State of the Union

If you've ever wanted to see a collectivist openly, honestly, and empirically describing his values, you got your wish tonight, you 'n me both. El Presidente has been sounding the alarm on social security like crazy in the past few weeks, as if he actually understood what the problems with it are. In his adress, Bush actually gives up the mathematical breakdown of the SSS's impending bankruptcy-- at its inception, there were about 15 workers paying into SS for every single beneficiary.(aka Old folks) 13 years from now, the ratio of workers to beneficiaries will be about 5:1, and 20 years from now, 3:1. (i might have some of the numbers a tiny bit off, but they are about that drastic, look up a transcript of his speech) My point is that he demonstrated, in no uncertain terms, that in this country you WILL work to support your elders--and as many others as possible. This elicited a unanimously positive response from all present, including a standing ovation. Black, White, Hispanic, Democrat, Republican--alll were pleased, and all confessed a common, fundamental, disgusting premise. YOU--your very person--are a part of this country's capital. Any debt the government incurs, on your behalf or someone else's, will be paid with YOUR life and work. Later on, Bush goes on to say that he is committed to maintaining human dignity in scientific progress, i.e., no cultivation of embryos for organ or cell harvesting. "some lives should not be sacrificed for the benefit of others", he was somehow dumb enough to say after telling every working citizen (with or without grandparents) that they owe money to everyone else's grandparents for no particular reason.

People who have problems with the government at large, objectivists included, are often accused of extremism, drama, and hyperbole. Well, there' s nothing anyone can say now, when it comes to objectivists anyway. Pardon me, I'm a little naive, a little young-- this new openess strikes me. Certainly the country has been in trouble for a good while now in the area of individual rights, but now, I'm alarmed. It's become real to me. Does anyone else feel the same way?