In society, it is very important to remember its not just what you do that makes you a better person, but how you treat others. How you treat others is essentially how you are treating yourself. For most of America’s history, the emphasis has been on individual character and individual actions. The definition of what kind of person you were didn’t hinge on what government program you were fighting for. No one said you were a better person because of what you thought government should do. No one cared what government thought when George Washington chopped down the cherry tree. And, it turns out, that attitude is reflected in how people act in their everyday life.
Overall, people who reject the notion that “government forced redistribution is charity” give FOUR times more than people who accept that proposition. If you go to church, you’re twice as likely to volunteer. The further you move away from the “cradle to grave” social democratic mindset and towards personal obligation, you’re more charitable, giving and caring. When it comes to being charitable, Ralph Nader, running for president in 2000, said: “A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.” We know this is the Lefts attitude towards personal charity because Americans give far more to charity than Social Democrat countries. In the case of Germany, we give 7 times more in charity. 14 times more than Italy. We also volunteer more. Conservatives also give more than liberals. Not just in time and money. They are 18% more likely to give blood.
So does that mean if you want government to do those things for you, you’re not good? Well, yes it does. In general.
Reading the recent study by the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada, “Do Green Products make better people?” one begins to understand that the Lefts impulse to replace personal responsibility and ethics with socialistic impulses doesn’t lead to better human beings.
For the Left, “the greater good” has been about replacing micro personal character with macro values. “Well, I believe in global warming so I care more about the planet.” “Well, I believe in lifetime welfare so I care more about the poor.” “I believe in reducing the military so I care more about peace.” This leads them to live day in and day out feeling superior to people who don’t agree with their statist views. They drive around with bumper stickers on their cars that say things like “Better a Bleeding Heart Than None at All,” “The Moral High Ground Is Built on Compassion,” “Arms Are For Hugging,” “Jesus Is a Liberal,” “God Wants Spiritual Fruits, Not Religious Nuts,” and so on.
While mere exposure can activate concepts related to social responsibility and ethical conduct and induce corresponding behaviors, purchasing green products produces the counterintuitive effect of licensing asocial and unethical behaviors by establishing moral credentials.
Basically, the psychologists set up a series of tests and observations whereby the people who made green purchases were examined vis a vis those who made conventional purchases.
Those who made green purchases were 6 times more likely to steal and lie than those who made conventional purchases.This may have something to do with why those who practice macro social goods end up feeling so superior excuse their individual bad behavior so easily. I mean, we’ve all seen the neighborhood wacko who won’t donate because the bottle of water comes in plastic. Or shuts the water off on their roommate because they’re taking a shower too long. We all know them.
Many of the more conservative mindset have known for years that leftists are more immoral and indecent. Americans soldiers coming back from making sure Afghanistan doesn’t fall back under the heel of the Taliban are given a hero’s welcome. German soldiers find it difficult to even find someone who’ll hire them. Ann Coulter found out just how tolerant and open minded the left is in Canada recently. And name one leftist who gives speeches who needs a bodyguard. Not even the leader of Iran had much to worry about. But if you disagree with a leftist, its open season. Can anyone honestly argue they are more worried about driving around with a liberal bumper sticker bashing religion than they are with a bumper sticker that says “Keep the change”? Who gets keyed?
The most important aspect of life in your job if you’re European is how many weeks of vacation you get. Equality ranks at the top of priorities for Europeans, while Americans value freedom and liberty higher. That means the poor in Europe feel they are not being “given” their fair share, while poor in America know being poor today means the opportunity to be rich tomorrow. Thus, being poor has little affect on center to right Americans, while for leftists its a license to steal and riot.
Leftists abandon individual morality a little at a time because they value social morality more, and hate having it pointed out what kind of people they are. Anyone who seeks to remind society that we should constantly aspire to good personal behavior is automatically the target of leftists screaming “hypocrisy!” if the messenger falls short anywhere in their own lives.
A little aside. Anyone who uses the word “hypocrisy” in situations where people talk about high individual standards but don’t reach them themselves, has no more appreciation for the word “hypocrisy” than Alanis Morrisette does with the word “ironic”. Everyone can and should aspire to high individual standards. No one ever reaches them all the time. That’s no reason not to try. The ancient greeks understood that aspiring to something that is never quite reachable was the highest moral good in society.
We will not make perfect the enemy of the good.
But hey, buy the recylable green bag for your groceries, and you’re just swell!
everytime i see a greentard, i just laugh at them.
This is why Hispanic activists are so ridiculous.. they have the mind set that they and their PEOPLE are ENTITLED to be catered too.. after all they do cut your law and mind your kids..As far as i am concerned they are lucky they have a job and that Americans who have worked hard to get a head can give them that job!
You just need to go into Santa Ana to witness the ramifications of what Welfare does to populations.. Santa Ana has a large population of single mothers, underage pregnancy and a high rate of school drop outs.. why? A lack of personal responsibility. There are so many different types of entitlements in Santa Ana, its population might as well be living in a socialized country..
Entitlements = moral and social decay!
