Leftist Mormons Good. One Mindless Party In Utah…Bad.

Dan disagrees with me about the idea that Mormons for Equality and Social Justice (MESJ) could be a force for good in Utah (check out the comments on the previous post). I agree with him that they are wrong about a lot of things (maybe even most things), but what popular group isn’t? G.W. Bush and the Republicans we have in office now have done more to harm my freedom to control my own property than any group that has been in office since Johnson in the 60’s. Yet I am stuck with them because they are the only viable party that even comes close to supporting my political philosophy.

I think MESJ are a breath of fresh air in Utah where the people think the Republicans represent them. The people vote Republican without having the first clue what these morons are doing. I only need mention Gov. Leavitt and then rest my case. Too many Mormons vote Republican because they think that is what all good Mormons do…not because they have a consistent ideology.

I don’t know what the solution is in Utah. I hope groups like MESJ will force the Republicans to start debating issues instead of resting on that (R) behind their name with the assumption that 99% of Mormons will vote for them. If Mormons who are more left leaning (and there are many) stop being RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) and start supporting the Democrats we might get a real political dialog going in the state of Utah. That would be good for everyone because it would force the Republicans to return to their idealogical roots. At least I hope it would.

5 Comments

1. Well said!!! When did you get so smart?

   Comment by Mum — July 1, 2003 @ 10:48 am

2. I taught him everything he knows.

   Comment by Michael — July 1, 2003 @ 2:06 pm

3. MESJ may actually be good for Utah, but my larger point is that they are wrong on all the issues. MESJ as akin to Mike Leavitt–they may have their hearts in the right place, but that doesn’t stop them from being wrong.

   For examples, MESJ extols the virtues of Unions. Unions worker’s cartels organized to increase their welfare at the expense of everyone else’s’. They may be a “means to improve the welfare of families and communities” as MESJ claims, ONLY FOR PEOPLE IN THE UNIONS. Everyone else pays higher prices for the goods produced by Union workers. That don’t think that we should support organizations that drive up the price of the goods me buy making it more difficult for people, especially the low and middle income people, to get the necessities of life, but MESJ does.

   I’m no fan of MESJ because they do not promote liberty and freedom. Their political recipes promote more and more government and less individual accountability. I see no good that comes from increased unrighteous dominion over people’s lives.

   Comment by Daniel — July 2, 2003 @ 2:59 pm

4. I quite agree with Dan that MESJ is wrong on all the issues (well…they are wrong on all the political issues…I don’t disagree with most of their social causes). My point is that it is good that there is a refuge where leftist Mormons can gather to be wrong together without also abandoning their church.

   I will call Dan on his blanket denunciation of Unions. I disagree with all efforts by government to force businesses to negotiate with unions. If any private entity doesn’t want to participate in collective bargaining they should never be forced to. That said, I don’t think their is anything inherently wrong with a group of people deciding they want to negotiate their wages and benefits as a group (or union) instead of individually. In fact, the idea of labor unions participating in collective bargaining for wages isn’t a lot different than coops for small farmers. They are able to command better prices for their crops because they can negotiate better prices together than they would be able to do individually.

   As long as it isn’t done at the point of a gun (as anything involving the government always is) there is nothing wrong with collective negotiation. In fact it has proven in the past to be beneficial in many situations.

   Comment by Jeremy — July 2, 2003 @ 3:51 pm

5. I will agree with Jeremy that if MESJ is keeping leftist from leaving the church that is great.

   As for Unions, I agree that people should be able to collectively organize, however, I was responding to MESJ’s blanket statement that Unions are unambiguously good and that they increase people’s welfare. Unions increase the welfare of the people in the Union, for the rest of us, it decreases our welfare. Unions’ reason for existence is to transfer wealth to their members. I don’t like to be taken advantage of, and therefore I don’t like Unions.

   I’m not a fan of Unions, but I also don’t believe that governments should outlaw them. I was using Unions as an example of how wrong MESJ is.

   Comment by Daniel — July 3, 2003 @ 12:43 am

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