Division of a Nation

I know a lot of people will disagree with me when I say that the United States is about to change in a way that no one really likes. There is a rift between ideologies in this country and I am not sure compromise can be found. On one side are the living constitution crowd, liberals if you will, that feel that the constitution should change with the times. On the other side are the traditionalist, conservatives, that feel the founding fathers had it right, and the constitution should be taken literally, as written, and never changed.

Any time changes are made, there are repercussions that ripple out like a stone dropped in the water, and they get bigger with time. A good example is welfare: people that receive open ended assistance have no motivation to go back to work. That is why the number of people on welfare is at an all time high. What motivation do people have to go to work and pay for their own health care if the government is willing to provide it to them for free?

The liberals would argue that it works in European countries; why cant it work here? Well, the answer is simple. Europeans pay about half of their income in taxes and their health care system is government owned. Greece and Spain are on the edge of financial collapse right now and could pull the entire European Union down with them because their social programs, the same social programs that the liberals want to impose on our country, are draining their resources and crippling their economies.

Every Democratic country that has ever existed has ultimately failed because of entitlements. The ancient Greeks have seen this before. They were the founders of democracy and voted themselves into financial ruin by giving themselves entitlements. The Roman democracy ended when they could no longer find compromise and a dictatorship was established. Even the Roman emperors couldn't afford to keep the populous satisfied with free food and entertainment in the end, because when you start to give things to people, they always want more. They say that history repeats itself and maybe it does; if it does, we are in big trouble.

There are good arguments in both sides. Many liberal causes that protect individual rights and freedoms are a must, as well as keeping a watchful eye on government and business. Conservatives see themselves taking the moral high ground and that is good too, as long as they don't force their religious beliefs on others. We need both the fiscal responsibility, low tax, conservative stance of the right and the social, protectiveness of the left, in this country to be successful.

Right now each side has gathered behind their banners, pulled to the far side of their philosophy, and are prepared to do battle with each other. But the victims that fall in this battle will be all of us, the American people. We will pay that price in higher taxes, costly failed programs, higher debt, and a good possibility of another bad recession.