The short answer is 'Yes'. Govt is BOTH the problem AND solution. Extremists want to push one extreme.. the anarchists say that ALL govt is evil & needs to be destroyed. The big govt progressives, socialists, etc, say that MORE govt is good, as it can mandate equality, justice, & fairness for all.
But reality is somewhere in the middle. SOME administration of the human collective is necessary.. an expense for the citizens to protect themselves from foreign aggression & domestic criminals. But TOTAL govt control is tyrannical.
The ideal solution is to have minimal govt interference, while securing our basic rights and providing efficient, cost effective national security. Those details is where the debates should be.. what level of govt interference do we want?
The problem is not the system.. it is man himself. If a society is moral, charitable, & has a strong work ethic, they will prosper in almost any philosophical system. But if greed, corruption, & selfishness become the dominant characteristics of the culture, it will decline, regardless of the ideals of governance. A nation in decline can only stop the downward spiral by promoting & elevating moral values. The family must be held in high esteem. Policies that protect & encourage strong families should be the goal of a wise governing system, not those that tear down the family & destroy the social fabric of the culture.
For decades, progressive ideology has been systematically eroding family values. Morality & traditional family structure have been ridiculed, mocked, & undermined by civil servants who are supported by the society they serve. Academia, govt, & entertainment have sabotaged the very society they pretend to promote.
The problem is anti human ideology, empowered by govt. The solution is pro human ideology, empowered by govt. Govt is not the problem, but the ideology behind it.
The idea of some new, altruistic man is always needed to populate an altruistic fantasy ideology. I mostly hear the anarchists and the progressives humming 'Imagine' as they present their ideologies. Most people see the world as violent, greedy, unjust, filled with oppression, death, war, & bullies. So they long for a NEW world.. one that is filled with peace, harmony, love, & fairness. The progressives think that more government power can usher in this condition, while the anarchists think the state is the CAUSE of the problems. But neither is true, completely. More govt power, using corrupt, greedy, self serving humans only furthers corruption, greed, & selfishness. Less govt power, or eliminating it, only diminishes the deterrence for these same kinds of people to exploit others with no restraint. That is the quandary we are in. Corrupt, greedy, aggressive humans build a system of corruption, greed, & selfishness. So we need a 'New Man'.. a new human that somehow voluntarily restrains himself.
Big govt progressives want govt to usher in an age of peace & harmony, which they cannot do, as they merely reflect the people they represent. That is why america has become so corrupt.. as the nation's values have declined, our governance has followed. But eliminating all collective restraints or justice does not create a new man. You will not suddenly have everyone holding hands & singing kumbaya. You can 'imagine' this all you want, but the observable reality is that humans are selfish & greedy, & will exploit each other if they have opportunity. The power of our collective justice system is even a feeble deterrence, as the rate of crime & incarceration shows.
In the history of the world, a religious people with strong morals & tenets of altruistic care for their fellow man have brought the most 'fairness' to man. In places where these people form governments, those values are reflected in their collective system. Even monarchies, where the king is benevolent, god fearing, & sees himself as a nurturer & protector of his people, has more justice & approval from the people than a corrupt democracy.
As long as there are humans in the world, & they retain their historical humanity, there is little hope for a utopian dream. We are stuck playing 'Imagine' over & over, hoping some day the others will join us, & together we can live as one.
And of course, this just addresses the fantasy of anarchist ideology.. that of voluntary harmony & peace. The REALITY of anarchist ideology is more violent. Anarchists do NOT hold hands & sing kumbaya, they throw bombs & destroy things. They are filled with rage & hate cops, the govt, & any form of authority. So the conflict between what they say, & what they actually DO, is very similar with those who worship the state. Both pretend to want peace & love, but both are filled with hate towards the american system of self rule & limited govt.
HUMANS are the only 'entities' capable of infringing people's rights. Any criminal, any lawbreaking cop, any unjust bureaucrat, any corporate cog can violate people's basic rights. Those rights are only 'protected' by the power of those in control. If it is no one, then only your individual power can protect your own rights, unless you organize & form an alliance which people would do in any breakdown of law & order.
Even an unjust law does not violate anyone's rights, until & unless it is enforced. And it takes HUMANS to enforce it. No social laws enforce themselves.
What most people want is a fair, efficient, impartial system of justice. It has taken millennia for us to arrive at where we are. Reverting back to 'might makes right' only moves us backward in our social evolution. People wish to be free to live their lives, & keep as much as their property as possible, not wasting it on unnecessary protection & nanny state mandates. But anarchy does not deliver justice. It brings chaos & disorder. People prefer despotism to chaos & disorder.
Humans have lived in bondage & oppression from kings, dictators, generals, parties, caliphs, juntas, & as many governing systems you can name for millennia. Most of history man has not live with much 'liberty' as we in america know it. It is a fading memory, to be sure, but it is real, for now.
Societies have formed from time immemorial WITHOUT the concept of individual liberty. Freedom is not a privilege, nor is it something given by anyone. It is something that a determined people decide to TAKE. That is what we did in america, & if enough of us can keep the flood of socialists & anarchists from destroying the nation from within, we can keep it alive for a while longer.
No one who sits on their butt pontificating about their right to be free is ever free... only those who fight for it. Even then there is no guarantee.. many people have lost their lives in the fight for individual liberty, & it has taken thousands of years for us to arrive at a system where it can even live. Why? Because fighting for liberty does not pay. It is a battle for the altruistic.. those who will give of their lives to see their children, neighbors, & countrymen free.
Self absorbed, self seeking opportunists will not fight for human liberty. Nor will rogue males outside of mainstream society. These types only look out for their own selfish interests. Individual liberty is not one of them.
Liberty and power are in eternal enmity. Liberty is defensive and power is offensive. Power is an armed aggressor. Liberty stands empty-handed, in need of unselfish champions at all times. Power is alluring and inspires both fear and worldly reverence... Those who rise to power, and in power ride rough-shod over the rights of men, seem always to stand in marble on our public squares while those who carry the torch of liberty rest in unmarked graves. ~R. Carter Pittman
Extremes sees govt as the solution OR the problem. Those who are more practical see govt is BOTH the problem & solution.
Anarchy: 'Govt is the problem, therefore eliminate the state & there will be no problems.'
Progressivism: 'Greedy capitalists are the problem, therefore empower the state to take their stuff, divide it evenly & there will be no problems.'
American: 'Man is the problem. Make a system of checks & balances to minimize corruption & thereby minimize the problems'.
