"Soylent Green"

Last week I wrote that Obama's Socialist Agenda had passed both houses. That was what had been reported and I couldn't find too many details at the time.

Turns out, the Senate stripped out the cap-and-trade provisions (for now) and made other modifications, but agreed to socialist health care and whatever it is Obama wants for education. But nothing was funded. The media is now calling the bill a "blueprint."

Maybe this is all a stalling tactic, but included in the bluprint legislation is an agreement that the various pieces of it will be legislated under "reconciliation," which means the upcoming bills will require only a simple majority to pass and there will be limited debate.

Let's hope they can fudge all these details until the Democrats lose their majority, and hopefully all the nuts'n'bolts behind Obama's Five Year Plan will just expire in committee.

The question remains: Why do any of this at all? These programs do not provide a benefit to mankind; they're only wrecking a system that's barely limping along as it is -- burdened with busybody giveaways and suffocating under regulation already.

The one thing no one is considering is the free market, and the free market is the only thing that will create the solutions we need.

Why do I feel like I'm trapped inside some kind of "Soylent Green" scenario? In 10 years -- if I'm not dead from lack of health care -- I'll be telling the younger generation what it was like to be free:

"You could get in your car and drive anywhere with no restrictions. Yes, Heather, we had gas-fueled cars. You could go something like 300 miles before filling up. And we 'filled up,' we didn't 'plug in.' And you could actually afford fuel. Not like now, when electricity costs more than gasoline.

"You could keep your lights on all day if you wanted, work on the computer, watch TV. 'Course, it cost money, but we weren't under any rationing or mandates like now.

"You could pick whatever you wanted to study in college. You didn't have to take guidance from the Occupational Directors, building a labor force for the global marketplace.

"Congress used to have authority over the Housing Czar and Energy Czar and Financial Czar. If the czars pronounced some crappy policy that was going to put you out of business, you could write your congressman, and he might have been able to help. You didn't just pay a fine or go to jail for violations, no questions asked.

"We used to be proud of America's concept of 'rule by law, not by man.' That meant decisions that affected the whole population couldn't be mandated by one guy arbitrarily. They had to be debated and approved by Congress. I mean, that's what Congress used to do, but now we've got the czars.

"You could leave the country -- and without being stopped and searched.

"We had cash currency, not just the National Bank Cards. No one could trace cash. You could spend it on anything you wanted and no one knew about it. If people paid you for something in cash, the government would never know. I saved a couple old bills. I'll leave them to you in my will. They're collectors' items now, like Confederate Bonds.

"The grocery stores, the department stores, the discount stores -- they used to cover acres of ground. We used to have so much to chose from... but I guess it really is better to limit our choices. After all, it was only redundant to have 16 different kinds of breakfast cereal and a dozen brands of dish detergent. The current system is so much more efficient in allocating national resources.

"We used to be 'free.' Sorry, kids, I can't explain that to you. What it meant, really, was that the world was your oyster -- you could do anything you wanted, as long as you figured out some way to pay for it. Sure, a lot of people took advantage and got into trouble. But they paid for it, one way or another. Not like now, when if a Czar makes mistake, we're all in the crapper for the next few years. You could go off on your own, explore and do things without being videotaped or stopped and searched or without having to prove your identity.

"Why would I want to do that? Don't you ever just want to stop and reflect? Maybe only to meditate or talk to your God? Or just be peaceful inside yourself? No? Well, I guess it is kind of an old-fashioned notion for people who've been harrassed by cell phones and Twitter all their lives.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Things are so much better now. You don't have to research things or read and ask questions, weigh and ponder things, you just do what you're told. Maybe the Czars do know better what's good for us; maybe we shouldn't want things we don't have; maybe we should let the neighbors decide what we can do in our yards and patios. And, yes, it used to be very confusing to read whatever you liked. A lot of books and TV programs contradicted each other. Not like now, when all subscribe to a single vision and promote the latest Five Year Plan.

"Damn, though, it used to be fun just to be alive! But maybe you're right. Better to just follow the herd. I mean, we're all just stupid and lazy and incapable of making our own decisions. And heaven forbid, you don't want to act like you're better than anyone else or deserve more than what everyone else has. Stick your head up, you'll probably get it shot off. Why should anyone make exceptions for you? Washington knows better, right? They've got the Czars and the Experts. And you're probably right, it's our duty to serve as cannon fodder for their plans. After all, they promise a better future, right?

"A better future for whom, though?"

Ya know, Utopia is not an option. Never has been. Never will be.