Retire the debunked rhetoric
By Glenn Rose
In his Nov.10 letter to the editor (“Obama wins re-election; the end is near”), Marlin Thompson refers to a statement that he attributes to an Alexander Tyler writing in 1770. His “Tyler” is supposed to have written that “the average life of a democracy is 200years because when the citizens realize they can vote themselves money from the public treasury, that nation is doomed.”
A check of the facts reveals that Thompson was quoting, not from any alleged writing by “Tyler,” but an email that made that statement in numerous iterations during the last year. More checking reveals that the actual name of the historian supposedly being quoted was Alexander Fraser Tytler (not Tyler), Lord Woodhouselee, a member of the British aristocracy and a monarchist, someone unsympathetic to the concept of democracy.
Rose is a former teacher, broadcaster and business owner living in Rockbridge County.
November 28, 2012 - 6:18 AM
Well said Glenn Rose. It is past time to let go of the heated and distorted rhetoric and get busy on the recovery this nation is striving for. The sky simply did not fall, nor will it.
Another very tired and useless meme that some cannot let go is the pronouncement of our “entitlement society”.
I am past sick of this being hurled as an epithet in just about any economic discussion as if the problem is merely that all voters who chose Obama just want “stuff” for free.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “entitlement” as “a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract”. This nation chose the benefits of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, TANF and SNAP. The people who pay taxes fund these programs and the people who need them have them available because we, as a nation, wanted it that way. The election of 2012 proved that we still do.
Our problems are a shrinking work force (due to many things but exacerbated by the economic crash of 2007-2009) and our creation of a favored class. When we are all (to the extent possible) working and paying taxes, we can pay our debt and close the deficit. When we are all paying proportionately into the tax structure, we can manage the economic needs of this nation. What we cannot do is continue to pretend we can fight wars we don’t pay for or give tax cuts and benefits then pay the bill with less revenue. We dug the hole together, some even benefited greatly from it, and we need to climb out of the hole together.
The safety net programs are not going away. They may be tweaked and means tested more in the future, but they are not going away and neither are the needy, disabled, elderly, and the poor. “E Pluribus Unum”, what makes this nation great is our compassion, our support of the fallen and our commitment to what is right.
That there are those who scam both the safety net programs and the tax structure is something we need to work on, no question about it, but there is no “entitlement society” in this nation.
#1 Please substantiate your claim of “…a shrinking work force…”.
Please reconcile with increased unemployment & unemployment benifits.
(Are people not in the “work force” receiving such benifits?).