What Julia Says About President Obama

By: Chris Johnson

By Chris Johnson

President Obama tipped his hand earlier this month when he rolled out the now infamous “Life of Julia” ad campaign. It may be more accurate to say that he threw his cards face up on the table like a four year-old playing Uno.

In case you aren’t a news junky and missed the Julia memo, here’s the scoop.

The campaign consists of a slideshow showing Julia – a simple, faceless illustration of a girl – as she grows up and the ways in which President Obama’s policies affect her.

The Heritage Foundation gives a concise run down of how those policies supposedly better her life:

“As told by Obama’s latest ad campaign, Julia’s parents didn’t teach her the alphabet or how to make friends; Head Start did. Her parents didn’t need to save for college, because she got a government grant and student loans (which she’ll spend a good portion of her adult life paying back). Her first job as a graphic designer didn’t have benefits, but that’s okay, because government provided free health care (since she couldn’t stay on her parents’ plan). Julia had free birth control—thanks to government. When she decided to have a baby, she had free prenatal care—thanks to government. Her son got the same great education she had—thanks to government. Julia started a small business—thanks to government. She retired with Medicare and Social Security—thanks to… well, you get the picture.”

The word that has been used most often to describe the life of Julia is “creepy.” As many have noticed, Barack Obama seems to still be president when Julia turns 67, and that is a scary enough thought in itself. On top of that, Julia is held up as a model, not because she put in the elbow grease, worked the long hours, jumped all the hurtles and ended up on top, i.e. followed the American Dream, but because the government permitted her to succeed. By definition, that is the opposite of independence.

If this vision of a model citizenry were realized, success would not depend on how hard a person worked, but on how many handouts one could score from the generous Uncle Sam.

It has also been pointed out that under President Obama, Julia’s mother could have had an abortion for free. That, however, would make a less effective campaign ad.

“The Life of Julia” is definitely creepy, but I think more than that, it is telling. In fact, I think this campaign is a perfect example of what’s wrong with President Obama’s liberal ideology.

In “the Life of Julia,” the subject is a faceless individual, not of any importance – not important enough for a last name even – simply one of the many who make up statistics, chosen to represent the rest.

This is the difference between conservatism and liberalism – our view of the individual. To the conservative, the rights of people simply as people trumps social engineering to level the playing field. That was the purpose of the Bill of Rights – to defend the rights that are as much a part of mankind as our self-awareness. This idea is cemented in the idea that we are made in the image of God and that He, “nature’s God,” gave us those rights.

The liberal view of the individual is based on the idea that people have the rights their government allows them to have, and when those rights get in the way of the common good, it is the government’s prerogative to take them away.

President Obama is not trying to help “Julia.” He’s trying to lower the poverty rate – a noble goal, but when attempted without the focus on individual rights, like, say, property rights – the right to keep what you’ve earned – those rights can be violated.

That’s what we have now with this idea that the “rich” do not pay their “fair share.” The right to private property is being attacked in favor of government-invented rights like the “right to healthcare” or the “right to college education.” Are those good things? Absolutely. Are they a human right? Are they a part of humanity as designed by God? Since God didn’t create a hospital or university when he created Adam, I think we can safely say no.

The president wanted to show how he was taking care of people in this campaign, instead he showed exactly how he looks at them – faceless members of a group which needs to either be given handouts or be taxed until all men’s wallets are evaluated equal.

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