Neal Boortz: The War Against Individualism

Good morning!  Actually feeling human today …. So let’s get started:

A quote for you to muse over today .. one from Joe Biden.  I found it on a Tweet from @JamesPethokoukis from the American Enterprise Institute … and upon stealing his material, I started writing.  Now think about this when Biden is on the stage with GOP vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan tonight.  This I something that Biden said in 2008:

“For too long in this society we have celebrated
unrestrained individualism over the common community.”

Before we move ahead with this, I just must point out to you that this “common community” phrase is the core idea behind the word “communism.”  No … I’m not one who screams communist at everyone with a (D) after their name, but I do recognize that the philosophy exists and I have a rather good understanding of the underpinnings of Lenin and Marx.  One thing is clear … communism cannot co-exist with a society that values the individual.

Now … since I have now presented you with a quote from Joe Biden, let’s try a few more quotes.  See if you can figure out who uttered these lovely phrases.  This will mean a lot more to those of you who actually value your worth as an individual rather than as merely another cog in the gears of society:

Quote 1. “We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all.”

Quote 2. “We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what’s best for society.”

Any guesses? The surprise comes later. You need to hold on a few more moments while we discuss the war against individuality.

Yes, a war – a war against the individual. A war that has been waged by the American left for decades.

Why, you might ask, would anyone want to fight the concept of individuality? Good question. Simple answer. Individualism must be fought and suppressed because the concept of the individual is completely incompatible with basic liberal doctrine.

Here’s the rub. If you recognize the existence of the individual, it then follows that you must also recognize the concept of individual rights. Among those individual rights are such pesky little nuances as – dare we say it – property rights! Among those property rights would be what our founding fathers might call the right to the fruit of your labors, or what we in our less flowery age would call the money you earn by busting your buns 60 hours a week.

If, then, there is any recognition that you, as a real flesh and blood individual human being, have any right to the money you work for, what sort of excuse can the left come up with to seize those earnings for their wonderful vote-buying income redistribution schemes?

So, you think I’m going a bit overboard here? Well, while you sit down and grip the arms of your chair for stability, let me tell you that a California congresswoman (Democrat, natch!) said back in the early 2000s that all wages really belong to the federal government. How’s that for individual property rights?

Not convinced? You still don’t believe that there’s a full-blown war on individuality raging around you? Well then, allow me to invoke the name of one of Washington’s premier class warlords, none other than the Senate’s Prince of Bloviation, the late Ted Kennedy. The unlikely event that brought forth this Kennedy gem was the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl win in (I think) 2002. Naturally, Kennedy wanted a part in the celebration, so he pushed his way to the television cameras to extol the value of teamwork. Amazingly, Kennedy tells the nation that the Patriots set a wonderful example for us all to follow at a time when we, in America, are engaged in a “war against the individual.” His words, not mine. Go plow through The Boston Globe on the Monday following that Super Bowl win to find out for yourself. Do it! You need the research practice.

Driving the point home just a bit more, what do you think this whole “diversity” thing is all about? Diversity committees – diversity seminars – diversity directors. What’s behind this love of “diversity”? Why was the University of Texas (liberal institution, in case you didn’t know) pushing “diversity” as an excuse for racial discrimination in student admissions?  Easy enough. Diversity identity is group identity. Attention paid to diversity is attention paid to someone’s group status, not his or her individual identity. When you are identified according to group status, any claim to individual rights, or worth, for that matter, fade into meaninglessness.

Let’s go back through history to see, other than Teddy Kennedy, just who we have out there blasting the concept of the individual. It’s a rough ride. Hold on.

“There is the great, silent, continuous struggle: the struggle between the State and the Individual; between the State, which demands, and the individual, who attempts to evade such demands.”

That gem is from our friend, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

“The main plank in the National Socialist program is to abolish the liberalistic concept of the individual and the Marxist concept of humanity and to substitute for them the folk community, rooted in the soil and bound together by the bond of its common blood.”

The National Socialist bit should be your clue. Nazi was the acronym for Germany’s national socialist party. That quote is from Adolf Hitler. I’m reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich right now … you would not believe the hatred of individualism present in the Nazi regime.

Now for the two quotes at the beginning of this Nuze bit:

“We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all.”

I left out the first word of this quote. That word is “Comrades!” This from the lips of none other than Nikita Khrushchev.

“We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.”

Ahh. The best for last. The person who uttered those words is none other than Hillary Clinton back in 2003 when she was pushing her version of government controlled medical care.

One more quote. A quickie from Ayn Rand:

“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.”

Are you ready to give up – to surrender – your individuality to the state?  That is the essence of liberalism.  You exist to serve the state.  Remember the video at the Democrat National Convention?  “The government is the only thing we all belong to.”  What’s your take?  Do you belong to the government?  Or do you belong to yourself.  That’s another choice you’ll be making on November 6^th.