But balance is boring. Extreme measures, with dramatic overtones are more exciting. Massive explosions, shocking values, & radical departures from social norms have more appeal than minor tweaks. As the culture has declined, so has the system. It merely reflects the values of the people.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Friday, October 3, 2014
'Term limits & balance the budget!'
I think it is a matter of focus & determination. If we allow the state worshippers to constantly distract us & befuddle us with deflections, we will lose. But if every question is answered with 'Term limits & Balanced Budget!' eventually they will lose.
'What about ISIS?!? What can we do about them?!?'
Term limits, & balance the budget.
'Global warming!!!'
Term limits, & balanced budget.
'There are potholes in the road!!'
Term limits, & balanced budget.
Revolution usually results in tyranny, not freedom. For this reason, it is all the more important to keep america together, & salvage what we can of human liberty, rather than hope that some rises from the ashes.
Most of the time, it FEELS hopeless. But this is a call for intelligence, reason, & action.. We can use the feelings of dread & doom to motivate us to action, rather than fall into a defeatist stupor. We can make logical, tactical moves to preserve & further the american ideal.. the 2 big ones already have wide public support.
IMO, this is a time for focused, determined words & actions, not surrender.
"Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers; but if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was the last to desert, but that I never deserted her" ~Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." ~Abraham Lincoln
In a time of great national despair, lincoln kept hope. In one of the most depressing settings you can imagine.. a bloody battle at gettysburg, he ended his address with these words:
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Do we not also have a 'great task before us?' Have not many of our ancestors died to preserve the freedom we have enjoyed? Is this nation not ready for a new birth of freedom? It is too important.. too rare.. too precious in the annals of humanity to let it slip away from fools with no perspective & no concept of reality. WE the PEOPLE are the caretakers of american liberty, & we can take it back, if we want to. Where are the leaders, calling for action? Where are those who have sworn an oath to protect & defend the constitution from ALL enemies? Freedom is the life blood of americans. If we do not live free, we are not alive. We must WAKE UP to the slow tyranny masquerading as caretaking, seize our freedoms, & tweak our system so this does not happen again.
Almost every problem in american politics can find its source in the elite ruling class. Almost every thing good about america can be found in the principle of citizen representative. It's not a 'liberal or conservative' issue. It IS a statism vs individual freedom issue, as statism NEEDS a ruling class. But even classic liberals decry the loss of personal liberty, which is the constant push from statism.
Here is an interesting way to contrast the american principle of citizen representative. Read any quote or founding document.. or any speech by an american statesman. Anywhere you see 'people' or 'citizen', replace it with 'ruling class'. Here's what you get:
This is absurd, of course, and any american would shrink from these statements in horror. Yet this is EXACTLY what we have become. We have a 2 party system of a good old boy power network dominating national politics. It HAS been going on for years, yet we seldom talk about the problems it has caused, or the intent of the founders, or the violation of the BASIC PRINCIPLE of american governance:
Citizen Representatives. It is distinctly anti american.. contrary to ALL the principles of the founders. Politicians & statesmen give lip service to it, yet work tirelessly to prevent it. They have built a monopoly.. a cartel of power where all the money, influence, & decision making is NOT available to the people's review, but is dictated. The only restraint over the years has been public opinion, which is shaped by media propaganda. .. and who controls that, now?
Libs should like this..
"We are bound by ideals that teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these ideals. Every citizen must uphold them.... I ask you to be citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens, not subjects. Responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character."
Sound good? Of course! Who said it? Dubya, in his inaugural address, 2001. Is there anyone who illustrates 'ruling class' any better than the Bushes? ..ok, maybe the kennedys.. but this still shows the corruption of the current system, & the departure from the principle of citizen representatives.
Public service is a magnet for scoundrels. Slimy characters like anthony weiner can worm their way into the political network, then get elected. He was not a businessman, or a working man.. a leader in his community. he got a job as an aide to chuck schumer, then ran for office himself. He never did a lick of honest work in his life, yet was promoted by the political machine & ends up 'representing' new york. What did this route give him? Fabulous wealth.. & he didn't have to work for it, unless you call sleazing around the political network, 'work'.
We could go through all the senators.. MOST of them just 'networked' their way into power. Some were rich before, & increased it. Some were not, but are now. How do most of these people get elected? They choose a 'career' of politics. They do NOT do anything productive, or anything that relates to the working man, but they pursue a career that is inherently elite. They go the route of obama, make connections in some city political machine, get elected state representative, then senator, then build a coalition & backing to go national. It is a pursuit of lordship, it is no wonder these people think themselves superior to everyone else. The system is rigged to attract these kinds of personalities.
It seems very clear to me, that to return to citizen representative principles would be easy. Take away the lifetime draw, the money, & the ascent of power, & we'd get a much better class of people doing it. This is probably the simplest, most basic principle of america, & would be easy to fix. It would have support from both liberals & conservatives. But not the ruling class! They will oppose it.. not openly or directly, but if the subject comes up, they will nod in assent to the problem, then change the subject. 'Yes, we need to address term limits.. look! a squirrel!'
1. Term limits for everyone.
2. Minimum wage.
3. Strict, enforced corruption laws.
I challenge anyone to find any changes to our system that would have a more dramatic effect, & for the good of the people, than these simple things.
'What about ISIS?!? What can we do about them?!?'
Term limits, & balance the budget.
'Global warming!!!'
Term limits, & balanced budget.
'There are potholes in the road!!'
Term limits, & balanced budget.
Revolution usually results in tyranny, not freedom. For this reason, it is all the more important to keep america together, & salvage what we can of human liberty, rather than hope that some rises from the ashes.
Most of the time, it FEELS hopeless. But this is a call for intelligence, reason, & action.. We can use the feelings of dread & doom to motivate us to action, rather than fall into a defeatist stupor. We can make logical, tactical moves to preserve & further the american ideal.. the 2 big ones already have wide public support.
IMO, this is a time for focused, determined words & actions, not surrender.
"Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers; but if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was the last to desert, but that I never deserted her" ~Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." ~Abraham Lincoln
In a time of great national despair, lincoln kept hope. In one of the most depressing settings you can imagine.. a bloody battle at gettysburg, he ended his address with these words:
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Do we not also have a 'great task before us?' Have not many of our ancestors died to preserve the freedom we have enjoyed? Is this nation not ready for a new birth of freedom? It is too important.. too rare.. too precious in the annals of humanity to let it slip away from fools with no perspective & no concept of reality. WE the PEOPLE are the caretakers of american liberty, & we can take it back, if we want to. Where are the leaders, calling for action? Where are those who have sworn an oath to protect & defend the constitution from ALL enemies? Freedom is the life blood of americans. If we do not live free, we are not alive. We must WAKE UP to the slow tyranny masquerading as caretaking, seize our freedoms, & tweak our system so this does not happen again.
