Rantabulous

The problem with extreme views, political or otherwise, is that they aren’t sustainable. The world is too complex for a cookie cutter “this is the way it is period” approach. Therefore, every single extreme philosophy will eventual collapse of its own weight. Case-in-point, Rand Paul.

It is clear that Rand Paul has a strong opinion of the roll of government in American lives, as little as possible. His theory, shared with the rest of the Tea Party movement, is that less bloated government, leads to less expense, which leads to lower taxes and the freedom of business to succeed in a capitalist marketplace. Sounds like a strong position, but it breaks down quickly under scrutiny.

Mr. Paul’s morals and character have come into question lately based on a simple question. If you believe that the government has no role in the private sector do you think the civil rights legislation of the 60’s was wrong. Mr. Paul tried and failed to walk the tightrope he needed to in order to merge his personal morals with regard to equality with his political ideology of small non-intrusive government.

Paul’s only option was to state that he personally abhors racism, which I believe, but that companies should be free to do as they wish. He points to Boston establishments banning segregation 120 years before the south. He says it’s a shame that it took the south so long. Reading between the lines, he seems to imply that eventually the south got it right, however the south didn’t end segregation without the civil rights act, and even then federal intervention was required in more than a few places.

It is my opinion that Rand Paul supports the civil rights laws that were enacted, but that doesn’t jibe with his political ideology. By holding on to an extreme ideology Paul is forced to contort and parse his words. He blames the liberal media but unfortunately it is his unwavering dedication to his ideology that forces him to tap dance in public over segregation and any number of other pieces of legislation. He isn’t alone in this dance, all extreme ideologues have to dance this little jig.

Who could forget the “get your government hands out of my medicare” signs that seemed to defy logic. Nor are the liberals any better at this game. Extreme government oversight leaves us with a knot of laws intended to alleviate social concerns but so complex and expensive as to be completely ineffective.

With that said, moderation, the dirty word in politics, is the only way to go. Some government intervention, such as to prevent a restaurant from disgracing a human being by not serving him simply because of the color of his skin, must be allowed. But the regulation of everything everywhere cannot be tolerated.

Related Articles:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/pauls-honeymoon-seems-over/?hp

This entry was posted on Friday, May 21st, 2010 at 9:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.