As always, I have Brad and Britt on the radio for the morning commute. I listen because they are local and because I need to convince myself that I listen to both sides. As such, I normally am shaking my head at the discussion and the mind-set I get from Greensboro.
This morning was different. The subject was France and whether or not it’s better to live in France or the USA. Normally, the left says that the French model is better but given the choice, they don’t wanna live there. As if they subconsciously understand that you don’t get both the “good life” France offers and the freedom and benefits of such that America offers.
Brad and Britt both agreed that it is much MUCH better to live in America than France. Again, this isn’t surprising, this follows the leftist road map. But as the conversation continued, I was pleasantly surprised at WHY they would not like to live in France. For example, they idea of “strikes and riots when the price of milk goes up a by a nickel” was pure genius in its simplicity in capturing the French culture. But it got even better. When describing the summer break, Britt correctly wondered “who is gonna do the work?”. And not to leave Brad out, he weighed in with this “given the chance to make a life in America vs being taken care of but tracked, I would take America ANYDAY!”
This was just a wonderful way to start the morning. It gave me hope that we ARE a center-right nation. That we know the chance, the opportunity, to strike out and make our way is a fundamental and uniquely American principle. That we get freedom. That being provided for has its price.
Yet it’s this wonderful news that frustrates me from the marketing side of me. I am convinced that a conservative approach to finance and economics is the way to prosperity and advancement. But the right is SO poor at spreading the message that we get painted as greedy industrialists. And we never EVER learn from that. No one wants to hear that minimum wage laws should be abolished. “How greedy can you get? Slave wages for the poor!” It resonates. It sticks. Never mind that unemployment goes up, cost of goods go up and innovation and choice are restricted.
And who doesn’t wanna provide less expensive yet better medical care to everyone? We ALL do. The problem is, there is a wrong way and a right way. Restricting that market is the wrong way. Opening it up is the right way.
But we never get the message out. We just sit back and “can’t be bothered by that”. It’s the same reason you never see serious economists enter into debate about the most commonly accepted financial principles; because it is so basic and understood, that to debate it is beneath all serious members. It would be akin to debating that 2 is greater than 1.
Anyway, Brad, Britt….well said. And welcome to the center-right society!