On Thursday, talk show host Rush Limbaugh panned a study on longevity covered by the New York Times that suggests individualism and free will may be shortening the life span of the average American.
According to the 378-page study conducted by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, younger Americans "die earlier and live in poorer health than their counterparts in other developed countries, with far higher rates of death from guns, car accidents and drug addiction."
But the New York Times report said the study "explored less conventional explanations."
"Could cultural factors like individualism and dislike of government interference play a role? Americans are less likely to wear seat belts and more likely to ride motorcycles without helmets," Sabrina Tavernise wrote.
"You see?" Limbaugh asked. "It's our American individualism and dislike of government that's killing us! It is our quest for freedom, our desire to be free of the shackles of an oppressive government that's killing us because we're not listening to government, which is only interested in saving our lives. We don't want any part of it. And as a result, we're dying at a faster rate than anybody else anywhere in the world."
"This is pure sophistry," he added. "This is out-and-out BS. The very idea that that quest for individuality, individualism and a desire to be left alone by government shortens your life?"
Limbaugh went on to say that Americans are now living in what he called "the biggest, most oppressive, full-court press to subjugate every citizen to government" that he has ever seen.
"This is not even media. Yes, the story appears in the New York Times, but this isn't news, and these people are not even journalists. They're not media. These are propagandists," he added.
He went on to say that the report is driven by an agenda that views the average American with contempt.
"You don't know what's best for you, and you don't know what's best for society, and you don't know what's best for [the] country, and that's why you must be legislated or controlled with laws or what have you," he added.
Limbaugh recalled a quote from C. S. Lewis: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive."
He finished the segment by saying the report "is as insulting to my intelligence as anything could be."
Related:
Liberal elites view average Americans with contempt
New book and videos show Hollywood's contempt for conservatives
----------------------------------------------------------------
If you like this article, you can follow Joe on Twitter @jnewby1956, visit his Facebook page, or subscribe to receive email updates when a new article is published.
For hard-hitting conservative commentary, please visit Joe's blog, the Conservative Firing Line. You can also find Joe's articles at Right News Now, PolitiCollision, Liberty Unyielding and Spokane FAVS.
Comments