There's a famous saying often attributed to Edmund Burke: "If you are not a liberal at 25, you have no heart.  If you are not a conservative at 35 you have no brain."  Youth is attracted to liberalism because its ideals sound good — they really do.  You'd have to be some kind of monster not to want to save the planet, lift up the poor, correct past injustices, and share equally in Earth's bounty.

The problem with liberals is not their ideals; it's their actions — which never accomplish their intended purpose.  That's because liberals are emotional, rather than rational, animals.  They make decisions with their hormones, not their brains — just like children.  Try debating one, and you'll see.  I've tried.  It can't be done.  You'll be treated to an endless word salad of leftist talking points, followed by anger and a personal insult. 

As one matures (not ages), one moves from emotion to wisdom.  With that wisdom comes the realization that the laws of nature and economics do not bend to our will.  The world is as it was created by our maker, not as we wish it to be.  I've been on this earth for only about six decades.  I don't claim to be a wise man, but I've learned a few truths along the way.

1. Science is never settled

Scientists who claim that "the science is settled" are fools — period.  "Science" is our understanding of nature.  It's the height of arrogance to presume that our understanding of nature is either complete or accurate.  We've often thought it was, but history has proven us wrong time and again.  We believed that the universe revolved around the Earth until we discovered that it didn't.  Smart scientists know that there is always more to learn, and they avoid claims that their understanding is settled.

But unfortunately, the evangelists of the weather cult have not achieved that level of wisdom.  We were told that the evils of mankind would lead to a "global warming" death of the planet by 2000.  In 2006, Al Gore changed the Earth's expiration date to 2016, because the science was more settled.  In 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez informed us that the world will actually be ending in 12 years because of "climate change," because the science is really, really settled now.  We're three years into her prediction.  The world has gone collectively insane, but the Earth itself seems to be doing just fine.

The most unsettling of the settled science practitioners has to be Dr. Anthony Fauci.  Masks don't work, but wear one anyway — in fact, wear two.  You need to wear those masks until you're vaccinated — and then you should probably keep wearing them — and get a few booster shots, too.  In fact, just keep wearing masks on airplanes forever because, you know...Trump.

What part of that science sounds settled?

2. Stimulus spending stimulates only government growth

The economy is stimulated when people spend money.  But before the government can dole out stimulus checks, it has to take the money from taxpayers.  So taking money away from taxpayers and then giving some of it back is somehow supposed to give them more money to spend?

Economic prosperity cannot be spurred by government spending.  "Build Back Better" is a lie just as "Shovel Ready Projects" was before it.  Every dollar the government takes from its citizens is one less dollar being spent to buy a product or hire an employee. 

Taking money from people who actually produce something, and then giving less of it back, does not create economic growth.  It throttles it.  The only thing that actually grows as a result of government stimulus spending is government itself.

3. Welfare spending doesn't cure poverty; it creates it

Work and self-reliance are the only means to escape poverty.  But that requires action by individuals, not the state.  People have to choose to take responsibility for their own welfare.  Unfortunately, providing unearned income trains sloth and makes people wards of the state, rather than the self-reliant creatures they are meant to be.  It's counter to nature.  "Wild" animals born and raised in captivity can rarely be returned to the wild.  They lack the skills for survival.  By allowing people to live without working, we are training them to forget their survival skills.  Those skills include a will to survive, a craft to support themselves, a drive to excel, and the ability to cope with life's disappointments.

Welfare is no longer a safety net.  For far too many, it has become a way of life.  It is the exact opposite of its intended purpose — to help those who have fallen on hard time to get back on their feet.  Now it allows people to choose poverty as a means to a life of leisure — as long as their expectations aren't too high.  An amazing number of people are willing to make that choice.

4. Racism cannot be eliminated with racism

Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of a world in which his children "will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  He gave us the key to eliminate racism — strive for a colorblind society — and we have ignored it.

We've chosen the path of valuing diversity and perpetuating racism instead.  With our "valuing diversity" programs, we are placing value on our differences in lieu of our similarities.  We are making skin color a thing of value.  In such a society, everyone will want his color to be the highest value.  Just like that, we've triggered competition among the races for social standing based on the color of their skin.  This has all led to the victim games, with each tribe competing for most oppressed status.  The title comes with the greatest amount of preferential treatment that society can dole out. 

We used the period from the 1940s to the 1960s to desegregate.  Then we got on the "valuing diversity" train in the 1980s, when Lewis Griggs coined the term.  Now we're segregating again.  "Valuing diversity" hasn't corrected racism; it has perpetuated it — and made a lot of its proponents rich along the way.

5. Biological sex is not a choice God has granted us

Men can't have babies — period.  Women can have babies, even if they imagine that they are men.  It's a nature thing, having to do with the presence of XY or XX chromosomes.  No amount of imagination can change one's genetic code.

People who have undergone hormone or surgical treatment still have the chromosomes God (or Gaia if you prefer) endowed them with.   That genetic code comes with inherent gifts and limitations.  Wishing it were otherwise does not make it so.  It only makes one unhappy in one's own body.  Attempting to physically rather than psychologically correct that unhappiness results in a man breaking all of the records in women's swimming — while we stand by and act as though we don't notice.

We may choose to indulge a person with gender change fantasies, but that doesn't make his fantasy a fact.

6. Reality is not fungible

Liberals don't understand that we cannot exchange our reality for another one.  Understanding that truth comes from a recognition that we do not control the laws of nature or economics.  Reality is not fungible.  The laws of nature cannot be changed because they are inconvenient.  Truth is fixed, and facts are hard.  People do not have their own reality.  If they perceive the world other than as it is, they are not enlightened; they are deranged — or liberal, or both.

Conservatism tends to accompany the acquisition of wisdom.  Conservatives want the same outcomes as liberals but understand that simplistic solutions don't fix problems; they perpetuate them. 

Choosing to accept reality and live according to the laws of nature leads to a prosperous and happy life.  Choosing to fight reality leads to a life of frustration and disappointment.  Perhaps that explains why liberals live in a perpetual state of unhappiness.

John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho.  He currently writes at the American Free News Network (afnn.us).  He can be followed on Facebook or reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.

Image via Pickpik.