Freedom Folks

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Choices?

Source: Beyond Borders Blog
On the news last week, I saw footage of an illegal immigrant being led away from his family in handcuffs. His little daughter wept. Illegal entry aside, he kept the laws of this country, and his story tugged at the heart strings largely because decent, hardworking people who deserve better than they’ve been given are sympathetic. Whatever your opinion on immigration law, you can feel sorry for that man.
Sounds right, yes? Poor illegal immigrant father wrenched away from his daughter, heartbreaking right?

Wrong. This story is all about the choices people make and their consequences. This story begins in Mexico, where Mexicans keep voting for a watered down style of Socialism that is virtually guaranteed to keep their economy sluggish. Where they will not allow foreign investors to invest needed infrstructure funds to Pemex, the government run oil company because of "national pride." Where corruption is the norm not the exception.

It continues in countries like Venezuela where they just voted Hugo Chavez back into office as he busily undoes the Venezuelan economy in the name of 'social justice.' How long until it becomes our obligation to take in and succor the hordes of Venezuelans who have made bad choice after bad choice?

How about Nicaragua where they just voted in Daniel Ortega? Will it be our responsibility to take in the displaced people when the death squads they just democratically voted for come into play, again!

Choices, bad choices, choices that people need to live with. Because until someone feels the pain they don't have any reason to change. Change, 90% of the time comes as a result of no longer being able to live with your previous choices. Mexico has been treated like the kid riding he short bus economically for too long, for too long we've bailed them out, taken the excess people their poor choices created and have essentially given them precisely no reason to change their foolish ways.

Choices, compassion on a national scale often becomes license, a license for nations to continue behaving badly. Compassion without toughness often becomes meaningless gestures that actually make the problem worse.

The left is all about choices, unfortunately they are not about dealing with the consequences of bad choices. While I have some compassion for the gentleman in the story, that compassion is tempered by questions, questions about choices.

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