Almost every problem in american politics can find its source in the elite ruling class. Almost every thing good about america can be found in the principle of citizen representative. It's not a 'liberal or conservative' issue. It IS a statism vs individual freedom issue, as statism NEEDS a ruling class. But even classic liberals decry the loss of personal liberty, which is the constant push from statism.
Here is an interesting way to contrast the american principle of citizen representative. Read any quote or founding document.. or any speech by an american statesman. Anywhere you see 'people' or 'citizen', replace it with 'ruling class'. Here's what you get:
We the ruling class of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the ruling class, by the ruling class, for the ruling class, shall not perish from the earth.
When the ruling class fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the ruling class, there is liberty.
The ruling class reign over the American political world as God rules over the universe. It is the cause and the end of all things; everything rises out of it and is absorbed back into it. ~Alexis De Tocqueville
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the ruling class themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but inform their discretion." ~Thomas Jefferson
This is absurd, of course, and any american would shrink from these statements in horror. Yet this is EXACTLY what we have become. We have a 2 party system of a good old boy power network dominating national politics. It HAS been going on for years, yet we seldom talk about the problems it has caused, or the intent of the founders, or the violation of the BASIC PRINCIPLE of american governance:
Citizen Representatives. It is distinctly anti american.. contrary to ALL the principles of the founders. Politicians & statesmen give lip service to it, yet work tirelessly to prevent it. They have built a monopoly.. a cartel of power where all the money, influence, & decision making is NOT available to the people's review, but is dictated. The only restraint over the years has been public opinion, which is shaped by media propaganda. .. and who controls that, now?
Libs should like this..
"We are bound by ideals that teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these ideals. Every citizen must uphold them.... I ask you to be citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens, not subjects. Responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character."
Sound good? Of course! Who said it? Dubya, in his inaugural address, 2001. Is there anyone who illustrates 'ruling class' any better than the Bushes? ..ok, maybe the kennedys.. but this still shows the corruption of the current system, & the departure from the principle of citizen representatives.
Public service is a magnet for scoundrels. Slimy characters like anthony weiner can worm their way into the political network, then get elected. He was not a businessman, or a working man.. a leader in his community. he got a job as an aide to chuck schumer, then ran for office himself. He never did a lick of honest work in his life, yet was promoted by the political machine & ends up 'representing' new york. What did this route give him? Fabulous wealth.. & he didn't have to work for it, unless you call sleazing around the political network, 'work'.
We could go through all the senators.. MOST of them just 'networked' their way into power. Some were rich before, & increased it. Some were not, but are now. How do most of these people get elected? They choose a 'career' of politics. They do NOT do anything productive, or anything that relates to the working man, but they pursue a career that is inherently elite. They go the route of obama, make connections in some city political machine, get elected state representative, then senator, then build a coalition & backing to go national. It is a pursuit of lordship, it is no wonder these people think themselves superior to everyone else. The system is rigged to attract these kinds of personalities.
It seems very clear to me, that to return to citizen representative principles would be easy. Take away the lifetime draw, the money, & the ascent of power, & we'd get a much better class of people doing it. This is probably the simplest, most basic principle of america, & would be easy to fix. It would have support from both liberals & conservatives. But not the ruling class! They will oppose it.. not openly or directly, but if the subject comes up, they will nod in assent to the problem, then change the subject. 'Yes, we need to address term limits.. look! a squirrel!'
1. Term limits for everyone.
2. Minimum wage.
3. Strict, enforced corruption laws.
I challenge anyone to find any changes to our system that would have a more dramatic effect, & for the good of the people, than these simple things.
Saving the Dream of America
The American Experiment defined.
1. All men are created equal. There is no ruling elite or divine ordination.
2. The central & only purpose of govt is to provide justice & secure the rights of the people.
3. SELF RULE. The people themselves are the only safe caretakers of our collective organization.
4. To accomplish these goals, we have established a system of self rule, with checks & balances in a governing system consisting of Legislative, Judicial, & Executive branches, all codified under constitutional law.
5. If the govt does not perform its basic duties, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, & institute one that does. The PEOPLE are in charge, not some ruling elite.
These foundational definitions are not clearly in mind for many americans these days, & are very foreign to proponents of state centered ideologies, but they are the basis of America.
Analysis of problems. Failures in the American dream.
1. Massive waste of public resources in unconstitutional military actions throughout the world, Govt corruption, misguided & immoral redistribution programs, & expansion of govt intrusion into the citizen's lives.
2. The decay of citizen representation, & the growth of an elite power structure. A ruling class that has built a system or network of power. Influence has become centralized with favor providers, electioneers, lobbyists, & a 'good ol' boy' network of political favoritism. A pecking order of power has grown in the culture of a ruling elite. Politics as a career has become a goal & a magnet for the corruptible.
3. Undue influence of special interests & the moneyed elite. This is tied with the decline of citizen representatives, & the growth of corruption. The 'revolving door to riches' where elected representatives become enriched by special interests, cronyism, & the use of law as an instrument of plunder.
4. Massive & dangerous debt, that will take years if not decades to get under control, if it does not collapse the nation.
5. Overreaches of power by the public servants, who are charged with defending & upholding the constitution. They have exploited their position as stewards of the public trust for personal gain or to promote their personal agenda. Executive overreach & judicial activism are the most common examples.
6. The corruption of justice. Crime is too rampant in crowded urban areas, & justice is not served. The justice system has become self serving, self propagating, & a financial burden on the producers. It no longer provides efficient justice for the people & needs reform. There are too many conflicting, convoluted laws, too many citizens incarcerated, & too little deterrence for criminal behavior.
7. The growth of statism. State centered regulations that nanny & restrict the freedoms of the people are systematically increasing under the guise of caring for us.
Adjustments to be made. Can the current system be saved? Can we 'tweak' things to salvage the experiment?
1. Term limits. This is probably THE most important thing we can do, & is one of the major things that has corrupted our system. Life time politicians worm their way into power, & curry favor with the network, & grow in the system that perpetuates itself, rather than being stewards of the public trust. 'Career Politician' should evoke the same feeling in us as 'Career Criminal', as they become leeches & sponges.. looters of the people they pretend to serve.
