Sunday, January 14, 2007

Positively Negative

As an advocate for economic freedom, I will often oppose the never ending proposals for more government, whether it be a sales tax increase, another RUSD referendum, or a taxpayer funded ice arena. As a result, I am often described as negative.

This is a silly charge, and it must be exposed as such. If the government growth socialists every proposal is, by definition, positive, then any advocacy for individual economic freedom is therefore negative.

The "negative" label is used to avoid an actual defense of an idea. It is much easier to dismiss someone as negative than it is to make a case for a bad idea. The "negative" label is a useful tool for the intellectually lazy and mean-spirited debaters.

Wouldn't it be positive to oppose a bad idea, and wouldn't it likewise be negative to support a bad idea. Your negativity or positivity would depend on whether or not you are right. And we all agree that I am always right, isn't that right anonymous?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"There are people in this world who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that", Tom Lehrer.

Denis Navratil said...

I like that Eric. I hate them too.