RUSH: This is Greg in Scottsdale, Arizona. Nice to have you on the EIB Network. Hello, sir.
CALLER: Hello. Thank you for taking my call.
RUSH: Yes, sir.
CALLER: The reason why I called is I was one of those liberal Democrats that, about ten years ago, thought himself entitled and a victim to my life and my choices and woke up one day with an epiphany that my life is predicated on all the choices that I make and that freedom and choice are the greatest pillars that I could possibly possess. And as a result, I am now of course a Republican, but what I understand about that freedom and choice is that I am responsible. I must take ownership of every choice that I make, I must be response-able to each one of those choices, and I alleviate and eliminate the victim mentality that I was living in, that I see so many Democrats living in right now.
RUSH: Do you know what the source of this epiphany happened to be, what caused this?
CALLER: I wish I could pinpoint one particular thing, but it wasn’t. It was an inspiration from listening to a variety of people, reading a variety of people —
RUSH: You can admit that it was me.
CALLER: (laughing) Well, part of it was you, part of it was a couple of my best friends, Dan and John, that were amazingly supportive during difficult times in my life, my parents, who are both passed away now, some of it’s been you, Thomas Sowell, John Locke —
RUSH: Sowell, that’s fabulous. That could be all that anyone would need if they could read Thomas Sowell. You say this happened ten years ago?
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: Could you compare the past ten years with your life prior to this epiphany? Just in terms of your outlook, your contentment, your happiness, all these things that all human beings want in life.
CALLER: I’m glad you asked that question. My life is so much more joyful now. It doesn’t matter where I’m at in my life, I’m a happy guy. I don’t look to other people or situations to make me happy. All of my choices make me happy. I don’t confuse a difficult choice or an undesired choice with no choice at all. I always have a choice, and as long as I live in this nation and I have freedom to make that choice, my life can be absolutely spectacular. And it is. I mean just recently I moved back to Arizona and I am part of a start-up company. I have a terrific boss that I just absolutely think is amazing, I work with some incredible people, and it’s a small business that’s, you know, just start-up, it just is a start-up this year, and I have great hopes for it. But I’m not attached to the outcome, because I realize that I keep making choices, so if one choice doesn’t work, I go to another choice, and I accept all of my choices.
RUSH: That’s excellent because what you’re basically saying is opportunities are endless, and it’s up to you to exercise the access to opportunities.
CALLER: Equality is opportunity. Equality isn’t me earning the same amount as you, Rush, or anybody else, equality is the opportunity, and I went for that opportunity. I went to college when I didn’t think I was going to. I started very late, in my thirties, I went for scholarships, I went for loans, I pay my loans back. I took responsibility, I made sure —
RUSH: Yeah, but before the epiphany happened, were you envious of people?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: They got to you with the class envy, I mean you would be happy if people you thought who had more than you somehow got hurt or harmed by a government policy?
CALLER: Absolutely. Because what I did was, I was living in an idea of shared suffering, that if I suffered, you had to suffer as well, and if you’re one of those rich people, that you got it all and I don’t have it, somehow I want to make sure you’re suffering so that you can endure the victimization and suffering that I’m doing. I don’t live in that anymore, and it’s obviously sick behavior.
RUSH: Well, congratulations. I’m glad you answered these questions honestly. I’ll tell you something, Greg. Earlier this week or late last week, there was another — and these are pretty common surveys on happiness in America, and they found even now, I mean with the status of the campaign, that, quote, Republicans, conservatives, whatever you want to call them, twice as happy if not more than liberal Democrats are happy. This is borne out by anecdotal evidence. When I run around and just see people. I mean you can tell who’s angry and enraged all the time and people who are happy and having a great time and are optimistic about things, even during times like this. I mean this is not an ideal time for Republicans to be happy, but overall, their outlook on life is far more positive, particularly conservative Republicans, than people on the left. It’s totally understandable to me why, psychologically, and you just explained it as well as I’ve ever heard it, and I’m glad you called. That was Greg in Scottsdale.