Is The End Unavoidable?

It is difficult to determine the future of a nation. Matters move glacially, but rarely change direction. President Reagan was an anomaly in this respect. For a brief moment in time it appeared the glacier was halted, perhaps even reversed.

Sadly, that was not the case. At best classical liberalism (what most confuse with conservatism) regained some intellectual respectability but not operational reality. Spending increased dramatically under Reagan, primarily reversing the military cuts imposed under President Carter. Taxes were decreased, at least temporarily, and our economy soared after the malaise and high inflation of the 1970s. Social spending was not reduced under Reagan.

The incessant onslaught of Socialism quickly resumed under Reagan’s predecessors. The net effect of Reagan, in the trajectory of liberty, was insignificant and short-lived. His historical legacy was a

temporary revival of the philosophy of smaller government, although he never achieved it. After he left office both his philosophy and minor effects on the glide path of government spending were quickly erased.

We soon resumed the inexorable decline to Socialist Hell.

Steve McCann at American Thinker is optimistic in the sense that he believes we are at a crossroads:

Thus, America is at a crossroads.  If Barack Obama, the most extreme president in American history, is re-elected and the current governing class remains in place, there will be no turning back.  The worst fears that came over me on that Monday in November of 1963 will come to pass, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy will have been the tipping point that precipitated the fall of a great nation.

I enjoy and respect Mr. McCann’s perspective on matters, although I fear he suffers from unfounded optimism with respect to our situation. The crossroad to which he refers was likely passed when the successors to Reagan did not take advantage of his philosophical gains to reverse the actual degradation of the economy, government and society.

Mr. McCann’s commentary regarding the re-election of President Obama is correct in one sense. If he is re-elected the demise of our way of life will come sooner rather than later. Even if this rather unimaginable event is avoided, I fear that only the timing rather than the outcome will be effected.