Dear Editor,
Count us among the radical individualist “ideological aberrations” Eli Gottlieb chides in his column critical of Ayn Rand, an author whom Gottlieb displays little evidence of actually having read or understood.
We agree with Rand’s view that we have “no ties binding us to others.” To be precise, Rand’s view is that we have no such ties that are unchosen. She thinks, and we agree, that we do owe our friends and loved ones affection, energy and time. We owe our employers and trading partners the goods and services we have agreed to render. And if we want to live in a civilized society, we owe it to others to respect their freedom.
But Gottlieb thinks we are bound to others by ties imposed by a God or by “fate.” We think this is an arbitrary, unprovable assertion. But it is curious how many secular people also share Gottlieb’s conviction that we have unchosen obligations to live our lives for other people. These people should think carefully about whether there is any earthly reason to surrender our precious time on earth to random strangers.
A true mark of overcoming “adolescence” is the commitment to take responsibility for one’s own life and for one’s own thinking – rather than blindly believing the dictates of our culture’s moral and religious “authorities.”
Editors,
The Undercurrent
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Dear Editor,
The far left has had a plan for some time and they have been working toward their first major goal of having America become a socialist country. Europe is already well on their way. With the election of Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress a perfect storm was created for their dream to become a reality. The traditional Democratic party had already been taken over by the far left. The Republican Party had lost its strength through a diffusion and lowering of their values, so they would not be able to stop it. At breakneck speed they began to implement steps that would drive America into the depths of socialism and globalism. The feeling was that the American people, even if they complained and were opposed to what was going on, were not organized enough to stop the movement. But then something unexpected happened.
The will, the strength and the voice of the American people were grossly underestimated. Suddenly ordinary Americans, many of whom never participated in any political movement before, began to rise up. A true groundswell, and grassroots movement, began to emerge. And emerge they did. They were senior citizens, grandparents and parents, deeply concerned not only about themselves, but the future of America for their children and grandchildren. They were conservative Republicans, traditional Democrats, Libertarians and Independents who were strongly opposed to the new socialist direction – scared to death of it, in fact. They were informed younger people, and minorities who think for themselves and object to adhering to mass block thinking where it is “expected” that they will just comply. They were people who have a deep faith in God. They were people who are patriots and love America. They are veterans who had served their country and who had fought to preserve freedom. Spontaneously they came together. Millions upon millions of them.
They came together under the title of “Tea Party.”
The left was flabbergasted; they hadn’t planned or expected anything like this. They were so close to achieving their goal. At all costs, the Tea Party had to be stopped. Immediately they began to try to discredit the Tea Parties, a tact that had worked for them so many times before. Truth is irrelevant, but discredit they must. They began to call them crazy, radicals, Nazi’s, every name in the book, and finally the one that always seemed to have worked before – racists. Many major media sources fully complied with the unfounded and unwarranted attacks. Yet the Tea Parties kept coming, without a flinch. What the far left and the media failed to realize is that Tea Party is America – the vast majority of the American people. You can’t turn the vast majority of the American people on themselves, especially with what are known to be falsehoods. The far left then engaged union leadership, and organizations like the NAACP to help discredit the Tea Party movement and call them racists. Again this didn’t work to say nothing about violating the ninth Commandment of God by bearing false witness. Many of the good and decent people of the NAACP don’t like being part of false accusations. Neither do the union membership, in fact many of them are either in agreement with the Tea Party movement, if not actual members.
Nonetheless, the great strength of the administration in power, with the help of nearly all major media sources is immense. In addition, over time, deep seated roots have been established by the far left into many organizations throughout the country. Further, there are some very wealthy backers who have their own agenda toward turning the United States into a greatly weakened, yet socialist country that will allow globalism to continue.
The future of United States is now dependent upon the people of America. This includes all those who want to preserve our great democracy irrespective of party affiliation, race, religion, ethnic or any other socio, political or economic group. And it depends greatly, as the far left fears, on the Tea Party since they have the strength of organization.
All of this comes down to two dates, November 2010 and November 2012, and our sacred right to vote. The choices are simple yet dramatic and potentially tragic in our history; socialism that will lead to the destruction of America as we know it or the preservation of our great country and democracy. Thankfully, the Tea Party movement has given us at least a choice; now it is up to us.
