By David Bozeman — Conservative commentary typically proceeds by highlighting the practical results of such disastrous policies as Obamacare. In recent days, however, we have seen the erosion of our character as a people, a violation of such founding traits as self-pride and individual responsibility. What a disgrace that the president of the United States would continue the exploitation of Sandra Fluke by a crass and greedy political culture.
Nothing here is meant to disparage Sandra Fluke as a person (for the real villain of the piece, keep reading). She merely represents far too many Americans who would gladly grovel before a congressional committee to secure the involuntary subsidies of her fellow citizens to fund her selfish ends.
Protecting the rights of private institutions not to sponsor behavior they deem immoral has somehow morphed into a so-called “assault on women’s health.”
Note the breathless panties-in-a-wad dramatics of Senators Patty Murray (WA), Barbara Boxer (CA) and Charles Schumer (NY), among others. All Democrats, by the way. No one — no one — has proposed banning birth control. The Democrats want to scare women with what they know is a lie. Their assault on our national character continues, this time by way of our intelligence. While most of us are not stupid enough to believe such a preposterous notion as a war on contraception, many Democrats are seriously banking on the ones who are.
As a writer and activist, I still hold a day job. Like many Americans, I count on my employer-provided health coverage, which I consider a benefit and not a right. Also like many Americans, I would never use the force of the federal government against a company that voluntarily employs me. The same principle, of course, applies to any private entity, including universities, which have not traditionally been compelled to provide health coverage. Still, the weight of the debate has stressed the requirements of employers, and while workers deserve certain protections, Obamacare numbs individuals to their freedoms of choice, initiative and association.
Cradle-to-grave health care, education and other programs and entitlements (with more to come) destroy the incentive for individuals to forge their own paths. It is the prospect of need that fosters grit, gumption and independence. As government grows, the employer/employee relationship diminishes, robbing American workers of pride in making choices, asserting themselves and meeting responsibilities.
Pride — there’s a word that has fallen out of fashion. That and “humility.” And how about “modesty”? Most of us don’t talk about our sexual proclivities, let alone ask for public endorsement of them. With no disrespect intended to Miss Fluke, the relaxing of sexual mores has come at a cost to our freedom. “Keep your laws off my body” — until it comes time to pay for my birth control. As Mark Steyn has brilliantly noted, sexual license is about the only thing you don’t now need a license for.
And then there’s that time-honored liberal trap of “You can pay a little now for birth control or a lot later for the costs of unwanted children.” How about a third option: making individual responsibility and restraint (now there’s a word that, in terms of sexual behavior, is not merely outdated but ancient) as culturally desirable as feeding at the public trough.
Again, Miss Fluke is not a bad woman. She is merely the poster child of a prevailing mindset that does not inspire greatness or self-sufficiency. The act of picking Americans to grovel before Congress for goodies is meant to stroke the egos of career politicians and lend them an air of goodwill and legitimacy. Indeed, an intelligent woman such as Miss Fluke is demeaned not by being denied birth control but by being used in a cheap political ploy by the Democratic Party.
David Bozeman, former Libertarian Party Chairman, is a Liberty Features Syndicated writer.
