RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/02/are_you_freer_than_you_were_two_years_ago.html

Everywhere you look, you’re told what to think, what to say, what to do, what to buy.  We are enslaved as never before in this country, and half of us want more enslavement and for government to “take care of us,” even at the cost of enslavement.

What does it mean, to be enslaved?  First and foremost, it means that we have lost freedom of choice, and with it, acceptance of the fact that choices have consequences.  That blank stare at the screen that I see in so many viewers reveals just how brainwashed they have become.  Vote for Biden — yes, vote for Biden.  Biden for democracy, Biden for prosperity, Biden for your Social Security, Biden for another COVID check or loan forgiveness.  And half of Americans vote for Biden.

At the heart of freedom is independent thinking, and to think independently, one must ditch the media, even the media one normally agrees with.  It’s not enough to let Fox News do the thinking for us.  We must be ferociously independent, and we must respect one another’s independence.  I enjoy talking with those who have different ideas about the border, the budget, or socialized medicine so long as they are not mental zombies.  Nothing is more refreshing than meeting an actual free-thinking human being, one whose beliefs emerge from independent thinking and true concern for others.

That kind of thinking is independent of party or ideology, but it is inherently conservative since it is conservatives, not liberals, who think deeply and compassionately about choice, consequences, self-reliance, and human happiness.  One cannot think in this way if one is a liberal or progressive.

After all, the ultimate goal for progressives is global enslavement under the aegis of a world government following the abolition of nation-states and the destruction of individual freedom.  The progressive world order would look a lot like North Korea, which we would do well to study if we wish to understand the enemy we face.  Most North Koreans are not forced to support Kim Jong-un — they love Kim Jong-un because long ago they surrendered their freedom of thought and traded their human rights in exchange for what they believed to be the security of an average 2,032 calories per day, much of it noodles and vegetables.

When Kim speaks, there is silent acquiescence to every syllable, and, again, not just for fear of disagreeing.  Within a totalitarian state, most people want to agree.  On April 15, the Day of the Sun (the anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founder and eternal president, Kim Il-sung), the crowds that gather are not just bussed in or conscripted from nearby apartment blocks, as some believe.  They worship Kim Il-sung and his heirs not because they are afraid to think for themselves, but because they have lost the ability to think for themselves.  And that is what progressives wish for America.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-forgotten-town/

A catastrophic train derailment has unleashed toxic fumes and pollutants into the air and water of East Palestine, Ohio, leaving the town’s inhabitants reeling with uncertainty about their future. The once-thriving community now stands in a state of disarray, with residents left wondering whether they will face long-term health consequences and whether their town will ever be the same again.

Despite the severity of the situation, weeks after the disaster, President Joe Biden has failed to visit. To make matters worse, he decided to instead visit Ukraine. This move has only served to exacerbate the sense of betrayal felt by the people of East Palestine. With this move, he has turned the concept of “America first” on its head, treating Americans last, and leaving many Americans feeling as if they are last in line for his attention and concern.

The people of East Palestine are not political pawns to be ignored or overlooked. They are hardworking citizens who deserve compassion, empathy and a strong leader who will take their concerns seriously. Rural America has been hit hard in recent years, and East Palestine is no different. It is time for our elected officials to prioritize the needs of all Americans, regardless of their location or background, and work toward creating a brighter future for everyone.

East Palestine is a town that has endured its fair share of challenges. Once a bustling community centered around coal mining, the town has been dealt a severe blow by the industry’s decline. Job losses and economic hardship have become a way of life for many residents, despite the valiant efforts of local leaders to attract fresh investment and industries. Compounding the town’s woes is the opioid epidemic, which has wreaked havoc on the lives of many, leaving them struggling with addiction and the resulting social and economic consequences.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-season-for-swamp-draining-21cf59f5?mod=opinion_lead_pos11

Two weeks ago this column shared the cheery news that the 118th Congress had so far managed to avoid doing anything of consequence to us. The lucky streak continues and this welcome respite from the misguided frenzy of Biden lawmaking could be just the start. Now some taxpayers are beginning to dream that Beltway lawmakers might be able to achieve even less than nothing—an actual reduction in the burdens Washington imposes on the citizenry.

Lisa Rein and Jacqueline Alemany report for the Washington Post:

At a House hearing this month on fraud and waste in pandemic aid, some Republicans zeroed in on one group in particular for criticism: the federal employees overseeing the money.
“Fire people if they don’t do things they’re supposed to do,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said. “That is our biggest problem in the federal government. Nobody can be held accountable.”
That sentiment is animating a newly empowered GOP House majority eager to ramp up scrutiny of the army of civil servants who run the government’s day-to-day operations. The effort includes seeking testimony from middle- and lower-level workers who are part of what Republicans have long derided as the “deep state,” while some lawmakers are drafting bills that have little chance of passing the Democrat-led Senate but give Republicans a chance to argue for reining in the federal bureaucracy of 2.1 million employees.

Why not take the chance, especially given the surging cost of maintaining this vast unproductive enterprise? The Post report continues:

…House Republican leaders have told almost all of their committees to come up with plans by March to slash spending and beef up oversight of federal agencies in their jurisdiction.

https://www.aei.org/op-eds/social-justice-shrinks-how-identity-politics-infected-therapy/

In winter 2019, Leslie Elliott enrolled as a graduate student in Antioch University’s Mental Health Counseling program. At first, she found it to be a stimulating master’s program — informative and clinically relevant. Then she took a required course in “multicultural counseling.”

“We were taught that race should be the dominant lens through which clients were to be understood and therapy conducted,” says Elliott, a mother of four who’d majored in psychology.

Elliott’s professors taught her, for example, that if clients were white, she was supposed to help them see how they unwittingly perpetuate white supremacy. “We were encouraged to regard white clients as ‘reservoirs of racism and oppression.’” White women, one professor told a class, were “basic bitches,” “Beckys” and “nothing special.”

If the client were black, Elliott was told to ask how it felt to sit with her, a white counselor. If the client felt at ease, “my job — regardless of what brought him to therapy — was to make him more aware of how being black compounded, or perhaps caused, his problems.

After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the three-year program intensified its emphasis on race and oppression, making clear that counselors were to be foot soldiers in the culture wars. “Incredible as it sounds,” says Elliott, “we were encouraged to see ourselves as activists and remake ourselves as social change agents.”

“Critical social-justice therapists” is what Aaron Kindsvatter and others call this new breed of mental health professional graduating from programs across the country. Last year, Kindsvatter le his tenured position at the University of Vermont to pursue private practice in Burlington, where he has treated a handful of clients who were, in his words, “victims of indoctrination attempts” by their “authoritarian” therapists. To be clear, Elliott and Kindsvatter are not talking about a mismatch in sociopolitical views wherein, say, a client is conservative and the therapist is liberal or progressive. To be sure, such a
discrepancy can — though by no means inevitably does — create tension. Studies have shown, in fact, that therapeutic relationships were stronger when clients felt comfortable disclosing their political views to the therapist and when the therapist was accepting of those views.