A lot of leftists agree with that -- so they have the government use the gun. People who wouldn't dream of robbing their neighbors have no qualms over voting for it. It's one indication of how it takes more than the superficial "want free stuff" to explain a socialist willing to submit himself and everyone else to collectivist domination in the name of morality.

As my best friend (and the man who introduced me to Ayn Rand back in 1972) reportedly told a liberal petitioner when she asked him if he didn't like free stuff: "Sure, I'm all in favor of free stuff, as long as I don't have to put a gun to the head of my neighbors."

While true, indeed we saw just that in Venezuela a couple years ago when all the internationals up and left, and what little they hadn't looted they "nationalized"....and things just got worse... Yet this young hussy jhas no clue and really believes what she was told. She is a poster girl for the danger of socialism. Maybe that was an intentional move by the republicans, or the Trump group, to let the country see how ridiculous a real socialist is by letting her loose in the candy store.

Doc, I think that has been happening since checks were first introduced, it IS such a hard concept for some...

It should have been "nation".

One agency is better than 2. Denigrating the greatest president all while he is under constant attack from the collectivists. He has eliminated 22 regulations for every 1 implemented. Your objectivism should make you realize the recovery from the socialism implanted into this country over many decades will take many steps @nd will not happen instantly. I gladly Support Trump , you can support your imaginary perfect President and good luck with that.

"the course of a nature"?

Would you care to explain what that is?

On the other hand, never mind. We probably will disagree on this subject so it'll be just wasting space.

I simply disagree if I may.

It does not seem useful to continue this dialogue.

Yes.

It is called "passing on the torch".

It takes the same strong determination generation after generation to have the flame live and pass it on to the next. In the process, the flame may go out. If the older generation has not prepared the next to know how to re-ignite it, it'll die forever.

Again, you describe the situation very well.

What is the solution to prevent it from taking over young minds?

agreed...demographics show dems losing support as population moves into the countryside over the next 25 years...Trump's coalition of rural voters might be the future...Ivanka for President 2024...

As above, I’m only talking about criminal actions.

That was an awesome statement by Ayn Rand. I had never heard of it actually, but its very inspiring to be sure.

As to your first comment about buying time, isnt that what I did with voting for Trump, as the obvious less evil choice? Sounds like you would agree that it was a good idea to keep crooked Hillary from getting in there. It would appear that Trumps ride will end in 2020, as it partially did in the election of 2018. But without an intellectual base, Trump could only slow down the rise of collectivism in a few areas, which I think he has done.

"Can this country achieve a peaceful rebirth in the foreseeable future?
"By all precedents, it is not likely

I think AR was right in making this comment. The rise in entitlement, political correctness, and the supremacy of pure emotion over reason has created very large problems for us.

Collectivism has attracted many more followers because of offering them freebies that others will pay for. I think it will take the exhaustion of the 'others' money before this can stop.

The role of spreading the proper philosophical ideas in changing the course of a nature has been discussed here many times. Ayn Rand emphasized it repeatedly.

Rejecting your comment does not mean not having read it. There is no "multivariable equation". That is not what the term "equation" means. You emphasized "parents" as not wanting "anything to do" with their own children as a major source of the problem. That is not only not true, it omits once again the nature of the ideas which they pass on to their children, both informally and in formal education.

I would estimate we are at a 50-50 tipping point as to the "american sense of life". The young people are primarily true socialists as are the immigrants from central america and mexico- and they are replacing the baby boomers who are dying off.

This means to me that whether we help the collectivists destroy the country or not, it will be essentially destroyed before we tip the educational scales to a sufficient degree to help reverse the process. My estimate is like 50 years of slow and agonizing destruction of our civilization before it just collapses, or is taken over by a foreign power like china.

On the positive side, I see people to a larger degree accepting that the MSM is crooked and not to be believed. In addition, although conspiracy theories arent universally accepted, people have much less trust in government in general and politicians in particular. This is indicated by the election of Trump, and his recent advertising banners "promises made... promises kept" (we never used to see this sort of advertising).
Another positive influence, which would would probably disagree with, is the abject failure of socialism in relatively close-by countries like Venezuela. Although it doesnt get much press so far, once it gets to the point where masses of people are dying, it might more attention.

Most socialist countries like Russia, China, Cuba, and most of Europe limp along without mass deaths, which promotes the hope that socialism CAN work if done right.

I agree it would be preferable if OUR society didnt collapse around our ankles.

I have not condoned anything the left is doing. The anti-intellectual conservative response to it is not an answer. Rejecting it as hopelessly ineffective is not condoning the left.

The so-called "seditious individuals" are teachers spreading ideas, not "criminal action". Ignoring the role of fundamental ideas, replacing it with a conspiracy theory about "seditious individuals" engaging in "criminal actions" is a hopeless anti-intellectual approach to the problem of the schools and education. Building on that to rationalize a secret police monitoring ideas under government controlled schools is not only the opposite of a free society, it is frightening. It is all the diametric opposite of Ayn Rand's philosophy of reason, individualism and freedom.

Conservatives typically try to explain political trends with an 'evil man' theory of history, without regard for how fundamental ideas drive the course of a society. The extreme versions concoct all kinds of imagined conspiracies claimed to 'must' be the cause.

It is the president's job to appeal to proper principles of a free society and implement them. Focusing on bureaucratic reorganization with a "merger of education and labor depts" is both a laughable example of evading what is needed to reform education and an example of conservatives embracing of statist government interference in education while claiming to reverse the trend.

There shouldn't be an "education department" (or a "labor department"). The administration's bureaucratic shuffling only concedes statist premises of government control over education, evading and obscuring the fundamental debate, while arguing with the other side of the swamp over how to do it. It wastes effort, in the wrong direction, while decrying "stiff resistance" in an irrelevant political battle -- all without mentioning the real problems with the content of education and the political support for them.

There isn't anything Trump can do to reform what is taught in schools, nor should he in his government role, other than removing existing Federal spending, controls and interference. Part of the problem of Trump idolatry is conservative belief that Trump's temporary political role is or could be a substitute for the required reform of fundamental ideas in the culture, including education, even if he were not further entrenching the wrong direction. Citing and relying on an administration political sales "report" for reorganization does not address any of this.

It’s not about about ideas, it’s about criminal actions.

If public school are exempt from these kinds of criminal actions, then all ISIS would need for safe spaces in America is to call their militant training camps, “Public Schools.”

So what will it take, according to you?

You did not read my comment.

I said it was a multivariable equation, one of the variables being the parent.

I was not blaming them solely for the problem.

You are condoning all and every action/policy the left is suffocating this country with.

I don't want to be harsh but you often sound cynical. It is your business, of course, but it does not pass as a rational explanation or even an attempt to find solution. Are you saying we just have to sit back and wait until all of us are killed off by the left? That is the ultimate goal, just as it was Stalin's to execute tens of millions to "purify" communist ranks. Many of the elite in Europe are of the conviction that it was worth the price.

I agree.