This is not a conservative speech

After I read a good post by Elizabeth Warren yesterday, I read a few more columns, including one from David Brooks  (a good read by itself) about a speech given by conservative British PM David Cameron In most industrialized nations not called the United States, the terms conservative and liberal do not line up with what those terms mean here. Heck, within this country, those terms do not even mean what they did 20 years ago, and to some degree, both terms are talked about in caricature terms. 

After reading and appreciating what Brooks had to say, I read the speech from Cameron. Of several things that popped out at me from Cameron's speech, one thing in particular struck a chord, wherein he said that a particular leftist view is to simply write a check to make up for gaps in income, and I actually agree that our approach in this country, to some degree, does reflect that. However, a lot of people getting benefits ARE working and aren't just sitting on their ass being coddled. He goes on to talk about the right of center view which is that free markets are a tide that lifts all boats and that there MUST be personal responsibility. But, he also acknowledged something that I believe many in this country will not, which is that millions start so far behind from birth that it is nearly impossible for them to catch up. From there, cycles keep repeating. 

He mentioned some interesting stats I knew nothing about, namely that more children are growing up with single mothers in Britain, and that for some reason, their prison system is also chock full of Black males. He doesn't say much other than mentioning the stat. He does, however, go on to offer a pretty comprehensive plan. Whether the plan makes sense or not is really kind of beside the point in this country, because IMO, we still seem locked in a fight to the death mentality to claim once in for all that government programs can fix everything (a false premise in my thinking) or that the one and only road to salvation is to just slash the shit out of everything because government assistance can ONLY cause dependence and never ultimate self reliance (a premise I also disagree with)

For a very brief period when Clinton was POTUS and Newt was speaker, we had what I believe was something that could have been a start toward what Cameron is talking about. THAT particular window, however, has been slammed shut. In any event, I think both articles are a good read.