Al DiLascia,
Chicopee, Mass.
Al DiLascia • Oct 28, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Kevin, Thanks for your well thought out response and comments. I will respond back.
The fact is it is very difficult to get a measure of the Tea Party (28%) by Fox News or anyone else. The Tea Parties are not very well understood and not generally reported for what they really are. It is not a party at all…like the Democratic or Republican Party where you can get a yes / no answer as far as membership. It is a movement, an amorphous and varying group of people who share the common deep concern over the current direction of our country. I have covered several Tea Party rallies as a photojournalist and have experienced them first hand. It might surprise you that I am not a member, but I do have a concern over the current direction of our country. You can get a better sense of the size of those who relate to the Tea Parties movement by observing and sensing the mood of our country. I stand by my assessment that the vast majority of people in America share the deep concerns of the Tea Party movement. But the real answer to this will begin to emerge on November 2, won’t it? We will both begin to find out then.
You must be kidding about Obama and his administration not being far left. In 2007 he was ranked by the National Journal as the most liberal Senator in the entire Senate! I don’t think, as President, he has changed his stripes…quite the contrary, he has pushed the pedal to the metal. A huge contributor to his campaign was George Soros who wants to completely do away with the free market system and favors many other socialist approaches to government. Andy Stern, former head of SEIU, used a huge amount of money in support of Obama and he is an out and out announced socialist. (“Workers of the world unite.”) Many of the members of the Obama administration, including his appointed Czars have extremely radical far left views. These have been recorded in speeches, books, and videos. Following is just a sample:
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel… A health policy advisor to President Obama and brother of Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Dr. Emanuel believes doctors try too hard to apply the Hippocratic Oath to everyone as equally as possible, which is what drives up costs. Instead Emanuel thinks we need to ration basic guaranteed care to only those who can fully participate in society. Essentially Dr. Emanuel implies that the elderly, the young who have neurological disorders, the handicapped, and the disabled should be sacrificed for the common good.
Van Jones…Obama’s “green jobs” adviser /czar whose exposed past forced him to resign. The very fact that Obama appointed him raises serious questions. He is a self proclaimed communist and Marxist who has been advocating using the green / environmental agenda as an excuse / entry into radically changing America most probably into a socialist, even communist state. He signed a document saying that the 9/11 attack on the United States was an inside job. He was a San Francisco Bay Area radical agitator, a committed Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, who waged war on the police and capitalist system. Van Jones went on to lead the communist organization called Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM). A key adviser to Obama?
Carol M. Browner…Obama’s Climate and Energy Czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group’s Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for “global governance” and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change. Socialist International, an umbrella group for many of the world’s social democratic political parties, says it supports socialism and is harshly critical of U.S. policies.
Harold Koh…An Obama appointee and a high-ranking legal adviser in the State Department , former dean of the Law School at Yale University. Koh is an advocate of transnationalism, which is defined as being a concept that argues in favor of “global governance” as opposed to the constitutional sovereignty of independent nation-states. In other words, he does not support the sovereignty of the United States and the supremacy of the U.S. Constitution as the law of the land. Koh supports the introduction of sharia law into the United States.
John Holdren…This is Obama’s Science Czar who believes women could be forced to abort their pregnancies whether they wanted to or not; the population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation’s drinking water or in food; single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise; people who “contribute to social deterioration” (i.e. undesirables) “can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility” , in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized. He also advocates that a transnational “Planetary Regime” should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans’ lives, using an armed international police force. This appointment was made by the President of the United States!
Mark Lloyd… This is Obama’s Federal Communication Commission Diversity Czar. He is an open admirer of Marxist Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. In 2006 while at the liberal Center for American Progress Lloyd wrote a book entitled, Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America. In the book he presents the idea the private broadcasters (private business) should pay a licensing fees which equals their total operating costs so that public broadcasting station can spend the same on their operations as the private companies do. Not only does he want to redistribute private profits, he wants to regulate much of the programming on these stations to make sure they focus on “diverse views” (Progressive Views) and government activities. He essentially wants government control of the media and wants to throttle radio and television media that might be considered right wing, in favor of government controlled left wing.
Cass Sunstein… This is Obama’s Regulatory Czar. Sunstein believes that hunting should be banned and animals should have the right to sue people. He also believes there should be a Fairness Doctrine for the Internet, that there is too much open and free communication allowed.