2. Enlightened electorate. If the people do not involve themselves & take responsibility for their governing process, it will fall to scoundrels, & swindlers who are drawn to 'public service' as a way to become rich without working. The PEOPLE must embrace the american dream, & believe in the foundational principles of self governance, & not be fooled by the hucksters & con men who see govt as a means of self enrichment, living off the labors of others. This SHOULD be the goal of public education, instead of the state centered dogma that is currently being pushed on young citizens.
3. Balanced budget. Power follows the money, & money follows the power. The taxpayers would have revolted years ago had they been taxed in accordance with the spending by the representatives. But through deficit spending, they have burdened future generations with the irresponsible, corrupt spending of the current one.
4. Subsistence. To keep honest, sincere public servants, there must not be a draw for riches. Elected representatives should be compensated minimally.. perhaps minimum wage, for their service. SERVICE is the key word here, not compensation. They are stewards of the public trust, & do not produce ANYTHING by their labor. They have no right to huge recompense & a luxurious lifestyle on the backs of the working man. It should not be a 'revolving door to riches' nor should public service provide other means to wealth. Conflicts of interest, graft, cronyism, nepotism, & other corrupting practices should be severely punished.
There is more, i am sure, & i welcome additions & corrections to this list. The goal is to salvage the american experiment, even though some are working to destroy it. But if we lose it, mankind will be set back centuries or even millennia in our quest for human freedom.
"Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." ~Frederic Bastiat
"Our public economy is such as to offer drudgery and subsistence only to those entrusted with its administration--a wise and necessary precaution against the degeneracy of the public servants."~Thomas Jefferson
"This human struggle and scramble for office, for a way to live without work, will finally test the strength of our institutions" ~Abraham Lincoln
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." ~Patrick Henry
"My idea was that if they might be re-elected, they would be casting their eye forward to the period of election (however distant) and be currying favor with the electors and consequently dependent on them. My reason for fixing them in office for a term of years rather than for life was that they might have an idea that they were at a certain period to return into the mass of the people and become the governed instead of the governor, which might still keep alive that regard to the public good that otherwise they might perhaps be induced by their independence to forget." ~Thomas Jefferson
"Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience." ~John Locke
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Anarchy as governance?
The central duty of government is to provide justice. At its very basic form, it is a cop. That is all the people need. A cop to deter & punish aggressors, foreign or domestic. The american system of citizen representatives is just a means to hire cops. We also hash out the details of the law, through the elected representatives, at both the local & national level. Then the cops enforce it. The legislative branches do NOT enforce the law, they only tweak it & codify it, in our stead. They are NOT supposed to act on their own, or in their own interests, but in the interests of the general public. This is just a collective process, that we have evolved from the authoritarian, 'might makes right' systems of the past.
Anarchy destroys this process. There is no citizen representative to tweak the laws, or codify it in our stead. Anyone can do it, & if they have the juice, they can enforce THEIR vision of the law. This is merely a return to 'might makes right', & strips the people from having any influence in the law making process. History is full of cultures being oppressed & plundered by tyrants, parties, coalitions, kings, juntas, or caliphs all using LAW as an instrument of plunder, to take from the working man the fruits of his labors. The ONLY HOPE the working man has if if he can control the process, or have major influence, which is the goal of the american experiment. Anarchists wish to end this experiment, & return us to the dark ages, or worse. The power of the process of law making is too important & too easily abused to leave it to the aggressive, the strong, the rich; & this is what anarchy does, by stripping the people of their collective power, that we have built into this system.
Pretending there can be 'no rulers' or no system of law is the most absurd fantasy in the history of human governance. Laws are constantly crafted.. some good, some bad, & need constant supervision & enforcement. Everything from traffic laws, to patents, to property rights gets more complex, the more dense the population gets. More regulations come with more population. That is inevitable. To try to summarize every detail of law into some general platitude is madness & folly. An accident in a busy intersection cannot be adjudicated by the non aggression principle. The property rights of a patent need more legal examination than some sense of 'common law' can provide.
Why is this so hard to understand? Why do anarchists plug their ears & stubbornly repeat their mantras of non aggression? Why is this even an issue for thinking, rational people? It is calling evil, good. Madness, wisdom. Destruction, order. It is a model for disaster, nothing else. It has no basis in history or reason. ALL anarchist ideology has resulted in destruction & chaos, from as far back as you want to follow this bizarre thread of human ideology. It is just as absurd.. perhaps more so.. than the convoluted progressive, leftist ideology that pretends the state can be a benevolent taskmaster, if we relinquish all control of it to the experts. BOTH of these ideologies KILL the concept of self rule, & citizen representation in the lawmaking process.
Why would we want to do either of these things? How can we believe the lies that either of these could be valid, useful tools in our collective governance? Both of them lead to despotism & oppression. THAT is where we are going, if we do not rescue the american ideal of self rule.
In times past, anarchists contented themselves with 'propaganda of the deed', or blowing stuff up. Talk & reason isn't really their thing.. action & explosions are more satisfying to them. Logic gets stuck in their beards, & they long for some blast echo against their faces.
It is a peculiar ideology.. i suspect popular more for seeming to be 'hip', or 'trendy' or 'avantgarde'. IMO, it is a rogue male thing, who seem most drawn to its philosophy. But i don't get the attraction of progressive thought, either... Both seem so irrational & fantastic.. i can't really see how someone arrives at that thinking. I was raised in progressive indoctrination, too. But a few years of real history study, reading classics, studying philosophy, & especially the american founders, & the 'dream' of america captured my imagination. But i have to credit my grandmother.. she gave me a parchment copy of the declaration of independence when i was 7.. i had fun trying to decipher the f's into s's.. & even years later, the words were deep in me, & resonated in my mind. All men created equal. Endowed with unalienable rights. Govt to secure these rights, or be altered or abolished. As a model or mission statement for human governance, i have still not read anything to match it.
But that is old fashioned. It is not cool or trendy, like the regurgitated 'isms' of today. So we will be sold out for fashion, & an illusion of hipness, for the usual standard of human society: despotism.
Important point:
Libertarian does NOT equal anarchy. Most libertarians are for limited govt, that does not intrude into personal decisions.. they might be for drug legalization, but they do not advocate anarchy. They might disagree with some points in the constitution, but they basically agree with the concept of rule by law, instead of 'no ruler' or despotism.
Just like some progressives like to hide in republican garb (rinos, they are called), some anarchists hide in libertarian clothing, ready to destroy ALL hierarchies & any semblance of organization.
