Julian Castro Speech Last Night Shows Democrats Just Don't Get It

"In Texas, we believe in the rugged individual. Texas may be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps, and we expects folks to pull themselves up by them. But we also recognize there are some things we can't do alone. We have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow."

Julian Castro sounded great last night, didn't he? All the talk of hard work, personal ambition, and family ties almost made him sound ... well, a bit Republican! After all, we heard story after story about that same dream and determination last week in Tampa. Then, Castro just had to go ruin it by being all Democrat. The keynote speaker for the Democratic National Convention demonstrated one undeniable fact — the Democrats don't understand what made and continues to make America the envy of the world.

Here is another line from his speech last night that stood out:

"Of all the fictions we heard last week in Tampa, the one I find most troubling is this: if we all just go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. Because if we sever the threads that connect us, the only people that will go far are those who are already ahead."

I shake my head in dismay that someone with so much promise in our governing institutions just doesn't seem to understand the America we belong to. Our government isn't needed to build the social bonds that hold us together. Elected officials, bureaucrats, and social workers can never solidify the strength of social connections that are developed through choosing to pursue the American dream in the company of those closest to you.

Castro's America is one where your life is owned by someone else, and where you, in turn, have a claim to theirs. Castro's America is one where governing officials are the only real arbiters with the capability to protect social connections.

I don't think you meant any harm, Mayor Castro. I think you're a good guy. You just don't seem to understand how much better I have it without you, and how much better we all can have it without President Obama.

As I said in my previous article, don't ever let a collectivist tell you that Republicans don't understand the bonds between people. For all the criticism of his being impersonal, we saw in Tampa last week that Mitt Romney has touched the lives of people in very profound ways. 

Romney wrote the will for a 14-year old boy dying of cancer. Pam Finlayson told us how Romney personally phoned her after her daughter's passing to offer his personal condolences despite the fact. Romney himself told the story of knowing his father passed because the rose his mother received every day from their father was not present at her bedside. These stories don't in any way show why Romney's qualified to serve as president politically. They do, however, demonstrate the human side of his qualifications.

Relationships are a choice. As Americans, the relationships we choose are what push us to do better, fight harder, and build wealth. The relationships we choose are what we use to define and demonstrate our quality of character to the world. 

What Mayor Castro and President Obama fail to understand is that the elderly will not suffer if there are no government programs to guarantee them benefits, and they certainly fail to understand the financial impacts if you make that promise. They fail to understand the negative impact on our lives that forcing younger Americans to pay — not invest, but pay—for the retirement benefits of seniors now will have, and how the future will be a lot bleaker when those same young Americans will face retirement.

Politically, the solutions are easy. It's just the Democrats' philosophy that is terrifying.

Nobody is severing the threads of personal relationships, Mayor Castro, Republicans are simply saying the government isn't necessary to maintain them. Last night, Mayor Castro proved those in Charlotte simply don't understand that. To them, without government involvement in our lives, we cannot survive as a country.

Should Obama win re-election, the results of that philosophy will be more economic damage to this country, more deficit spending, and a resounding statement that the state and bureaucrats are better qualified to protect our livelihoods as a result. Hopefully, come November, that philosophy is soundly rejected.