And the list goes on and. Not far left? Pretty radical I would say…all the above is on record.
We do disagree, you are right. On all issues I try very hard to do objective research and base my letters on fact, as well as express my own opinions.
Keep up the good work, you seem like an intelligent decent guy. No, I am not a racist, a Nazi, or those easily dismissive terms that seem to be thrown out so easily when there is disagreement.
Please just remember one thing, no matter what you current positions are: Our country and our future is a stake. Make sure you are on the right side of issues.
Good luck.
Kevin • Oct 28, 2010 at 11:56 am
Al, since you asked, I’ll respond to a couple specific parts of your letter I take issue with. As a bonus, you may notice that none of them insinuate you’re a racist.
“What the far left and the media failed to realize is that Tea Party is America – the vast majority of the American people.”
You may identify with the Tea Party. Many people you know may identify with the Tea Party. But the fact is that about 28% of Americans do. There is also a very close split between those that favor Obama’s policies vs those that favor the Tea Party ideals.
Here’s my source:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/06/tea-party-going-mainstream-polls-suggest-movement-gaining-popularity/
“With the election of Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress a perfect storm was created for their dream to become a reality.”
The Obama administration can hardly be called “far left”. Look for yourself:
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/
Looking at the promises kept, I actually don’t see the ones about abolishing our free market economy and executing the weak and infirm. You may disagree on some issues, but let’s be honest. The Democratic party is not turning us into soviet Russia. If higher more accessible health care and tax breaks for small businesses is your idea of socialism, then I don’t think there’s anything I can do. You may also notice the rather small number of promises kept versus the others. The “perfect storm” you talk about doesn’t seem to have been nearly as potent as you make it out to be.
You said it yourself, that “ordinary Americans, many of whom never participated in any political movement before” make up much of the Tea Party. I think many of these people are reacting to a warped view of the world, which you seem to share. One popularized by the likes of Glenn Beck, where the Obama administration is going against the will of the people in an effort to fundamentally change our country into something weak, broken and miserable.
We’re free to disagree, but it’s important that we do so based on facts. This is my biggest problem with your letter. It reflects the unfounded fear and paranoia of a sizable chunk of our country that’s too wrapped up in a fantasy world to respond constructively.
I don’t think you’re racist. I don’t think you’re a Nazi. You’re probably a very nice person, but I still deeply disagree with your letter.
Justin • Oct 27, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Typical of liberals: attack Republicans by accusing them of racism. Such accusations are base, irresponsible and (above all) not true. It’s pathetic that diverting to calling one a racist is your strongest argument and only helps to vindicate the Republican view.
Al DiLascia • Oct 27, 2010 at 9:57 am
I guess the 2 comments, in inferring that my letter is “racist” proves my point. What do the rest of you people at UMass think about the letter? Where are those who may agree with it…or not? Afraid to speak up? What is the atmosphere at UMass for presenting ALL sides of issues and points of view? Is it open? A true educational environment? As young people your future and your country is at stake. Speak up, let your opinions be known, they are important!
Al DiLascia
Kevin • Oct 26, 2010 at 10:33 pm
In response to the first letter, I don’t believe in any supreme being, but I still think we all owe each other our cooperation and help beyond our immediate companions. Not because of some higher power, but because we’re all human on this planet together. We occupy a tiny, insignificant speck of dust in the universe, and could very well exterminate ourselves soon. A universal sense of empathy and compassion is necessary in the globalizing 21st century in light of our tremendous fragility, because our species also has incredible potential if we are able to come together.
If overcoming adolescence means taking responsibility of ones own life, then I suppose full adulthood would mean taking responsibility for ones species.
Also, Pete: I share most of your sentiments, but calling his letter “thinly veiled racism” isn’t going to get him to listen to you, it’s just going to make him more confident in his assertion that people throw around that accusation to discredit his politics.
pete • Oct 21, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Al,
Where were you for the eight years prior to Obama? That was when the country was bankrupted and committed itself to 2 wars that were completely unneeded. The fact all these “god fearing patriotic” voters are finally becoming vocal is nothing short of selective politics (Read: we don’t like a man of color in the White House) Take your oh so thinly veiled racism somewhere else.