A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

Prager: If we’re all exceptional, no one is

As he is prone to do, columnist and national radio show host Dennis Prager has his own unique take on the Democrat's plan to ruin the best, most innovative health care system on the planet.

The bigger the American government becomes, the more like other countries America becomes. Even a Democrat has to acknowledge the simple logic: America cannot at the same time be the last best hope of earth and increasingly similar to more and more countries.

Either America is unique, in which case it at least has the possibility of uniquely embodying hopes for mankind -- or it is not unique, in which case it is by definition not capable of being the last best hope for humanity -- certainly no more so than, let us say, Sweden or the Netherlands.

He continues:

Hillel, the most important rabbi of the Talmud (which, alongside the Hebrew Bible, is Judaism's most important book), summarized the human being's obligations in these famous words: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?"

What does this mean in the present context? It means that before anything else, the human being must first take care of himself. When people who are capable of taking care of themselves start relying on the state to do so, they can easily become morally inferior beings. When people who could take care of their family start relying on the state to do so, they can easily become morally inferior. And when people who could help take care of fellow citizens start relying on the state to do so, the morally coarsening process continues.

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Prager's assessment.  Please take a moment to read the rest of his engaging piece here.

People search for possible alternative explanations for why it is the United States of America has become the freest, most prosperous civilization in human history in such a short time.  Generally speaking, conservatives believe that the most unique things about our nation is that we founded it on the concept of "Creator-endowed" rights for each individual, and that, for the most part, we have facilitated and fostered free markets for goods, services, ideas, and faiths.  Everything that is great about this country springs from those ideas, ideals, and values.

Liberals and progressives dance around those inconvenient truths and point to the European model of collectivism as their ideal society.

We're talking about different, conflicting visions.  Health care "reform" is just one of many issues that highlight these differences.