use has no chance of being elected. If a  
politician has the most sensible plan in the world, he will therefore  
have zero chance for implementation.

A nation of debtors will not tolerate being told they must save. A  
nation of the obese will not tolerate a politician telling them to eat  
less. A nation awash in entertainment toys will not tolerate being  
told they must play less. They might see the right of these things but  
they will not do them until the pain is great.

Obama is right on when he says that the government cannot make things  
right for the people; the people must make things right for  
themselves. The government can only encourage opportunity. If the  
people do not seize opportunity voluntarily then they will sink.