By CARL MUMPOWER

America’s No. 1 addiction isn’t marijuana, food, sex or money. Those all run a distant second to the big daddy of dependencies – the need to feel good. Embracing that false trail to paradise is an Asheville fetish. For evidence one need look no further than the latest addition to health food entrepreneurship – Trader Joe’s. It’s a great place, and the competitive price pressure it puts on rivals is a real plus. I wonder if the progressives darkening Joe’s doors – Republican red, by the way – realize they’re supporting a stellar example of the dynamic impacts of free-market capitalism? What they evidently don’t get is their own misery. Drop over for a visit and watch the gloomy-doomy continence of most of the shoppers. Be careful while observing the curious absence of joy amidst so much bounty. For those whose No. 1 mission in life is self-gratification, the search for the perfect piece of pleasure for a perfect price stimulates buggy mayhem. And so it is throughout much of Asheville’s progressive community. Happiness seems to be just out of reach. Why is that you may ask? Because nature is set up to encourage feeling good as a byproduct of doing good. Addiction to the fantasy of a short-cut around that responsibility does not constitute exemption. Be it food, beer, weed or weirdness, a lifestyle devoted to pleasure as priority one is frustratingly futile – and it shows.

Gender swapping as the new cool

Asheville prides itself on being an accepting sanctuary for the LBGT community. Success is affirmed by the fact more people here than not actually know what that acronym stands for. I personally like the idea of being accepting of people whether or not one agrees with their convictions. I can envision, for example, a day when free-thinking conservatives can walk downtown streets without fear of hostility, ridicule or reprisal. I can tell you from personal experience we have a good way to go with that dream. In the meantime, the LBGT lobby will most certainly continue to advocate their agendas – including the curious notion of same-sex marriage as a counter to nature’s apparent priorities. Have you noticed it’s been years since we’ve had honest discourse on homosexuality? So long has reason been absent that we’ve started pretending the only explanation for why people are what they are is genetics. Really? If that’s true, then I deserve a more tender reception from Asheville’s liberal-socialist-progressives. I can’t help being a conservative – I was born that way. In truth genetics is only one source of gender attraction. Choice, training, fear of the opposite sex, identity confusion, and familial influences can also play a part. Going by the raucous activities occurring in and out of local gay bars, sexual addiction is also a deciding factor. My personal favorite for why we have such a blooming batch of LBGT recruits is gender swapping as a new form of cool.  Among today’s youth, picking your sexual identity has become an edgy path to mattering in a puzzling world. The LBGT lobby, ever willing to expand its mascot base, does an excellent job of encouraging thus lost souls to the flock. For witness into their insincerity, note aggressive reactions to diversity of thought countering their own. Leave it to say the chances are slim for a “C” being added to that LBGT acronym.

Let’s not pretend this is prudence

There was a time when to have a roof over your head, you had to build it, inherit it, rent it or borrow it from a generous relative. With the advent of credit, it became possible for mainstream Americans to purchase shelter for tomorrow through the promise of future labor. It was a good system that placed more privately owned homes in the hands of the average Joe than any society in the world. But, like most good things, we found a way to corrupt the deal. Bankers learned to milk the system by purchasing the loyalties of politicians. Politicians learned to milk the system by purchasing our loyalties. We learned to milk the system by acquiring liar loans, borrowing on our home equity, living beyond our means, and robbing other people’s labors.  America didn’t stop there. We committed to running our government on that same fly now and pay later philosophy with greater emphasis on the “fly” than the “pay.” Citizens became lazy. Politicians became corrupt. Crony capitalists became fat. Whereas we once borrowed money to finance highways, industry and infrastructure designed to boast the economy, we started borrowing money to finance entitlements, military adventurism, giveaways, and false prosperity. Highways don’t vote – people do. Through that discovery our leaders embraced the magic formula for a permanent state of grace – promise people something for nothing. That nature persistently tells us there is no such thing became a mute point. The pretend prudence of stealing from tomorrow to live well today is just too much fun. Will it end – certainly. Where will it end – who knows? What is assured is that no one, be it bankers, politicians, or the average Joe carries immunity from natural law. Those promising something for nothing are not our friend. There is always a bill attached to bounty. Once there was an America understanding prosperity must be earned through personal labor. Today a growing majority counts on government handouts, lotteries, deficit spending, and financial slights of hand. That’s the moral equivalent of a social Ponzi scheme. No one wins that game forever – even Mr. Ponzi.

Death by taxes

Civil societies exist through an intentional system of governance supporting social order, safety, and achievement. Taxes are the means by which that system is funded so that it can fulfill its obligations to the governed. There is symmetry in this arrangement that holds potentials for good and bad and prosperity and abuse. In the case of America, our system of governance and taxation, per the constitution, is cogently defined but often poorly applied.

Contrary to the common view, conservatives are not automatically adverse to taxes. When these revenues are applied to constitutionally supported functions, the benefits justify our investment. Conservatives take satisfaction in the contributions of good government and recognize fair taxation as a necessary component to any successful society. 

 Conservatives do have very specific resistance to taxes used to redistribute wealth. In that there are only two ways to create prosperity – personal labor or taking from someone else’s labors – taxes can be an effective means for legalizing theft. There is no constitutional language enabling government to rob Peter to pay Paul – either in the name of charity or fairness. The drafters of the Constitution recognized that unrestrained appetites combined with taxation powers equaled disaster. History illustrates that government has no self-regulating ability to constrain its craving or those of citizens addicted to sanctioned bounty. Wealth redistribution is thus a path to cultural self-destruction.

Fully 50 percent of today’s population pays no federal income tax. Eighty-five percent of federal taxes are paid by those making $50,000 a year or more. Thus disinvested, there is a large portion of our population holding the voting power to expand entitlements without the restraining hand of skin in the game. 

The conservative position on taxes is that we should all share in the opportunities and responsibilities of our society. On this basis, consumption taxes offer a model of fairness, simplicity, and accountability most conducive to the longevity of our Republic.

Cultural self-destruction is inevitable when the majority finds the justification and means to shift costs and retain benefits. A government that collects and spends its revenue wisely was of prime importance to our founding fathers. We have strayed mightily from their enlightened vision.

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Carl Mumpower, a former member of Asheville City Council, may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it