To the Editor:

David Tipton’s inconsistency and vacuousness is especially glaring

in the Jan. 25 edition of the Beacon. His rosy view of hard work and

honest commerce is touching, but hopelessly naive, and he seems completely

lost on the concept of taxes. Taxes are levied by governments to pay for

services provided. Given that our government has operated at a deficit for

years now, it is logical to presume that we are all over serviced, not

overtaxed. Overtaxation would lead to a budget surplus. This year’s

military budget is $7 billion larger than the Pentagon requested despite

there being no credible threat to our country’s resources or boundaries. I

sure feel overprotected, but let’s talk about welfare and public television

and the other pittances our government tosses to the wind. Never mind that

welfare may be a sound investment in crime prevention, public health, and

children, because that’s just social engineering.

I wonder whether Tipton considers the militarization of our economy to be

an example of “unjust and extremely dangerous” social architecture? Or

perhaps he considers our world-class incarceration rate to be dangerous

social engineering? Our increasing abandonment of our fellow citizens

despite our society being one of the wealthiest in history? Just what sort

of social architecture does he consider acceptable? We live in

civilization. Civilization IS social architecture. Shall we revert to

anarchy? That seems to be the endpoint of the Idiot Revolution, though

Tipton and his fellow conservatives do not seem bright enough to notice

where their herd is headed, the promise of a larger profit margin being

irresistible temptation.

Tipton gives himself away when, after a column celebrating American’s great

entrepreneurial opportunities, he asks, “What poor person ever gave anyone

a job?” How about the ones that established successful companies or

invented useful products? Did you forget that you were speaking of them

just a few paragraphs previous? And doesn’t that question reek of class

divisiveness? Get a brain. We should hold up the rich as examples? What,

then, should we do with Jesus Christ? Is greed now honorable?

Apparently, to be a conservative now means to exhibit a tribal sense of

social responsibility, ignorance of the progress of civilization, and a

poor comprehension of biological reality. Rush Limbaugh’s great

contribution to American conservatism has been to free its proponents from

any accountability to the facts or to rationality. Tipton perpetuates the

game each week with his skin-deep logic and distorted figures. After all,

to engage in sound discussion of social philosophy is to be elitist. Why

think carefully when you can declare your righteousness and not be

bothered?

I suppose that it is the weakness of democracy that a country would elect

its fools instead of its wise men, and thus we have the 1994 elections.

Idiots rule.