Change Based on Reality

We all want change. Whether we simply accept its inevitability or seek resolution to those things which need fixed, we want change. But shouldn’t we pursue change for the better?

To change for the better we need forward thinking leadership that has learned from both the successes and failures of the past, not leadership which seeks a change back to the failed policies of the past.

You can’t hope for a better future if you ignore the lessons of the past.

Why then change back to those tax rates which failed us in the past? Why change back to a system which punishes ingenuity, hard work, risk taking, and accomplishment through confiscatory tax rates? We need change that does not punish us for moving ourselves up from lower incomes.

Everyone under the age of 45 needs change. Millions and millions of dollars have been taken from a lifetime of their paychecks for Social Security. Those workers are guaranteed to never see that money from this “sure to be bankrupt” system. We need someone with the courage to let us keep some of our own money for retirement or to fix the problem, not someone who demagogued the issue and refused to act when someone else tried to fix it.

We need our taxes lowered so that we can save more money for our children’s college education. We don’t want change which promises a government program or intervention on their behalf. We need change that allows personal hard work and achievement to pave the way, not the government.

We want leadership courageous and smart enough to understand that government-run health care does not work. Where it exists, it fails miserably in comparison to our system. We want change that fixes the problems in the system so all can afford it, not change that advocates a government take over of the system which will only lead to poorer health care, less access, and a crippling tax burden to pay for it.

We need change that is bright enough to understand, and courageous enough to fix the entitlement programs that are on the way to breaking our country. The addition of nearly 1 trillion dollars every year to those programs and other new entitlements is not change that is either bright or courageous.

We need someone who understands the challenges of the world, and among them is confronting the threats that exist. We can’t afford to change back to someone who believes they can simply talk, be nice, and all will be solved. We’ve seen where that approach fails. Why then change back to a bunker mentality which only hopes for the best? We want change, but not change that has already forgotten what led to WWII and 9/11.

We need leadership that understands the current oil situation, the goals for alternatives in the future, and the need to bridge the gap while in transition to them. We don’t need change which promises to throw us into the abyss while attempting to leap over the divide.

We need leadership that changes the paradigm on arguments about personal freedom back to our country’s origins. Instead of asking how far we can infringe on the 2nd Amendment, we should be figuring out which gun laws to cancel. We should be championing tolerance of everyone’s faith, not championing groups like the ACLU who are intent on destroying it. We should be discussing ways to remove the barriers to everyone’s success, not promising more regulation and bigger government.

We need leadership which understands that solutions have always been found in the American people, not the American government. Why then change back to leadership which advocates a “nanny state” to address our needs? Why change back to leadership which advocates a government program for everything rather than relying on the freedom and empowerment of people to solve problems?

We need leadership that remembers it’s our role to exercise our freedom, and that the government’s role isn’t to tell us how. We need change that reinvigorates freedom from government, not change that advocates bigger government consolidating power unto itself.

That’s the change we need. Not change whose primary hope is that people have forgotten the lessons of the past. Not change which ignores the successes while resurrecting the policies and philosophies which have previously failed and will surely fail again.

True hope and change for a better future can not ignore the reality of history’s lessons.