Out from under the thumb
I’ve been on vacation for a few weeks, and one of the things that happened in my absence is that the British voted to leave the European Union. It was a historic vote, and its effects will be felt for quite some time, but in essence it was a victory for small(er) government over yet another layer of massive, unthinking bureaucracy. I’ll explain why.
And I’ll touch on a few of the other events of the recent past, as well.
Mentioned links:
At least 4 killed in suicide blast near one of Islam’s holiest sites in Medina
From Orlando to Bangladesh, A Blood-Soaked Ramadan
‘Assault Weapons’ Ban, Firearms Licensing Did Not Stop Terrorist with AK-47 in Istanbul Airport
What Brexit IS and IS NOT About
Media Pushes ‘Ban’ On Old People Voting After Brexit
EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration
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Show transcript
I’ve been on vacation for a while, which is why no episodes the past few weeks. And so much has happened during that time.
Most recently, of course, was when Hillary was given a stern wrist-slap by the head of the FBI for her mishandling of state secrets; you know, those things she’d be in complete charge of should she become President. One thing about a semi-sort-of-weekly podcast is that events can fly right by your topic list and make your script so quaintly out-of-date. But I promise you, I will get to that. If something else doesn’t burn up the news cycle by then.
The Orlando shooting happened before the last episode, but I didn’t really discuss it specifically. Since I’ve covered the topic of guns in the past, rather extensively, I will refer you to those episodes. There’s a nifty list of topics down on the sidebar of the website. Click on a subject, and you’ll get a list of all of the episodes that I’ve touched on it. And there’s a drop-down list of months and years as well, in case there’s a particular time frame you’d like to look at to see if I covered a particular topic. So anyway, check that out.
The Istanbul airport bombing occurred during the break. Just 2 things I want to say about that. Number 1 is that my brother, his wife, and 2 children passed through the international terminal there the day before the bombing. I thank God for their safety, and I pray for those who now have to go on with life without loved ones and friends. Number 2 is that Turkey needs to stop the practice of selling bombs to terrorists with some common-sense bomb control legislation. I’m sure you know where I’m going with that comment.
Oh, and as just an aside, in the name of what religion did the Orlando shooter, the Istanbul bombers, the Bangladesh restaurant shooters, the Baghdad bombers, bombings at Islamic holy sites, and that brave dude who stabbed that 14-year-old Israeli girl in her sleep do what they did? Presbyterian, perhaps? Say what you want about Donald Trump’s Muslim immigration comments, and I’ve said what I’ve wanted about them (and it’s not positive), but maybe taking our vetting process up a few notches is not such a bad idea after all. Over at TheReligionOfPeace.com, they’re keeping track of the number of attacks and the fatalities during the holy month of Ramadan by radical Islamists. The number will astonish you. Or ought to.
But that’s not what I want to talk about. (I know; too late.) I want to really talk about what was called “Brexit”; the exit of the British from the European Union. For those wishing to leave, what I heard many of them saying was that they no longer wanted to be under the thumb of Brussels anymore. I say, “what I heard”, because I did not become a Brexit expert — a “Brexpert”, if you will, since we’re throwing words together — overnight. Instead, I listened to what those wanting to leave actually said.
Yes, some were xenophobic, not wanting to let foreigners in at all, but the more sober minded were understandably concerned that the open borders of the EU were letting in people like those who perpetrated the Paris shootings, and those other incidents I mentioned earlier, especially since ISIS had said that they intended to sneak in fighters into this mass of refugees. But instead of listening to those voices, the Left and the media amplified the voices of hate. I saw a graphic with its explanation of the two sides using Jane Austin titles; the Remain side was “Sense and Sensibility”, while the Leave side was “Pride and Prejudice”. A cute encapsulation of their opinion, no doubt, but certainly a generalization of the best of one side compared to the worst of the other.
What did I hear from the Remain side? Well unfortunately, some of it had to do with policies they liked coming out of Brussels that they couldn’t get passed in their own government, so they were very happy for their own democracy to be overruled by one that gave them what they wanted. In all manner of law, from immigration policy to budget decisions, they were fine giving up self-rule and the rough and tumble of democracy, just so they could give more power to unelected bureaucrats that had their politics. Today. That, too, may be something of my reading of their position, but that is what I heard; Parliament won’t do X but Brussels will, so remain.
So it sounds like many in England — mostly Scotland and London — want yet another layer of bureaucracy rather than to work with those they disagree with. And many media outlets reported how young people were suggesting that the old folks, who mostly voted to leave, shouldn’t be allowed to vote because of this supposed calamity they voted for that they won’t have to live in for very long. Well, as an old guy myself, I say ignore that collective wisdom at your own peril.
So then, can I put the shoe on the other foot and suggest that the Remain vote was all about authoritarianism; burying any dissent and disenfranchising those who don’t think like you? Is that fair? No, not any more fair than calling the Leave voters a bunch of racists.
And let’s not forget that those of us in the USA just celebrated the 240th anniversary of the … “Ameriquit”? “Amerexit”? Well, but that was different, right? King George the Unelected Bureaucrat didn’t do what we wanted, right? Or is the real point that the bigger government is, and the more out of touch it is from the people, the less control you have of it, and the less representative it is, and the more likely it’ll just do whatever it feels like doing? That is, in fact, the point, the truth. It may even do what you want now, but as stock brokers often say, past behavior is not a guarantee of future results.
And in the meantime, the EU recently decreed that bottled water manufacturers may no longer make the claim that drinking water can help prevent dehydration. Yes, they did that. What was originally just a free trade zone has become an uncontrollable monster with its fingers in everything. Thanks, Brussels, for making the point of the Leave voters crystal clear.
Related posts:
- Episode 44, The One-Year Anniversary: What Edward Snowden’s Revelations Really Reveal About Government
- Episode 20: When Government Reneges, Passing on Our Debt, and Caring For “The Least of These”
- Episode 23: Wonderful Government Programs, 2016 Presidential Picks, Poverty in California, and the Fiscal Cliff