Pure libertarianism will probably never take root in America because there is a braid of thick caring and compassion that runs through our country like the great Mississippi River. Most people still believe that the government, no matter how imperfect and wasteful it may be, still has a role to play when it comes to providing a safety net for those who cannot provide for themselves and their families. That role may need to be more limited than it is today, but it should exist.
On the flip side of the coin, that compassionate braid is tightly woven with a sense of personal responsibility, which is why socialism will probably never take root in this country, either. The American “dream” is still alive and well, even if the left has done everything in its power to kill it over the last twenty years. And most people intuitively understand that the Dream dies when Americans give their responsibilities over to the government. You can’t have success without the possibility of failure. You can’t dream big if you aren’t allowed to make your own mistakes. You can’t reap your own rewards if everyone is stuck on the same level.
It is the balance between these two extremes that gives us the liberty upon which America was founded. It is not an unrestrained form of liberty, but it is a liberty that requires us to, first and foremost, rely on ourselves. And that starts with responsibility. That starts with understanding that – safety net or no safety net – we must shoulder the blame (and credit) for our own actions. This is the fundamental thing that much of the media simply doesn’t understand. This is the fundamental principle that explains why Americans are not entirely falling for this charade at the border.
Despite weeks of media coverage painting the Trump administration – from the president to Jeff Sessions to Kirstjen Nielsen – as heartless monsters who are the 21st century equivalent of the Nazis, a new Rasmussen Reports poll shows that Americans do not blame Donald Trump for the family separation crisis at the border. No, the thick braid of personal responsibility is still alive and well in this country, which is why 54% of voters blame the parents of these child migrants for breaking the law. Put simply: Don’t try to break into a country that’s not yours if you want to keep your family together.
Indeed, the survey found that only 35% feel that the federal government is to blame for whatever heartache is transpiring at the border.
This is a positive sign about the American electorate that goes well beyond the specifics of the current “scandal.” For one thing, it proves that we as a country are still at least somewhat immune from the daily propaganda being thrown at us from the coastal elites. More importantly, it shows that the fundamental idea of American liberty is still alive and well. When personal responsibility dies, so does that dream.
Unfortunately for the leftists running our news media, that time has not yet come.
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