Liberals are in general white, educated and rich, they have in most cases no common sense, a lack of moral values and a elitist mentality.. they consider minorities thick and unable to take care of themselves. They consider working whites as seen but not to be heard.
In general liberals are arrogant Bastards and one of them is now the president of the United States!
Before anyone says it… Yes the president is black, i did say in general!
And this is what you don’t understand. The Government is not separate from us. That’s what you don’t get. It’s either or for you. But the Government represents US, that’s the concept.
So in those countries you point out, they don’t have to give charitably because people don’t have the outrageous needs that we have here because they have health care, etc.
DOH!
What you need to understand is that Government is suppose to be separate from us.. that is what freedom is – that is democracy!
America is charitable to the world, not just within its own borders.
The reason America has the best healthcare system in the world is due to it be a private entity. What you fail to see is the obvious, everything the Government runs, “sucks”.
The government in the Us has become a segment of the American people who have started to value a bigger pay check over the well being of their own country and country men!
Michelle, you have so much hatred for Hispanics that you’d use any subject as an opportunity to attack Hispanic and Santa Ana.
Furthermore, you say “everything the Government runs, “sucks””. Really? Like what Michelle?
Terry, you’ve formed a caricature of those who don’t hold to your far-right views. Your opinions are completely rational, but the facts on which you base them are non-sense.
Teacher, I agree that my “generalization” of those who hold leftist views can only be exampled with anecdotes. But that doesn’t make them less true. Just because Vern can say “well, i saw a man bite a dog!” doesn’t mean dogs don’t bite nearly all the time. To give an anecdote of a dog biting a man is not nonsense. It’s the truth.
The reality that before the baby boomer generation, personal behavior was measured by how you acted, not what political position you took, is also real. Its the left that attempts to say people who don’t hold those positions is not just wrong, but bad, evil, and wicked.
That’s nonsense.
I don’t ask the left to hold any position. I ask they acknowledge it isn’t a replacement for the fundamental decencies and family values that built this country. So social security is not a replacement for letting grandma live with you. Welfare is not a replacement for taking blankets down to skid row. Universal Health Care is not a replacement for responsibly saving for the doctor and not using insurance for your hangnail or sore throat. And leftists behave like it is.
As surely as the sun rises in the morn, Crowley will be here like a cat at the front door showing off his latest mauled rodent, and looking for attention and praise (although he is more often scavenger than predator.)
Terry, what is it in your past that makes you such a petty, vindictive person? What makes you so intolerant of anyone whose values are a little different from yours? Did some environmentalist rape your dog, run over your mom? What is your major malfunction, Private Pyle?
Now Terry’s got a new hanger-on, our latest far-right commenter (like we really needed another) “middleground,” with what is perhaps his deepest comment to date, “I laugh at greentards.” Oh right – there was also, from yesterday, his comment “…about solar rooftop power and plug-in cars… i don’t know where to begin” – and so he didn’t. Welcome to the mosh pit, middleground, and I hope you learn to contribute something more substantive. Till then you can always follow around behind Terry’s skirts.
So – does this study actually exist? “People who care about the environment more likely to lie, cheat and steal.” I suppose somebody here should go look into it, see exactly what variety of bullshit this is. I’ll do it later if nobody else does, but why does it always fall onto me to shovel up after this circus elephant? This is not a paid position, you know!
Well, half the time I think Vern actually resembles a fairly decent individual. There is a sense of humor and sense of reality behind what he says. Then the other half the time I realize he is just an angry white male, scared of the sensible people who don’t agree with him and just lashing out.
Vern, its the inability of people like you to respect the values of a majority of this country, to allow that a small entitlement to give old people some health care is not an excuse to spread government into everyones lives. If you want it, go grasp it and leave the rest of us alone! Quit pretending that your social values make you superior when they quite obviously don’t translate to your personal behavior!
Quit pretending that your social values make you superior…
This is really in your head, dude. I’m not like that, neither are most of the left-leaning people on this blog. There must be some really nasty, arrogant leftwingers up in Colorado, is all I can think!
…small entitlement to give old people some health care is not an excuse to spread government into everyones lives. If you want it, go grasp it and leave the rest of us alone!
See, whenever any of you righties speak reasonably, it sounds like you’re justifying a public OPTION, or Medicare WE CAN BUY INTO. And then we’re on the same page. Why fight it tooth and nail? It’s what a lot of us want!
So – does this study actually exist? “People who care about the environment more likely to lie, cheat and steal.” I suppose somebody here should go look into it, see exactly what variety of bullshit this is.
does the grayson (republicans love me) poll actually exist? and you know exactly what i’m talking about vern. i guess there’s bs and then there is bs. and you’ll have to excuse me if i don’t respond in paragraphs to inane articles. brevity is the soul of wit you know…or may you don’t. well now you do.
Yes, this study does exist, from Canada a couple weeks ago. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/16/green-study-toronto.html#socialcomments It says what Crowley says, and it also says, paradoxically, that “Merely exposing participants to green products, however, seemed to trigger more altruism.” A few notes:
Many are not taking this study too seriously because it was done on such a small and unrepresentative sample – 90 university students. “Fallacy of insufficient sample” it’s called.
