In the real world, people reject conservativism - letter by Mike Mosolf

Reproduced here for fair use and discussion purposes. My comments in bold.

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Mr. Mosolf, in typical leftist fashion, spews forth with half formed thoughts, denigrating characterizations, and ludicrous strawmen as he bows before the all powerful government. We will also discover that the title of the letter, which the newspaper editorially provides, is not what the letter is about. Read on:

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Way back in 1961, Ronald Reagan, a class B movie and TV actor, warned Americans of dire consequences if Medicare was enacted into law. Mr. Reagan said: “One of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.” (After the obligatory leftist pot-shot at Reagan, we find Mr. Mosolf's first misdirection. The actual quote: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." 

Reagan's remarks were in the context of government incrementally taking over free enterprise in the name of compassion, of which Medicare was only a stepping stone. Strangely, on the heels of the implementation of obamacare, Mr. Mosolf is unable to recognize his own irony. We've had 5 decades of increasing intervention of government into our private choices, including healthcare, and things have never been more expensive, complex, and wasteful. The fact that Reagan was right did not seem to occur to Mr. Mosolf.)

Sound familiar? Ironically, President Reagan’s “sunset years” were spent in the foggy world of advanced dementia where he received excellent medical care to which retired government employees are rightfully entitled. (Another little pot shot at the hated Reagan rendered in order to... what, show that government employees should not have health care? Can we ask what relationship to socialized healthcare has to the fact that government employees have healthcare?)

Today, neo-Reaganites are telling Americans we owe it to our children and our children’s children to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) so we can have freedom as we know it. Sound familiar? (If someone has said this, they are as correct as Reagan was. We already know what a disaster Medicare is. It is functionally bankrupt, just as Social Security is. If only Mr. Mosolf could point to a government success story somewhere and say, "see how wonderful government is doing with this program?" 

President Reagan's prescient thoughts are coming back to haunt us as we discover anew with each subsequent generation that government wants more power over our choices. I am thankful that there are still elected officials who are fighting the good fight against government overreach in the name of "compassion.")

Just what is this freedom these folks are babbling about? (Mr. Mosolf doesn't know. He can't conceive of a world where people can make personal choices without being told by some bureaucrat what is good for them.) 

Is it freedom to be priced out of the health care market due to ever increasing insurance premiums or being denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition? Is it the freedom to lose your coverage due to job or business loss? (Another bit of misdirection. Lacking a working knowledge of the concept of freedom, Mr. Mosolf dredges up some unrelated leftist talking points in order to suggest that freedom must be the ability to have health insurance no matter the circumstances. 

Another concept that eludes Mr. Mosolf is the understanding that life is full of risks, and the ostensible purpose of these heavy-handed government mandates is to lessen risk. Would it be too obvious to point out that risk cannot be eliminated, and in fact, cannot be lessened systemically? Risk can only be redistributed. There is always a choice made, whether deliberate or unconscious, between taking a risk and transferring risk to others.

Let's go a little deeper by means of an analogy. In the world of finance I can purchase AAA rated bonds which are very low risk. So why doesn't every investor buy AAA bonds? Because there is a tradeoff. Low risk bonds have a low rate of return. I can obtain much higher yields by buying penny stocks, but my risk is much higher. By choosing AAA bonds, I experience investment risk, that is, my investment doesn't grow as fast as it could if I invested elsewhere. The risk here is the difference in value at some point in the future when I cash in. I lost money [a risk] by choosing security over yield.

Back to government-provided risk mitigation. What do I give up by not being able to choose to take certain risks myself? Freedom! The freedom to choose for myself the risk of certain activities. Government chooses for me, and anytime government chooses for me and denies me my choice, I have lost freedom. Not to mention the risks associated with bureaucracy, inefficiency, and lowed productivity as government's choices have ripple effects all through society.

In addition, the problem with these government programs is there is no stopping government from making other choices for me. Really, what mechanism is there to prevent government from choosing what I eat, what kind of house I can buy, or who I can marry? If government can mandate my healthcare, why can't it mandate my health? We know that regular exercise improves health outcomes, so how would anyone object to mandatory daily calisthenics? How would we stop government from banning football, a risky sport? I'm sure you can conceive of many other things that are risky that people choose to do. All these choice, by the same reasoning, can be legislated by government. What's to stop them?) 

As a man in his “sunset years,” I ask myself, should I be involved in suggesting health care policies or leave it to this new generation to fix things? (Astonishing. He's wondering if he should force people to do things.) 

With that said, I am optimistic by how young people have, for the most part, embraced universal miscegenation (Whaaaa? Miscegenation: intermarriage between races: marriage or cohabitation between people of different races. Mr. Mosolf veers off course in a truly odd way. This is a strange little world of irrelevancies that he lives in.) 

along with the natural evolution of human values. (Apparently he wanted to write a longer letter, because this stuff makes no sense at all.) 

And it’s refreshing to view that old Argentine in the Vatican showing signs of being young at heart. (It must be wonderful in his land of pink unicorns and fairy dust. Is Mr. Mosolf also showing signs of dementia in his sunset years?)

In reality it’s out with repressive conservatism and in with progressive humanism. (After a tour de force of leftist fantasies about controlling people, limiting their choices, and forcing them to do things they do not want to do or face the penalty of law, Mr. Mosolf's letter climaxes in a truly absurd Hallelujah Chorus of obliviousness.  I am left speechless.

Regarding the letter's title, people do not reject conservatism. They live conservative lives despite their political philosophy. For example, the most rabid leftist still expects to be paid for the work he does on behalf of his employer. He expects his paycheck to be higher if he works harder or more hours. He expects to pay for food, shelter, and the niceties of life by his own choice and at times he deems convenient to him. He expects to receive what he paid for. 

He makes every attempt to lower his tax bill. He expects people to stop at stoplights and not rob him on the street. He would never show up on his neighbor's doorstep and demand that his neighbor pay for his healthcare. He wants people punished for their crimes. He lives in the nicest neighborhood he can afford, and rarely if ever make a deliberate choice to live in a ghetto if he doesn't have to. 

Nearly everyone lives according to conservative principles. Few leftists voluntarily send more money to government. Rarely do they voluntarily seek government to make their daily decisions for them. Hardly any live their lives in a manner that suggests that they welcome more government intervention into their lives. 

People naturally love freedom, love to choose for themselves, and expect others to do the same. Conservatism is natural.)

Mike Mosolf

Dillon