Anarchy destroys this process. There is no citizen representative to tweak the laws, or codify it in our stead. Anyone can do it, & if they have the juice, they can enforce THEIR vision of the law. This is merely a return to 'might makes right', & strips the people from having any influence in the law making process. History is full of cultures being oppressed & plundered by tyrants, parties, coalitions, kings, juntas, or caliphs all using LAW as an instrument of plunder, to take from the working man the fruits of his labors. The ONLY HOPE the working man has if if he can control the process, or have major influence, which is the goal of the american experiment. Anarchists wish to end this experiment, & return us to the dark ages, or worse. The power of the process of law making is too important & too easily abused to leave it to the aggressive, the strong, the rich; & this is what anarchy does, by stripping the people of their collective power, that we have built into this system.
Pretending there can be 'no rulers' or no system of law is the most absurd fantasy in the history of human governance. Laws are constantly crafted.. some good, some bad, & need constant supervision & enforcement. Everything from traffic laws, to patents, to property rights gets more complex, the more dense the population gets. More regulations come with more population. That is inevitable. To try to summarize every detail of law into some general platitude is madness & folly. An accident in a busy intersection cannot be adjudicated by the non aggression principle. The property rights of a patent need more legal examination than some sense of 'common law' can provide.
Why is this so hard to understand? Why do anarchists plug their ears & stubbornly repeat their mantras of non aggression? Why is this even an issue for thinking, rational people? It is calling evil, good. Madness, wisdom. Destruction, order. It is a model for disaster, nothing else. It has no basis in history or reason. ALL anarchist ideology has resulted in destruction & chaos, from as far back as you want to follow this bizarre thread of human ideology. It is just as absurd.. perhaps more so.. than the convoluted progressive, leftist ideology that pretends the state can be a benevolent taskmaster, if we relinquish all control of it to the experts. BOTH of these ideologies KILL the concept of self rule, & citizen representation in the lawmaking process.
Why would we want to do either of these things? How can we believe the lies that either of these could be valid, useful tools in our collective governance? Both of them lead to despotism & oppression. THAT is where we are going, if we do not rescue the american ideal of self rule.
In times past, anarchists contented themselves with 'propaganda of the deed', or blowing stuff up. Talk & reason isn't really their thing.. action & explosions are more satisfying to them. Logic gets stuck in their beards, & they long for some blast echo against their faces.
It is a peculiar ideology.. i suspect popular more for seeming to be 'hip', or 'trendy' or 'avantgarde'. IMO, it is a rogue male thing, who seem most drawn to its philosophy. But i don't get the attraction of progressive thought, either... Both seem so irrational & fantastic.. i can't really see how someone arrives at that thinking. I was raised in progressive indoctrination, too. But a few years of real history study, reading classics, studying philosophy, & especially the american founders, & the 'dream' of america captured my imagination. But i have to credit my grandmother.. she gave me a parchment copy of the declaration of independence when i was 7.. i had fun trying to decipher the f's into s's.. & even years later, the words were deep in me, & resonated in my mind. All men created equal. Endowed with unalienable rights. Govt to secure these rights, or be altered or abolished. As a model or mission statement for human governance, i have still not read anything to match it.
But that is old fashioned. It is not cool or trendy, like the regurgitated 'isms' of today. So we will be sold out for fashion, & an illusion of hipness, for the usual standard of human society: despotism.
Important point:
Libertarian does NOT equal anarchy. Most libertarians are for limited govt, that does not intrude into personal decisions.. they might be for drug legalization, but they do not advocate anarchy. They might disagree with some points in the constitution, but they basically agree with the concept of rule by law, instead of 'no ruler' or despotism.
Just like some progressives like to hide in republican garb (rinos, they are called), some anarchists hide in libertarian clothing, ready to destroy ALL hierarchies & any semblance of organization.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
The Absurdity of Anarchy
The central goal of anarchism is the dissolution/destruction of all governing systems. 'No Rulers!' is the cry, & any organized hierarchy is seen as an enemy. It is an absurd ideology, that ignores some of the most basic realities of human nature.
Q. Does man need a governing system?
A. 1. Man is a herd animal. The basic unit of mankind is the nuclear family. Anthropologically, this basic unit is the building block of the herd. Within that herd, there are sometimes rogue males, who disrupt the social fabric. And there are detached females, with or without children, who depend on the central core of the herd for protection & sustenance. In a healthy herd, all do their part & the disruption & dependency is minimal. The central core of family heads provide the protection, & must be united to present a deterrence to dangers & disruptions. The rogue males are kept in check by the core of family heads, & are either run off or submit to the power structure. The central role of the united family heads is to provide protection.. from outside aggressors, or inside disrupters.. i will call this 'Justice'.
2. Size of the 'herds' correlates with the organization needed to provide justice. Small, detached family units need little organization to function. Justice is simple, & easily adjudicated by the family unit. But as population density increases, the need to organize also increases. Remote country roads need no traffic controls. Busy urban intersections do. A single sherriff can provide protection for a large, sparsely populated county, but a dense city needs a big police force. This also carries over to national protection. A large, affluent society needs more deterrence to protect from outside aggressors. Thieves & imperialistic nations will come in & plunder the resources of a people, if they do not have the means to deter them. Some herds unite in larger coalitions, but these have become so blurred as to be indistinguishable from a single large herd of modern national identity.
3. As society grows & evolves, the reach of the central power system has gone through many changes. We have had kings & emperors, caliphs & parties, juntas & coalitions. Some have done a better job at providing justice for the citizens than others. Some have claimed divine ordination, or special privilege to rule. Some have ruled by decree, whimsically dictating justice to a confused people. Then the concept of LAW began to grow. This is the idea that there is a higher set of rules that EVERYONE is subject to, not just the ruled people. The lords, kings, caliphs, or anyone in authority was subject to this law. You see that in the 10 commandments.. the magna carta.. martin luther's 95 theses.. these are all appeals to LAW over subjective, imperial decree. This concept was codified into a system of governance in the american experiment. We were not to be ruled by elected leaders, but by LAW.. the elected representatives were in charge of protecting, tweaking, & crafting these laws for the protection & benefit of all.
4. In historically disruptive times, when the existing organizing system breaks down, there is chaos & disorder. The strong oppress the weak, theft & murder goes unchecked, & a vacuum is created. In every instance, a new system of order is forthcoming. It is usually despotic, with a powerful central govt that takes authoritative power to 'bring order'. The people submit to this, & prefer it to the chaos of disorder & crime.
Summary: Yes. Man needs & always wants some kind of social order & justice system in his collective communities. The more moral a people are, & the more they recognize & esteem natural law in a society, the less intrusion is needed by the justice providers. This is the closest you can get to a voluntarist society, where a moral people live in united harmony under an agreed upon core of law. It does not eliminate the need for order, it just minimizes the cost & effort of the society to provide it.
