"Miracle working" and "libertarian": two expressions of open-mindedness!
Strangely, many libertarians find the candidacy of Mitt Romney to be repugnant. This may be because they haven't looked into the man deeply enough, so they probably see him with hidden temptation to closed-minded off-hand dismissal ... "just another government-worshipping statist." What is weird about this surface-level perception is that the actually proven government-worshipping statists, Democrats who love the ideals of socialism and favor dictatorship "for the common good," (their idea of common good) are scared to death of facing Mitt Romney in the next general election, as evidenced by their frenzied attacks on him and their underhanded attempts to belittle him early in the game.
So if a libertarian wants to claim open-mindedness, there is no choice but to ask: "Why are dictatorial Democrats so afraid of Mitt Romney?"
After looking more deeply at the overall man, it is easy to see the main reason Democrats become frantic with fear over the thought of Mitt Romney in a position of influence. Governor Romney is willing to consider libertarian possibilities.
Romney is neither a Marxist-agenda-driven "progressive liberal" or a closed-minded big-government conservative. His historical modus operandi, which he used to restore to health many bed-ridden companies as well as the terminally ill 2002 Winter Olympics, is to gather into a room all sorts of experts from all kinds of fields and "lock them up," so to speak, until they reach a unanimous consensus as to what is the best possible solution given the circumstances ... usually a solution nobody thought of as a possibility before they entered the room, a result of Romney's insistence on open-mindedness.
Hmmm ... wisdom dictates that libertarian solutions are the best possible solutions, true or false?
Inevitably, the solution which emerges from Romney's demand for finding the one right answer is either:
1) An outright libertarian-leaning solution, or
2) A solution with strong components of voluntarism and individual responsibility, as opposed to heavy-handed state involvement.
This was the case with the health insurance program passed in Massachusetts. The overwhelmingly Democratic Massachusetts legislature was absolutely determined to pass socialized medical insurance for the state. Governor Romney knew the Democratic dictators had enough votes to pass some kind of state mandated and state operated medical insurance ... and then override his veto, since he would veto it. Given these circumstances, choosing to fight against mandated health insurance was a losing option. So Romney gathered all the experts he could find, "locked them in a room," and they eventually came up with a plan that, yes, was mandated (so legislators would go along), but not socialistic in the sense of having the Massachusetts government run the whole show. They preserved voluntary choice at the provider level, and they preserved free market participation.
Not really a true libertarian solution? No, but so much better than the plan that would otherwise have passed into law.
The libertarian preparation device, A Course in Miracles, speaks of open-mindedness:
Only the open-minded can be at peace, for they alone see reason for it. How do the open-minded forgive? They have let go all things that would prevent forgiveness. They have in truth abandoned the world, and let it be restored to them in newness and in joy so glorious they could never have conceived of such a change. Nothing is now as it was formerly. Nothing but sparkles now which seemed so dull and lifeless before. And above all are all things welcoming, for threat is gone.
Available free online:
Course in Political Miracles
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