Battle Of The Whigs And The Tories

by Joel Hendon⁽¹⁷¹⁾ Red Star

The words "Whig" and "Tory" go all the way back to England in 1679 when the English Parliament was engaged in debate over whether or not King James II, should be denied ascension to the throne because he was Catholic. The names were given either side by the other as both were intended to be derogatory.

Whig was a Scottish term which meant "horse thief" and Tory was an Irish word which was used in reference to a Catholic outlaw. Although King James was allowed succession to the throne, he only sat about three years when he was overthrown during the 1688 Revolution, after which, he did indeed become an outlaw.

These terms stuck and became the titles of those who wanted Parliament to have more power while the other believed in more adherence to the Royal edicts. Upon the migration to the United States, the terms became by some that Whigs were those who were for change, while Tory was the term for those who opposed it. Thomas Jefferson himself used the terms in that sense.

Those in the 19^th century who advocated change, earned the term "liberal" (from the Latin word liber which means free) because they preached "total" freedom should include freedom from want. Some began to refer to themselves as "progressive". By the very thought of freedom from want, stemmed the movement towards a socialist state which requires a vast welfare state or more into political slavery which is found in Communism. This has always been a false premise since to assure the needs of the poor to be satisfied, freedoms of the working class and wealthy must be infringed upon.

Our present day political parties have fallen into those termed "Liberal" and "Conservative" which are considerably different to some of the stands of the Whigs and the Tories, yet still have some of their philosophical beliefs. History has shown us that extreme liberalism is a disastrous route. No countries have ever been better examples than Russia and China. For many years, both these countries were socialist to the extreme and continue to have some of those aspects. But in both cases, the ambitions of those who were highly capable were thwarted by the fact that those ambitions achieved them little. The will to work came to naught and labor developed into virtual slave labor. Total freedom became totally obsolete.

Labor unions were introduced and flourished during a difficult period in the history of the United States. They helped the plight of the worker in those days, yet freedoms were damaged for those who employed them. And as times became better, extreme greed became the prime mover among the union hierarchy as well as the membership. More and more demands were placed upon the various businesses until many became unable to compete and were forced to close. The textile industry along with the electronics industry were forced to leave this country to survive, since many more have joined them and today, our automobile industry is on the verge of collapse for the same reason. Instead of redistributing wealth, they have successfully destroyed the geese which laid golden eggs.

Many of the demands placed upon employers became petty and highly unproductive. A famous author Jack London, well known Marxist, claimed that any worker who worked harder or was more productive than his fellows was already a "scab". In other words, a traitor towards his union. This type if thinking is unimaginable. My father taught me, and I agree with, "If you hire out to work for a man, for God's sake, work." My former employers will confirm that attitude.

Webgazine Columnist.

Article submitted Tuesday, March 31, 2009 & read 72 times.

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