“I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such: because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing to the People if well-administred; and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administred for a Course of Years and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.” ~Benjamin Franklin
Q. Can society function 'without rulers'? Is an anarchist system possible?
A. 1. If justice is a commodity, it can be bought & sold to the highest bidder. This is a 'devolution' of society into more primitive governance, where 'might makes right'.
2. Without a common defense, with power to enforce it, there would be a proliferation of 'justice providers', battling each other for control, & none as strong as if they combined their forces. This weakens the society, & would encourage crime & foreign aggression.
3. There are NO examples of this actually working in any society in the history of mankind. A few small tribes functioning in a vacuum of power for a while is not a shining example of anarchism working in a modern industrial society.
Q. Why should the state have a monopoly of force?
A. This prevents corruption of justice, if the justice providers are HIRED by the people to dispense justice for society. Competing justice providers are merely gang turf wars on a national scale. A citizen run, citizen funded, citizen overseen system of blind justice is the best for preventing corruption, providing fair, unbiased justice, & is a more efficient system than multiple, competing justice providers. National defense is also better under a single, powerful deterrent force, than many competing factions. The native american tribes exemplify that point.
Q. Why not boil all the law down to 'thou shalt not initiate aggression'?
A. God himself, sir, gave 10 commandments to moses. The son of god summarized them like this:Matt22:36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38“This is the great and foremost commandment. 39“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
'Initiate aggression' is too vague. It is not a model for a system of governance, or a system of law. It is a return to the old way of 'everyone did what was right in his own eyes', aka 'might makes right'. If you are starting a religion, & want to use this as a starting point, good luck with that. You have no basis or authority to appeal to, just some vague notion of 'natural rights' which the aggressors will ignore & plunder you & yours with superior force. You rely on the goodwill & altruism of man, which is not there, collectively. It exists in singular form, rarely, but still needs the deterrence of punishment of law breaking to keep order in society.
Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants." –William Penn
In the black & white world of the anarchist, there is only statism & 'no rulers'. They see no difference between a limited, subservient govt & totalitarian despotism. The nuances of governance are ignored, as they pitch their fantasy of 'no rulers'. But true to form, they disrupt & destroy any semblance of order to promote their fantasies. Law & order, logic, human governance, & even the concept of self rule are ridiculed & heckled by them as 'statist' or authoritarian.
At its root, anarchism is chaos. It is 'no order', & pretends that this is a virtue. They have spread chaos in every generation since the concept has gained traction. It has never become a system of national identity, but has always been crushed by stronger forces, supported by the people who want law & order, & the ability to live & work in peace. Anarchists destroy. They build nothing. They tear down any hierarchy, order, or organization in a society, whatever it is. They were stereotypically bearded, bomb throwing rogue males... atheists, agents of chaos, & haters of any tradition or religious values. They can hide behind the anonymity of the internet, now, but their goal is the same. Chaos. Disorder. Destruction.
We can learn from history, evolve as a society & pursue human freedom & sound governance, or we can be stuck in an endless loop of doomed repetition. Anarchy is a celebration of that loop, & is a surrender of the social structure of society to the rogue males.
Q. Does man need a governing system?
A. 1. Man is a herd animal. The basic unit of mankind is the nuclear family. Anthropologically, this basic unit is the building block of the herd. Within that herd, there are sometimes rogue males, who disrupt the social fabric. And there are detached females, with or without children, who depend on the central core of the herd for protection & sustenance. In a healthy herd, all do their part & the disruption & dependency is minimal. The central core of family heads provide the protection, & must be united to present a deterrence to dangers & disruptions. The rogue males are kept in check by the core of family heads, & are either run off or submit to the power structure. The central role of the united family heads is to provide protection.. from outside aggressors, or inside disrupters.. i will call this 'Justice'.
2. Size of the 'herds' correlates with the organization needed to provide justice. Small, detached family units need little organization to function. Justice is simple, & easily adjudicated by the family unit. But as population density increases, the need to organize also increases. Remote country roads need no traffic controls. Busy urban intersections do. A single sherriff can provide protection for a large, sparsely populated county, but a dense city needs a big police force. This also carries over to national protection. A large, affluent society needs more deterrence to protect from outside aggressors. Thieves & imperialistic nations will come in & plunder the resources of a people, if they do not have the means to deter them. Some herds unite in larger coalitions, but these have become so blurred as to be indistinguishable from a single large herd of modern national identity.
3. As society grows & evolves, the reach of the central power system has gone through many changes. We have had kings & emperors, caliphs & parties, juntas & coalitions. Some have done a better job at providing justice for the citizens than others. Some have claimed divine ordination, or special privilege to rule. Some have ruled by decree, whimsically dictating justice to a confused people. Then the concept of LAW began to grow. This is the idea that there is a higher set of rules that EVERYONE is subject to, not just the ruled people. The lords, kings, caliphs, or anyone in authority was subject to this law. You see that in the 10 commandments.. the magna carta.. martin luther's 95 theses.. these are all appeals to LAW over subjective, imperial decree. This concept was codified into a system of governance in the american experiment. We were not to be ruled by elected leaders, but by LAW.. the elected representatives were in charge of protecting, tweaking, & crafting these laws for the protection & benefit of all.
4. In historically disruptive times, when the existing organizing system breaks down, there is chaos & disorder. The strong oppress the weak, theft & murder goes unchecked, & a vacuum is created. In every instance, a new system of order is forthcoming. It is usually despotic, with a powerful central govt that takes authoritative power to 'bring order'. The people submit to this, & prefer it to the chaos of disorder & crime.
Summary: Yes. Man needs & always wants some kind of social order & justice system in his collective communities. The more moral a people are, & the more they recognize & esteem natural law in a society, the less intrusion is needed by the justice providers. This is the closest you can get to a voluntarist society, where a moral people live in united harmony under an agreed upon core of law. It does not eliminate the need for order, it just minimizes the cost & effort of the society to provide it.
“I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such: because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing to the People if well-administred; and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administred for a Course of Years and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.” ~Benjamin Franklin
Q. Can society function 'without rulers'? Is an anarchist system possible?
A. 1. If justice is a commodity, it can be bought & sold to the highest bidder. This is a 'devolution' of society into more primitive governance, where 'might makes right'.
2. Without a common defense, with power to enforce it, there would be a proliferation of 'justice providers', battling each other for control, & none as strong as if they combined their forces. This weakens the society, & would encourage crime & foreign aggression.