People (like Crowley) who are pre-disposed to believe that envirommentalists are mean and evil are, naturally, loving the study.
One interesting thought from a commenter at the CBC: “I wonder if the same principle applies to other individuals or groups who adhere to behaviours that they deem righteous. I wonder if the more “righteous” rules one keeps and the more onerous those rules are, whether that enables more abusive behaviour towards those outsiders or “evil doers” that are perceived as less righteous. It is an interesting phenomenon that has been revealed here. I wonder how generally applicable it is.”
Vern sez: I never think much about “buying green,” whatever that is. I feel guilty when I consider that I probably should. Maybe that’s what makes me such a nice person.
Seriously, stop ragging on people for doing what they think is right. Are you so touchy, have such a chip on your shoulder, that that’s what you see when you see a cloth bag, “I’m better than you?” That reflects more on you than anything else.
Oh hi Middleground. I dunno about the Grayson Republican poll. It seems less important than the question of whether environmentalism will rend our nation asunder. I… Actually I think I will look into it soon. Right now I think I’ll move on to a topic more of my choosing.
suit yourself…
heyyy..look what i found:
FBI: Eco-Terrorism Remains No. 1 Domestic Terror Threat
Monday, March 31, 2008
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343768,00.html
…The FBI defines eco-terrorism “as the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally oriented, subnational group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature.”…
yes… it is from 2 years ago. I wonder if it is still no. 1. ahhh…righteous behavior. don’t you just love it?
Doesn’t look that way any more. Of course my source is not FOX News, but the FBI themselves, specifically the Director’s Congressional Testimony two weeks ago:
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress10/mueller031710.htm
He talks about a LOT of different threats, eco-terrorism doesn’t turn up anywhere in this presentation. Maybe it was just a brief flareup in 2008, or maybe it was just patented “Fair & Balanced” (like “middleground”) FOX cherrypicking. Here’s the only two paragraphs about domestic terror threats:
Homegrown violent extremists also pose a very serious threat. Homegrown violent extremists are not clustered in one geographic area, nor are they confined to any one type of setting—they can appear in cities, smaller towns, and rural parts of the country. This diffuse and dynamic threat—which can take the form of a lone actor—is of particular concern.
While much of the national attention is focused on the substantial threat posed by international terrorists to the homeland, the United States must also contend with an ongoing threat posed by domestic terrorists based and operating strictly within the United States. Domestic terrorists, motivated by a number of political or social issues, continue to use violence and criminal activity to further their agendas.
Speaking of domestic terror threats and the FBI, did you hear about the raids in Michigan today?
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100328/METRO/3280313/1361/FBI-raids-in-Michigan-may-involve-Christian-militia-group
Dangerous apocalyptic “Christian” militia group. I’m waiting to hear more details before I say anything about it. (And idiots on this blog start calling me “anti-Christian.”) Still… I bet they consider themselves pretty righteous. No, I don’t “just love it,” prick.
Nice playing with you tonite… gonna take a break for a while.
Middleground, you have taken a burden off my shoulders. I owe you a burger and a beer. Vern is coming unglued!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/voyeur-west-hollywood-mic_n_516903.htm
“Many of the more conservative mindset have known for years that leftists are more immoral and indecent”
Michael Steele is busying spending almost two thousand at a SM lesbian srtip club in Hollywood but Vern has to defend our “moral superiority” for using our own shopping bags ?
I think this whole Terry Crowley rant is taking a moral “wide stance” .
I owe you a beer gericault. But look how much work middleground did to also earn a burger from Terry.
I’d prefer a nice bottle of red, I’ll bring it in my Trader joes cloth bag……After all ……….I’m a superior elitist arrogant bastard .
*Now you see friends and neighbors…..CVS Drugs has a very cool “Green Promo”. You buy a Green Bag for a Buck! The first four times you use the bag…you get credit for .25 cents. You only can use the bag at once a day per location. Then, after you get the Buck credited….they give it back to you! The Buck!
Every time you use the bag
you get .25 cents credit.
Ain’t necessarily Liberal…and all the little old ladies behind you in line….all say: “What’s with that?”
But then they are all probably just Teabaggers!
Uhhh, the man pictured in the middle of the article is probably using Sign Language. If so, he is signing that means “snob” or “stuck up”!
The Government is supposed to be separate from us? Where did you learn your civics? Seriously? There is a separation of powers, so you have checks and balances, yes. There is a separate of church and state so that religion does not interfere with governance and vice versa.
But the Government represents the people and vice versa. We are the Government. As soon as you recognize that truth it will no longer be an “us against them” kind of mentality and you can stop hating your Country so much, WHICH IS YOUR GOVERNMENT.
Government is only as good as those that are involved, who vote and are a part of it. If you want to be an adversary to it, then don’t complain about how shitty it is, you are the one who has given up your power by insisting you are not part of the solution.