I usually make it a point to read the Opinion section of the Daily on a regular basis, mostly because I respect the opinions of other people and I like to see what seems to be important issues to my fellow students. However, I was appalled by a comment made by Nathan Borst in his article “Ames City Council oversteps its bounds,” published on Feb. 27.

I have to say it was a relatively good column and I agree with almost everything that Nathan was trying to say. That is until I came upon the comment, “Unfortunately, this concept is part of the foundation of liberalism,” referring to Nathan’s idea that liberals believe the government needs to make every decision for the people.

Then, worst of all, he called it the foundation of liberalism. Now, I’m no political science major, but what a naive, ignorant, stereotypical statement with no base for argument. If you ask me, an admitted liberal, the foundation of liberalism isn’t “people should depend on the government to decide where they want to have dinner,” it actually is the government should support people and provide everyone with the same opportunities.

This doesn’t mean make my decisions for me; it means the government should offer programs, such as welfare, to reduce the homeless rate and give everyone a chance. I actually believe in the individual rights over the group, but the individual should have the compassion to help the group.

This brings me to another point I would like to make to defend my beliefs. Everyone knows that on the subject of abortion, for instance, liberal people believe in free choice (the ability to make my decision for myself) while conservative people believe pro-life (the government should make their decision for them).

This is a great example of why liberals don’t believe the government should make all their decisions. So how then, I ask, can the foundation of liberalism be that we depend of the government to make every little decision for us?

Robert Goric

Sophomore

Materials engineer