3. There are NO examples of this actually working in any society in the history of mankind. A few small tribes functioning in a vacuum of power for a while is not a shining example of anarchism working in a modern industrial society.
Q. Why should the state have a monopoly of force?
A. This prevents corruption of justice, if the justice providers are HIRED by the people to dispense justice for society. Competing justice providers are merely gang turf wars on a national scale. A citizen run, citizen funded, citizen overseen system of blind justice is the best for preventing corruption, providing fair, unbiased justice, & is a more efficient system than multiple, competing justice providers. National defense is also better under a single, powerful deterrent force, than many competing factions. The native american tribes exemplify that point.
Q. Why not boil all the law down to 'thou shalt not initiate aggression'?
A. God himself, sir, gave 10 commandments to moses. The son of god summarized them like this:Matt22:36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38“This is the great and foremost commandment. 39“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
'Initiate aggression' is too vague. It is not a model for a system of governance, or a system of law. It is a return to the old way of 'everyone did what was right in his own eyes', aka 'might makes right'. If you are starting a religion, & want to use this as a starting point, good luck with that. You have no basis or authority to appeal to, just some vague notion of 'natural rights' which the aggressors will ignore & plunder you & yours with superior force. You rely on the goodwill & altruism of man, which is not there, collectively. It exists in singular form, rarely, but still needs the deterrence of punishment of law breaking to keep order in society.
Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants." –William Penn
In the black & white world of the anarchist, there is only statism & 'no rulers'. They see no difference between a limited, subservient govt & totalitarian despotism. The nuances of governance are ignored, as they pitch their fantasy of 'no rulers'. But true to form, they disrupt & destroy any semblance of order to promote their fantasies. Law & order, logic, human governance, & even the concept of self rule are ridiculed & heckled by them as 'statist' or authoritarian.
At its root, anarchism is chaos. It is 'no order', & pretends that this is a virtue. They have spread chaos in every generation since the concept has gained traction. It has never become a system of national identity, but has always been crushed by stronger forces, supported by the people who want law & order, & the ability to live & work in peace. Anarchists destroy. They build nothing. They tear down any hierarchy, order, or organization in a society, whatever it is. They were stereotypically bearded, bomb throwing rogue males... atheists, agents of chaos, & haters of any tradition or religious values. They can hide behind the anonymity of the internet, now, but their goal is the same. Chaos. Disorder. Destruction.
We can learn from history, evolve as a society & pursue human freedom & sound governance, or we can be stuck in an endless loop of doomed repetition. Anarchy is a celebration of that loop, & is a surrender of the social structure of society to the rogue males.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
The progressive left: Enemy of America. Enemy of mankind.
The history of humanity is a record of man's quest for personal freedom. Leftist ideology is a step backward in that quest. More than that, it is an enemy of human freedom.
1. Rule of law versus Imperial mandate.
Over the millennia, the concept of Law has evolved as the preferred system of governance. Imperial decrees, while efficient & effective in accomplishing ideological goals, have been historically damaging to the overriding goal of human freedom. Law, codified into systems of governance are a check to oppressive rule by decree. The 10 commandments, the magna carta, the american constitution, & even the 95 theses Martin Luther nailed on the door are attempts to elevate Law as the arbiter of justice, rather than the whims of a ruler. But the progressive left sees the rule of law as a hinderance to their goals. They have an agenda, & need power to be used for mandates, rather than blindly upholding Law. Law is something to manipulate, not enforce. They pick & choose what laws they want to enforce, ignoring the core values of rule by law. They drag us backward in our quest for freedom, shackling us in the timeless chains of imperial rule. The constitution is ignored, trampled, & ridiculed as outdated & irrelevant, as they push for rule by decree & imperial mandate.
2. The basic rights of life and property.
To the leftist, the individual is not a sovereign entity, but a statistic.. a pawn of their social engineering manipulations. Neither life nor property is safe from them, as they see the state as supreme, & the owner of everything & everyone. The concept of the right to your own property is contrary to the state centered, redistributional goals of the leftist. People are not free to work for their own advancement & prosperity, but are tools of the state in the fools errand of 'social justice', where the great fiction is believed, & people attempt to live off of everyone else through govt theft. They worship the state, & see it as the savior of mankind, bringing equality & harmony to all. But they deliver oppression, theft, & state domination, as the simplest, most basic right to the individual is trampled in the name of economic justice: The right to property.
3. Other rights that have evolved such as freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to due process, face your accuser, presumption of innocence, etc.
Facts & evidence have no importance to the leftist, only propaganda & manipulation. Their agenda is supreme, & everything revolves around it. They do not wait for facts or due process, but rush to judgement in the most absurd cases. They take a media edit of a 911 call, 'He looks black', & trump it up to a big racial issue, not waiting for, but ignoring the evidence, promoting their racial agenda, regardless of the facts. Their propaganda is constantly distorting reality & the facts, just to promote some social narrative & further their agenda.
4. The uniquely American concept of government as a protector and defender of individual rights.
The left is anti american.. oh, they love big govt, but not the constitutional, limited govt of the american dream. They see govt as an implementer of their social justice, redistribution, & socialist goals, not as a defender of individual rights. They want a govt nanny.. a behemoth that interjects itself in every aspect of our lives, dictating what to eat, where to live, where to work, lifestyle, & economic goals. The constitution is seen as outdated & an old fashioned restriction on their dreams of social utopia. Their support of the irs to punish their ideological enemies, & intimidate those who oppose them is just one example. The DOE, EPA, & many other govt agencies are complicit in pushing a leftist agenda & state centered power, NOT securing our basic rights. They see themselves as lords of the manor, not servants of the people.
5. Police state abuses.
In a bizarre twist of irony, the left opposes law & order, & normal human justice, but promotes state centered power & intimidation. Police are hindered & demonized in their normal duties of law enforcement, but federal intervention in land disputes with a citizen are applauded. Unconstitutional & irrational expansion of police power have been steadily growing in the leftist run, progressive based administrations, promoting the notion that the state holds the power, not the people. Fear & intimidation are used, & constant threats & limits are placed on the 2nd basic right of americans: To keep & bear arms, which is the final deterrence to an oppressive government.
6. The destruction of society by overload. One of the central goals of leftist ideology is the 'cloward-piven' strategy, where the goal is to overload our governing systems. Muddy justice, immigration, entitlements, welfare state abuses, & the ruin of the currency by deficit spending, the dilution by 'quantitative easings', & massive growth of govt. The producers in a nation cannot support this much dependency, & it will collapse the system. The left hopes to blame this collapse on the american system, when it is a conspiracy of their own making. But their propaganda will demonize the taxpayers, capitalism, or some other scapegoat to further their collectivist goals.
