A week before the election

I'm going to have to predict a McCain win next Tuesday. Be ready for riots in the street and destruction of public property. I find such irony in this election season. The marxist links that Obama has been denying for months become so apparent now that people are choosing sides in the culture/class civil war. That's all part of the Marxist teaching. The Marx connection is important when discussing socialism and capitalism and communism, because Marx made some key observations and offers instruction on how a society moves from capitalism to communism. That move REQUIRES a class war. The gap between the rich and poor must be grave, and a middle class that's comfortable makes it hard to sell socialism, let alone communism.

I want to preface this be saying that I'm not rich or poor, black or white. I'm a grandmother who was herself a first generation immigrant. My grandchildren are representative of the best of multi-cultural infusion, and this blog is for them. I don't want there to be conflict among the cultures and classes in our great country. There will be poor always, Christ teaches us that. There will be rich always, life teaches us that. But there will only be a middle class if capitalism and democracy are healthy and protected ideologies. Do the poor need help with basic needs...you betcha! Should those who have more give help to those who have little...you betcha! Should a government or a society mandate to bring about "economic justice or equality"?

Think for a minute... justice and equality sound like GOOD THINGS. Economic justice... what does that look like? Equal pay for equal work...okay, I can buy some of that. Should it be 'mandated'? Hmmm... how. An employees value to an employer isn't always objective. If we were working an assembly line and were paid by the piece...I suppose you could argue and mandate equal pay for equal work. Other kinds of jobs and industries include lots of other variables and other factors come into play. Is there some prejudice that should be overcome regarding women, youth, age, race? Sure there is... but this is an age old struggle and the best way to overcome that kind of prejudice is for women, youth, seniors and minorities to start their own businesses and lead the way in becoming the best place to work. Let the culprits be defeated by their own greed and prejudice, with enough campaigning to show the world how and why you do things differently!!! Success is great revenge.

Economic Equality is a completely different creature. What does that mean? Tito the Builder said it best this morning in an interview with Fox News when asked if he wouldn't benefit more from Obama's liberal tax plan than McCains. With a heavy latino accent he said..."I don't want crumbs, I want the opportunity to succeed the same as any other American" Now that's what I call Economic Equality at it's best. Only in America can an immigrant or child of an immigrant start their own business, make their own success, build on their own talents!!!!

I've written before about my father's love of America, but I didn't mention what he didn't like about the socialism in the Netherlands. (In that respect, colonial Indonesia was much more similar to America than the Netherlands). My father was a new graduate of Bandung's Technical School. It's kind of like a vocational college for engineers and the like. I don't know if it's equal to our university education or if it's like a deVry, but it had(s) a great reputation, still. He then spent some formative years as an engineer and then army engineer and then POW. After the war he worked for the Dutch railroad in Indonesia. He transferred to Amsterdam and worked for 'Werkspoor' (railroad) there also. His ability to be a young maverick engineer with great ideas and equal opportunities was thwarted by the realities of socialism. Only senior fellows could work on certain projects. Raises and promotions were based on tenure not accomplishment and innovation. What does that sound like to you? Our school system, the world of Academia, that produces these socialist tendencies is set up very similar. If you don't have the right degrees, or haven't put your time in following their path, you can't have a voice in planning. Degrees are worn like ranks and nothing good or innovative could possibly come from students or parents...who often don't have those degrees.

My father summed it up in one sentence. "In America you are free to succeed or fail and if you fail, you can get up and try it again". Many of my fathers contemporaries who immigrated when we did, couldn't do that. Many took jobs and passed their tenure and retired, or went back to the Netherlands for their social system. 5 years after arriving in the US my father owned a house, a car and we were celebrating American citizenship. 10 years after arriving, we owned a 2nd house, several cars and two businesses. Did my father succeed? He succeeded and failed and succeeded again. He died in 1977, just 20 years after immigrating here. I know he worried about our education and the affect of affluence on youth. There were times that I know he may have regretted his decision. But what he accomplished in those 21 years, I'll remember with pride.

What would he think of this election?
Young Arrogant professor and lawyer who teaches and preaches but has no accomplishments under his belt vs Mature humble war hero, pilot and business man who preaches free market and lower taxes. Hmmmm... this is not a hard choice.