RUSH: Now, the New York Times headline from last night: “For Americans Under 50, Stark Findings on Health.” Now, folks, here we go. The New York Times’ story essentially says here that gun violence is a health issue. Here’s how their story begins: “Younger Americans die earlier and live in poorer health than their counterparts in other developed countries, with far higher rates of death from guns, car accidents and drug addiction, according to a new analysis of health and longevity in the United States. …
“The 378-page study, by a panel of experts convened by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, is the first to systematically compare death rates and health measures for people of all ages,” including American youths. “It went further than other studies in documenting the full range of causes of death, from diseases to accidents to violence. It was based on a broad review of mortality and health studies.
“The panel called the pattern of higher rates of disease and shorter lives ‘the US health disadvantage,’ and said it was responsible for dragging this country to the bottom in terms of life expectancy. US men ranked last in life expectancy among the 17 countries in the study, and US women ranked second-to-last,” and this has nothing to do with illegal immigration or the fact that we keep more accurate stats than most countries.
Car accidents, gun violence, drug overdoses were major contributors. So you see, ladies and gentlemen, gun violence is a health issue — and because of all the gun violence, Americans under 50 are at greater risk than people under 50 in any other country. In fact, the report suggests… I’m gonna quote from the piece. “Could cultural factors like individualism and dislike of government interference play a role? Americans are less likely to wear seat belts and more likely to ride motorcycles without helmets.”
You see? It’s our American individualism and dislike of government that’s killing us! It is our quest for freedom, our desire to be free of the shackles of an oppressive government that’s killing us because we’re not listening to government, which is only interested in saving our lives. We don’t want any part of it. And as a result, we’re dying at a faster rate than anybody else anywhere in the world.
That’s what the report says, and it’s all because of “cultural factors” like individualism! Folks, this is brazen. And again, I have to make clear: Everybody that is an eager, purposeful subscriber to the New York Times is going to believe this. They will not question it. This is pure sophistry. This is out-and-out BS. The very idea that that quest for individuality, individualism and a desire to be left alone by government shortens your life?
There is, and we are living in it, the biggest, most oppressive, full-court press to subjugate every citizen to government that I have ever seen in my life. This is not even media. Yes, the story appears in the New York Times, but this isn’t news, and these people are not even journalists. They’re not media. These are propagandists. This is Sabrina Tavernise, the authorette here, but she’s not a journalist. She thinks she is. But this is the advancement of an agenda. This is written by a member of the Democrat Party or what other club, but it is what it is. It’s not journalism. It’s not news. It’s advocacy. And it can’t possibly be true, either. There’s that little problem with it.
Rugged individualism shortens your life? A desire to be free, unshackled from an oppressive government shortens your life? But millions of Americans are gonna read this. Millions of Americans are going to believe it. Millions of Americans are gonna believe that to prolong their life, in addition to stopping smoking and whatever other pop culture thing of the day is to never die, now they’ll agree to give up their freedom. Now they’ll agree, don’t be an individual. Whatever the group does, do it. Whatever the zeitgeist is of the day, fall in line, spirit of the times. Whatever your government says, do it. If your mayor says 32-ounce soft drinks will kill you, don’t drink them. Don’t even question it. It’s insidious.
You know what’s at the root of this? At the root of this — and this is really obvious — at the root of this is something I’ve said countless times over the many years of this broadcast, and that is an arrogant condescension and a contempt for people. This Sabrina Tavernise, by advocating the result of this study, is pushing the notion that you don’t know what’s good for you, that you can’t take care of yourself on your own. You all need to be like Julia in that Obama campaign cartoon. Your life needs to be guided, directed, and sheltered at every step of your life by your government.
Some might say, “Well, why do they care so much?” It’s about power. If you don’t have a desire to exhibit power over people, you’re gonna have a hard time understanding these people. But that’s what it is. It’s couched in altruism. It is couched in compassion, but that’s not what this is. This is a desire to control everybody, keep everybody in line so that there is no opposition. There is also this belief — and this is a key fundamental aspect of this, and I think a crucial point in understanding progressives and the left — is they gaze out over the country. They do not see goodness. They do not trust that there is inherent goodness in individuals or in groups of people. They believe that people are not good, and that’s why they must be controlled.
That’s why they must have restrictions on their normal inclinations in terms of their behavior because they do not trust the inherent goodness and decency of people. They look at people in just the opposite way. People are liars, cheats, and will steal from other people. They will kill other people. They will purposely maim other people. They will take things that are not theirs from other people. Government must step in and protect people from all of this evil that’s out there. This runs counter to what everybody thinks of liberalism. Everybody thinks liberalism is couched in compassion and love and tolerance, and it’s the exact opposite. It’s intolerance and it is a contemptible view of humanity.
And you can see it everywhere. Who’s destroying the planet? Us. Not any other mammal, not any other animal, not any other organism. Human beings. Extreme liberals, in the environmentalist wacko movement, have actually advocated getting rid of people in order to save the planet. Humanity is the problem. We’ve chronicled that for you over the 25 years or so of this program. They do not believe in the inherent decency of people, and as such, they don’t trust people, and this includes the editorial board of the New York Times. This writer, the people that did this study, you who join the NRA, those of you who do not agree with abortion, those of you who are opposed to amnesty, you are not to be trusted.
You are a problem. You are held in contempt. You don’t know what’s best for you, and you don’t know what’s best for society, and you don’t know what’s best for country, and that’s why you must be legislated or controlled with laws or what have you. Guns. You are not decent enough to have them responsibly. You are not good enough in the sense of character to have a gun. You will kill people with your gun. You will kill children with your guns. And regardless of how infrequently it happens, whenever it does happen, a mass shooting such as at Sandy Hook, it is portrayed as something that is either common or increasing in frequency and is used as another example to deny you freedom because, see, this is what happens when we let people behave on their own. This is what happens, what they do, they kill kids. This is how the left looks at you.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Two quick quotes just to illustrate what I was talking about. Charles de Gaulle, a former prime minister of France, said something once that is really pithy. He said, “To become the master, the politician pretends to be the servant.” Does that not aptly describe so many politicians? We’re just serving your needs, it’s how they become your master. C. S. Lewis, a brilliant man and writer, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.”
Tyranny of guns. Yes, we’ve got to get rid of guns for the good of people. “Tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.” New York Times, it’s amazing: Cultural factors like individualism and dislike of government interference are playing a role in shortening your life. That is as insulting to my intelligence as anything could be.