Lecture 25. LIBERALS vs CONSERVATIVES

The conservative philosophy of government was best stated by 
President Coolidge: “The business of government is 
business.”  He was wrong.  The business of government 
is to be found only in the preamble to our Constitution: 
“to... promote the general Welfare, and secure the
Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”
The Founding Liberals put it there.

Believe it or not, there was a time when  "welfare”
was not a dirty word. Times change, but the Founding 
Liberals can’t change with them. They said what they 
said, and their most important word is  “Posterity”.

They understood why we are here on Earth: survival of the 
species is the motivating force of life.  A nation without 
a thriving young generation is in peril. Care of the young  
is the highest priority of everycreature on earth, whether 
they know it or not.

Now is the time to redistribute the wealth of our nation
from the old to the young. Since there is never enough 
wealth, we must prioritize. Funding Medicare for those at 
the end of life should have lower priority than spending on
health care and education for those at the starting point.

Care of the young requires three kinds of infrastructure
that government must assure: homes in a secure 
neighborhood, health care, and education. Children, from
conception through university, must get all the health 
care, food, shelter, and play they need and as much 
education as they can absorb. Care of the young is a 
civilization's wisest investment.

A thriving young generation must include all children 
regardless of the wealth or poverty of their homes.
Providing excellent care only for children of the rich will
not produce enough brilliant leaders in technology, 
industry, and government.  (Ninety-nine percent of all 
discoveries are found by one percent of all scientists.) If
you want all the cream, you have to milk all the cows. A
level playing field and equal opportunity from the 
moment of conception are the liberal’s core
beliefs.

Support for children by local taxes inevitably results in 
deprived areas, from Watts to Mississippi.  To be equitably 
distributed, care of the young must be financed by 
progressive federal taxation.  Commensurate with their 
means, all Americans, together as one, must share the load.
Fairness and cooperation are the liberal’s core
beliefs.

Conservatives hold the opposite view.  They believe children
should be rewarded or punished depending on how well or how 
poorly they choose their parents.  They want the care of 
the young to be financed by local taxes so that school
quality varies with class and so that science education is 
stunted by fundamentalist school boards. Is it a wonder 
that, according to the National Academy of Sciences report,
while half of GDP growth depends on technology, the US is 
rated No. 48 in  science and math education?

Instead of taxing wealthy estates, consisting mostly of
untaxed capital gains, conservatives would endow the least
productive segment of society: children of the rich.  Since
Congress can be bought, wealth is power and inherited 
wealth is inherited power — aristocracy — the 
exact opposite of democracy, the exact opposite of 
meritocracy.This is nothing but dishonesty and corruption. 
Conservatism is a crime against Nature.

The human race succeeded only because it developed a sense 
of social unity: the solidarity of the clan and the tribe 
and larger groups that does not exist among other primates. 
We succeeded only because we take care of each other through 
war and peace, through fire and flood. Conservatives want 
to destroy that social solidarity. Now they want to defund 
FEMA! Bush's "Owner Society" means that come hell or high
water, you're on your own! Conservatism is a crime against
Nature.

Conservatives believe the tax burden should be shifted from
the rich to the middle class, from capital to labor.  They
would create a polarized generation: a small aristocracy 
and a large underclass — a lost generation. This is a 
complete betrayal of Posterity and the Founding Liberals.
Proceed to:
Lecture 26. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS
Thanks for your interest.
  Marvin Sussman, retired engineer

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