The Conservative View: Handwriting on the Wall

This week's Conservative View, by Adair County Commissioner and conservative activist Russell Turner (R-Stilwell).

The Conservative View
by Russell Turner

Handwriting on the Wall

I guess it is just a part of human nature for us when we are young to believe that we will never grow old and we will always be strong and energetic. I am reminded of an old story in the Bible about an ancient king being warned by a hand that appeared and wrote a message of warning to the king. As I see a little more grey hair each day, I also see the need to prepare for the day when I can no longer work yet still have the income to live a modest but comfortable life. As a conservative I believe in personal responsibility and the using of good fiscal sense, if we don’t see the handwriting on the wall we are all going to pay a huge price in our so-called golden years.

A lot of people have faith in some retirement system either from Social Security or some state retirement plan. Both of the systems are experiencing problems and I feel that the problems will only get worse. In the case of Social Security, the baby boomers are retiring and the number of those paying and those receiving are getting closer together every day. Another fact; the retiring baby boomers were paying more into Social Security because many of them were at their peak salary. In the case of many of the state retirement systems, the contributions were borrowed from by the lawmakers who were in charge of the system to fund other government projects or the funds were invested in a falling stock market.

Some states are already raising the retirement age to prolong the inevitable reductions of benefits. Social Security is also facing a train wreck, we have heard the warnings for years but very few politicians have the will power to do the things necessary to fix the problem. I do know that we Americans have gotten into the mentality that problems can be fixed in a year or two, but we are facing decades of sacrifice in order to correct the problem. I have noticed that many Americans are unwilling to make the sacrifices; far too many of us have the mentality of just let someone else take the hit and leave me alone. For those of us that can see the handwriting on the wall, we know that we need not rely upon the government but to rely upon our own abilities to provide for ourselves in our later years.

If you wish to contact Russell Turner, or want to subscribe to his email loop, email him at rdrepublican@windstream.net.

The Conservative View: Where's the Work Ethic

This week's Conservative View, by Adair County Commissioner Russell Turner (R-Stilwell).

The Conservative View
by Russell Turner

Where's the Work Ethic?

One of the virtues that has defined us as a nation is our desire to go the extra mile and have pride in our workmanship. We Americans owe a lot to our ancestors; they did the hard work that made our standard of living possible. I was raised to believe that if you were willing to sacrifice and do the work and devote the time that most people refused to do you would get ahead in life. I believe that prosperity does not come cheap; it requires sweat and a willingness to get our hands dirty. I have noticed that many Americans have gotten into the mindset that we are too good to do hard work.

A few days ago I watched a report on how we Americans are not building anything anymore. Our manufacturing base has been on a steady decline for several years. One example given was on the building of computers. Most all of the computers today are built in countries like Korea and China. The proponents of the current system claim that we make the money on the software and programming of the computers. While that may work today, we Americans had better start to look at the potential problems that can bite us in the backside in the future.

We would be foolish to think that the people building the computers lack the intelligence to design the software and programs that future generations will need. Information can be one of the least kept secrets in the world. Just look at any of our major universities and you will see students from all parts of the world enrolled there. When other countries build their research and development facilities, we could find ourselves outside looking in. It would be a perfect world if we Americans could all work in air conditioned offices and just type on a computer and make six figures a year, but we live a long way from a perfect world. Our parents and grandparents knew the need to roll up their sleeves and be willing to get their hands dirty. During WW 2 it was the manufacturing capacity of our nation that was the deciding factor in our country winning that war. For a country to be strong it must have the ability to build the things that its people need. Government handouts are not the answer, the embracing of freedom and allowing people to prosper or fail on their own merits is the only answer.

If you wish to contact Russell Turner, or want to subscribe to his email loop, email him at rdrepublican@windstream.net.

The Conservative View: Pro Choice?

This week's 'Conservative View', from Russell Turner.

The Conservative View
by Russell Turner

Pro Choice?

For years there has been a huge debate on the abortion issue in this country. There are two camps, one being pro choice and one pro life. The purpose of this column is not to debate that issue, but to put the heath care debate into a perspective that we can relate too. To me it is ironic that the biggest proponents of the huge government takeover are for the most part pro choice in the abortion debate.

The founders of this country created our form of government to have as little impact on the citizens of this country as possible. One of my favorite quotes was from Thomas Jefferson, “ the government that governs best governs least “. Have we forgotten that the purpose of government is to protect our freedoms that are endowed by the creator? I agree that the cost of health care has risen, but what hasn’t? The cost of autos and a host of other things have risen at a fast rate also, often because of the manufactures having to comply with government regulations. We Americans have a habit of being willing to pay any price for something we want and complain about the price of the things we need. Now that the government owns General Motors, I wonder if the American people would tolerate the government telling them what kind of car and what color they need. I will bet that there would be the biggest revolt you would ever see if that were to happen, but many are willing to set back and let the government decide life and death decisions about our heath care.

There may be a place for some government involvement in heath care, but it should be limited. One of the things that I found very offensive is the idea of end of life counseling. The patient, family and spiritual leader, not some government bureaucrat, should make those difficult decisions. Before any of us begin to place all of our faith in government just look at the track record. Social Security and Medicare are programs that were supposed to provide for all Americans, now both are a ticking time bomb that in my opinion will retire a long time before most Americans.

We Americans like to be able to determine our own destiny. If we want to remain pro-choice in that aspect, we had better take a hard look before we embrace socialized medicine.

If you want to contact Russell, or wish to subscribe to his email list, click here.