Freedom vs Serfdom

"he favors letting convicted criminals keep their guns, wants to overturn Roe vs. Wade and just like Sarah Palin believes global warming isn't man-made.”

The quote above is a random rant against a Republican. I just ran across it this morning. It doesn't matter who it's about. The reason I quote it here is that this is the sort of thing that we face in political discussions. It doesn't matter whether the statements here are true or total lies. They're minutiae. They're unimportant details. Indeed even major policies are unimportant. They, too, are just details in a larger picture. And the larger picture is this:

Small government equals Freedom; a BIG STATE equals Serfdom.

When we engage political opponents, this is how we must frame the debate. Every time; everywhere. We can't allow ourselves to be sucked into fruitless discussions over meaningless details and specific policies.

The policies of a small government will be few & limited. The policies of a BIG STATE will be beyond the control of The People.

The critical question is: Do you want a state that is small and limited, or a BIG one that will impose policies over which you have no control, and about which you have no choice?

Who cares what the policy is? The policy is not the point here. The critical issue is the ability of a BIG STATE to impose its will whether we like it or not

And if we have policy differences with our opponents, all the better. Getting them to understand that a BIG STATE can impose policies they hate as well as those they love, if they have half a brain, just might shine a tiny beam on the path to understanding.

But it will only work if we stay away from policies, minutiae and wonky details—not to be deceitful—but because they are really, truly, beside the point.

What BIG STATE proponents always assume is that the BIG STATE will impose on others what they themselves support. It never occurs to them, until it is too late, that the BIG STATE can just as easily, and historically always does...oppress them!

It's time we did our best to teach the lesson. It's still not too late. I'm fairly convinced we'll have free elections in two years. Mostly.

The Gunslinger