Politics in The Lion King

I have to take Grant and Natalie with me to pick Abby up at school every afternoon. On cold and/or wet days, we wait in the car for her to come to us. (On warmer/dry days, we meet her at the door.) Regardless of which we have, it is imperative that we arrive at the school as early as possible so that we can park nearby - and in a legal parking spot. I have gotten there as much as 25-ish minutes prior to school's release, and there are ALWAYS at least 4 cars there - with people inside! I don't get it - do these people have nothing better to do than sit by the school waiting for class to get out? Anyway, the waiting can be difficult with two little ones in the back seat. They get bored - and who can blame them? It took me more than half of the school year to figure a good way to handle that. (Why it took me so long, I'm not quite sure. I have a couple of theories, but I'll spare you. Suffice it to say, I wish I'd figured this out at the beginning of winter, rather than the end of winter.) We have a factory-installed DVD player in the van, so now I play a movie while we wait. It keeps Natalie and Grant occupied, and my sanity in check! Added benefit: I can read while we wait for Abby. The current movie is - you guessed it - Disney's The Lion King. And, finally, I get to the point of this post! LOL

Today's "segment" (we generally get through about 30-45 minutes most days) started just after Mufasa rescues the lion cubs from the elephant graveyard. I don't know when it ended, but the beginning was shortly before Scar sings "Be Prepared." DH and I have always noted the dripping references to the USSR (man, haven't seen those letters together in who knows how long) and even Nazi Germany in this part of the movie. But, well, today, it hit closer to home for me.

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I'm a strong Republican. While I generally avoid too much talk of politics - simply because I'm not a fan of the conflict - the current state of our country worries me, to say the least. The USA is a republic - not a democracy, not a socialist nation. At least not at its birth. I hate seeing where we're headed. I hate seeing the big government we have headed our way. I hate seeing the class warfare that is being brought into our country. I hate that there's so much negative press about the corrupt, GREEDY people who make loads of cash. For every one of those, there are several hard-working Americans who also make loads of cash, but no one hears their stories. We'd rather hear about the CEOs who abuse their position for personal gain. I think it's criminal that those who make more pay a majority of the income tax in this country. Income tax should be flat and fair. Why should people be punished for making more than some "magic" amount of money? Just not right. Talk about killing productivity and discouraging those who would otherwise be driven. But, alas, I'm on a tangent. Sorry.

That said, there's a part of the aforementioned song, "Be Prepared," in which Scar and the hyenas are speaking between verses. And it goes like this:

Scar: Be prepared!

Hyena: Yeah! Be prepared. We'll be prepared! For what?

Scar: For the death of the king

Hyena: Is he sick?

Scar: No, fool! We're going to kill him. And Simba, too

Hyenas: Great idea! Who needs a king? No king, no king! La la la la la!

Scar: Idiots! There will be a king!

Hyena: But you said...

Scar: I will be king! Stick with me and you'll never go hungry again!

That last line is what struck me as so ... America right now! Sorry, but I hate Obama. I know I shouldn't, but I do. For many, many reasons. But, that's not my purpose in writing right now. It just sounds to me like what he's saying between the lines of his speeches: "I'm king of America. Stick with me - back me up - and you'll never go hungry again. We'll take what we want from the Haves and give it to the Have-nots ..." Yes, this is me simplifying my thoughts on this - and what I think Obama is doing. (It's getting late; I'm exhausted; and we have an early morning tomorrow.) People totally miss the point. The Declaration of Independence says everyone has the right to the pursuit of happiness. To me, that means we have the right to do what we can to make the most of our lives - but that does (or at least so far as I'm concerned, SHOULD) NOT include taking what belongs to someone else, even if that someone else has plenty to spare.

"But, you're a Christian. Doesn't God say to give, give, give. Not to hold onto your money and things?" Well, yes. But, God gives us free will. He tells us what we should do, but we can choose our own actions. If we choose to do as He says, He will reward us. If not, well, we're on our own. But, they key here is free will, something that doesn't apply to taxes and other ways of taking what belongs to the Haves. Christian or not, these people aren't given a choice - their hard-earned (in most cases) cash is taken out from under them, without their consent. Like it or not, you have to pay taxes based on your income. As a Christian, I'm happy to give - so long as I'm able to choose if, when, how, and to whom I give.

OK, wow, this is one long rant about something I'm not very qualified to argue. Sorry. These are my thoughts and feelings on this subject. No, I don't have all of the facts. But, know this: I am not in the class of the Haves, so I am not arguing this as one who wants to keep what is hers. I'm arguing this as one who sees big-time unfairness. Yes, people argue about it being unfair that these people have what they have when there are others starving to death or barely able to make ends meet. But, if these people are honestly working hard for what they have, how is it unfair for them to have it? You're not entitled to it simply for being American - and even in some cases merely for being in America, whether legally or not. (And that is a whole other ball of wax I'm just going to avoid, as I have even stronger feelings about that.) Let's not forget that these Haves are also the people with the money to employ others. When we tax the hell out of these people, there's less for them to share with others - whether it's by gifting, hiring, or something else! I'm sorry, but Reagan was right. Trickle-down economics does work. It did work. It would work again, if we went back to it. Alas, Obama is going the opposite way. Except, it's not going to work.

Finally, has anyone else thought how ridiculous these stimulus plans are? Wanna get the country back on its feet? Spend, spend, spend! You don't have the money? Borrow, then spend. Nevermind that's what's got us into this mess in the first place: spending money we DON'T have! And printing more money. REALLY? Do you really think that'll help? I did HORRIBLY in my economics class in college, but even I know that'll just cause recession. That means higher prices for everything. More money floating around means it is worth less than it was before the newly printed money was released. That means it'll take more money to buy EVERYTHING! How do people not see this? *sigh*

This totally ended up being something I never intended it to be. But, since this is my place to share my mind, here you go.