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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (43650)	6/7/2010 9:08:41 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

You post from a completely discredited urinalist?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (43650)	11/15/2010 9:27:04 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71588

What Tea Party Critics Don't Get Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Nov. 12) -- One Friday night at my home, a dear friend who runs a large charitable foundation raised his glass to toast the demise of the tea party, which he branded a group of racists, xenophobes and bigots. Taken aback, I responded that to my knowledge the tea party is focused simply on more limited government and the reduction of government spending. I didn't know racism was part of the platform, I said. But he was adamant that the tea party's small-government rhetoric was an attack on low-income minorities. Lost in the debate about the morality of the tea party is any discussion about its underpinnings in human nature. The principle purpose of government is to provide the optimal conditions through which human beings can acquire their most important necessities -- the highest of which is dignity. While governments provide many essentials for their citizens, from law and order to social services, from good roads to education, the one human essential that government cannot provide is human dignity. The very premise of dignity is something acquired through personal effort. Dignity is the human aura that comes through self-reliance. Its underlying premise is independence. A dependent life is a fundamentally undignified life. Self-respect is earned through the sweat of one's brow. An heir to a great fortune may travel the high seas in a hundred-foot yacht and soar through the air in a Gulfstream V. But he will remain fundamentally bereft of dignity so long as he is living on someone else's dime. The effort to recapture the dignity that springs from self-reliance is what the tea party, at its core, should be all about. America's rapid rise to the forefront of global economic power was not an accident but the direct result of the cultivation of a fierce individualism and a rugged self-reliance on the part of its citizenry. Where European populations were content to live under the dominion of anointed rulers, Americans threw off the yoke of a foreign sovereign and tamed a vast wilderness. A nation of immigrants arrived at these shores with nothing, spread their accomplishments from sea to shining sea, and in so doing made claim to a level of independence and dignity that had few historical precedents. The welfare state claims a higher morality over capitalism, which it sees as selfish and materialistic. There is some truth to this claim, especially when capitalism is allowed to become soulless and deadening. But for all its flaws, capitalism fosters an independence that promotes dignity, while socialism creates a reliance that subverts self-esteem. Yes, government must provide a safety net for a rainy day. But only self-reliance creates a sunny life. I recently heard a philanthropist tell a story whereby he visited a soup kitchen that had asked for his support. He was skeptical that the people eating there were actually in need. Perhaps they simply came because the food was free. But the rabbi who ran the facility asked him, "Are you capable of asking someone for food?" The philanthropist answered that he was not. "Well then," the rabbi responded, "if someone is forced to ask me to eat I have to believe that they are truly hungry." The story illustrates both the necessity of providing essential social services for those in need while always being mindful never to let that need become a permanent dependency. My progressive friends speak to me about how a compassionate society takes care of its citizens. That is true. But it must also take care to ensure that it never robs its citizens of the nobility of spirit that is the birthright of every human being. The tea party is far from perfect. But in emphasizing self-reliance, it taps into a hidden human desire to live a life crowned with self-esteem. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, "America's Rabbi," is founder of This World: The Values Network, which seeks to use universal Jewish values to heal America. His newest book is "Renewal: A Guide to the Values-Filled Life" (Basic Books). Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley. aolnews.com