Letter by Lindell Cline
Politics – April 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine
Reducing size of government is best way to control `Right-Wing Extremists’
To the Editor:
Regarding Riff Fenton’s review of the book Harvest of Rage:
It would seem that in reviewing books, book reviewers should confine themselves to reviewing book books, rather than promoting their own extremist agendas, especially when they appear to largely agree with the author. Only an ultra-extreme liberal could believe that the media are dominated by conservatives.
Hardly a day passes but that we see in the media the use of the word “free” when referring to tax-supported government programs. The only way such things are free is in the sense that those receiving benefits are not paying for them directly. That doesn’t mean they aren’t paying for them. In many cases they are paying through the nose, but because they are not paying for them directly, they are referred to as “free”.
Almost as common are references to how much some program or project is costing the government. The government doesn’t have a penny it hasn’t taken from taxpayers one way or another. Nothing costs the government anything.
Little less common is the statement: “Government employees pay taxes just like everybody else.” In reality, neither government employees nor anyone else who receives money from the government pays any taxes on it at all, because the government already had that money. All the government does is give them enough extra to make it appear they pay taxes, then takes it back. The government could give them any amount extra, and take it back, or none at all, and it would make no difference.
For example: If I handed you ten dollars and you handed it back, you could claim you’ve paid me ten dollars, but it wouldn’t cost you a penny. It wouldn’t matter whether it was ten dollars, a thousand, a million, or none at all.
I will admit it appears that government employees pay taxes on their government incomes, and in the sideshow it appears they cut the girl in half. At least the sideshow is generally honest enough to show us they didn’t, even if they don’t show us how they made it appear they did.
Those are but three out of hundreds of examples of liberal or socialistic propaganda that have become so pervasive in the media that even many who call themselves conservatives use them or no longer bother to dispute them.
No, I’m not a conspiracy buff. Conspiracy buffs would call the creation a conspiracy, even if they believe in only one God. What conspiracy buffs and most other people fail to recognize is that it doesn’t require a conspiracy to create a totalitarian government.
Not long ago an armored car lost a large amount of cash off an overpass. Individuals, upon seeing that money lying there, started picking it up. Pretty soon it was all gone, but there was no conspiracy to steal it. It was just individuals seeing something of benefit to them and taking advantage of it. It is to the benefit of individual politicians and bureaucrats to keep chipping away at our rights and taking more and more of our income. If they keep that up, eventually all our income will be gone, but it won’t be a conspiracy. It will just be individuals, seeing something of benefit to them and taking advantage of it.
The best way, by far, to control right-wing extremists is to simply reduce government to a tolerable level.
Perhaps this letter will fill some of the huge gap in Riff Fenton’s understanding of the conservative movement, although I doubt it, as anything that does not agree with an extremist’s preconceived views comes in one huge gap and goes out another, there not being anything in between to stop it.
Lindell Cline
Buena Vista