Letter: Take a lesson from the bears

Thursday, April 10, 2003 | 9:04 a.m.

Liberalism, as it's practiced here in America by the Democratic Party, is destined for failure and could very well be the destruction of the party if another course isn't taken soon by the entrenched, old-guard leadership. The destructive policies and direction of the party for the past 40 years must be changed dramatically.

I can best illustrate the reasons why this must be done by using an environmentalist perspective of the unrestrained, well-intended handouts of food offered by the tourist to the bears in Yellowstone. This practice was common for years and the result was destructive to the bears, crippling their self-reliant instinctive interaction with their environment.

It creates a conditioned response in the bears wherein they associate tourist with food, and when the food isn't given willingly the bears have been known to attack campers. This has been recognized by environmentalists and corrective measures have been put in place that have over time changed the bears behaviors back to how nature intended.

As long as the Democratic Party practices a similar form of liberalism they are doomed. Any social program that does not contain the necessary component of teaching self-reliance as it assists the people is destructive to the people. The alternative I would suggest to the Democratic Party is to embrace, teach and assist small business entrepreneurs.

Become the party that embraces and educates millions of America's young people about the possibilities and potential of going into business for themselves. This allows the party to have a future and it is good for America. It also offers an alternative to the Republican Party, which at present seems to be quite content to rest quietly at the feet of its big-business masters.

DAVID BAKER