7. Demonizing American values.
The concepts of self rule, citizen representatives, limited, subservient govt, freedom & opportunity are enemies of leftist ideology. They distort these concepts into racism, greed, hate, & build evil caricatures of the american experiment. They constantly compare american freedom to fascists, nazis, racists, and any oppressive, hate centered ideology out there. But their race obsessed, govt mandated ideology is more akin to these demons than the american ideal of freedom, equality, & justice for all. Truth is not their goal, but manipulating propaganda, to build their false narrative.
There is more. I am not trying to be conciliatory, or find common ground. I see the progressive left as enemies of human freedom, & opposing all that america stands for. Americans who see the dream, & want to keep the experiment in liberty alive should resist these villains at every opportunity. They have hijacked almost every american institution, & poisoned them with their lies & propaganda. Too many americans are in a drugged stupor, blinded by the lies & distortions of the progressive left, & are unwitting dupes in this most basic battle for human liberty. If we do not turn from this path, we will wake up as slaves in this nation founded on liberty.
1. Rule of law versus Imperial mandate.
Over the millennia, the concept of Law has evolved as the preferred system of governance. Imperial decrees, while efficient & effective in accomplishing ideological goals, have been historically damaging to the overriding goal of human freedom. Law, codified into systems of governance are a check to oppressive rule by decree. The 10 commandments, the magna carta, the american constitution, & even the 95 theses Martin Luther nailed on the door are attempts to elevate Law as the arbiter of justice, rather than the whims of a ruler. But the progressive left sees the rule of law as a hinderance to their goals. They have an agenda, & need power to be used for mandates, rather than blindly upholding Law. Law is something to manipulate, not enforce. They pick & choose what laws they want to enforce, ignoring the core values of rule by law. They drag us backward in our quest for freedom, shackling us in the timeless chains of imperial rule. The constitution is ignored, trampled, & ridiculed as outdated & irrelevant, as they push for rule by decree & imperial mandate.
2. The basic rights of life and property.
To the leftist, the individual is not a sovereign entity, but a statistic.. a pawn of their social engineering manipulations. Neither life nor property is safe from them, as they see the state as supreme, & the owner of everything & everyone. The concept of the right to your own property is contrary to the state centered, redistributional goals of the leftist. People are not free to work for their own advancement & prosperity, but are tools of the state in the fools errand of 'social justice', where the great fiction is believed, & people attempt to live off of everyone else through govt theft. They worship the state, & see it as the savior of mankind, bringing equality & harmony to all. But they deliver oppression, theft, & state domination, as the simplest, most basic right to the individual is trampled in the name of economic justice: The right to property.
3. Other rights that have evolved such as freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to due process, face your accuser, presumption of innocence, etc.
Facts & evidence have no importance to the leftist, only propaganda & manipulation. Their agenda is supreme, & everything revolves around it. They do not wait for facts or due process, but rush to judgement in the most absurd cases. They take a media edit of a 911 call, 'He looks black', & trump it up to a big racial issue, not waiting for, but ignoring the evidence, promoting their racial agenda, regardless of the facts. Their propaganda is constantly distorting reality & the facts, just to promote some social narrative & further their agenda.
4. The uniquely American concept of government as a protector and defender of individual rights.
The left is anti american.. oh, they love big govt, but not the constitutional, limited govt of the american dream. They see govt as an implementer of their social justice, redistribution, & socialist goals, not as a defender of individual rights. They want a govt nanny.. a behemoth that interjects itself in every aspect of our lives, dictating what to eat, where to live, where to work, lifestyle, & economic goals. The constitution is seen as outdated & an old fashioned restriction on their dreams of social utopia. Their support of the irs to punish their ideological enemies, & intimidate those who oppose them is just one example. The DOE, EPA, & many other govt agencies are complicit in pushing a leftist agenda & state centered power, NOT securing our basic rights. They see themselves as lords of the manor, not servants of the people.
5. Police state abuses.
In a bizarre twist of irony, the left opposes law & order, & normal human justice, but promotes state centered power & intimidation. Police are hindered & demonized in their normal duties of law enforcement, but federal intervention in land disputes with a citizen are applauded. Unconstitutional & irrational expansion of police power have been steadily growing in the leftist run, progressive based administrations, promoting the notion that the state holds the power, not the people. Fear & intimidation are used, & constant threats & limits are placed on the 2nd basic right of americans: To keep & bear arms, which is the final deterrence to an oppressive government.
6. The destruction of society by overload. One of the central goals of leftist ideology is the 'cloward-piven' strategy, where the goal is to overload our governing systems. Muddy justice, immigration, entitlements, welfare state abuses, & the ruin of the currency by deficit spending, the dilution by 'quantitative easings', & massive growth of govt. The producers in a nation cannot support this much dependency, & it will collapse the system. The left hopes to blame this collapse on the american system, when it is a conspiracy of their own making. But their propaganda will demonize the taxpayers, capitalism, or some other scapegoat to further their collectivist goals.
7. Demonizing American values.
The concepts of self rule, citizen representatives, limited, subservient govt, freedom & opportunity are enemies of leftist ideology. They distort these concepts into racism, greed, hate, & build evil caricatures of the american experiment. They constantly compare american freedom to fascists, nazis, racists, and any oppressive, hate centered ideology out there. But their race obsessed, govt mandated ideology is more akin to these demons than the american ideal of freedom, equality, & justice for all. Truth is not their goal, but manipulating propaganda, to build their false narrative.
There is more. I am not trying to be conciliatory, or find common ground. I see the progressive left as enemies of human freedom, & opposing all that america stands for. Americans who see the dream, & want to keep the experiment in liberty alive should resist these villains at every opportunity. They have hijacked almost every american institution, & poisoned them with their lies & propaganda. Too many americans are in a drugged stupor, blinded by the lies & distortions of the progressive left, & are unwitting dupes in this most basic battle for human liberty. If we do not turn from this path, we will wake up as slaves in this nation founded on liberty.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
The Contest of the Ages..
The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power. ~Daniel Webster
History is a record of man's struggle for freedom & survival. Ambitious people have enslaved, oppressed, & lorded it over the common man forever. But over the millennia, humans have banded together to deter the aspirations of conquerors & despots. IMO, it culminated in the creation of the United States, the first nation centered on the individual rather than the leaders in govt. Govt was to SERVE the people, not exploit them. The people WERE the govt, & it existed of, by, & for them.
Somewhere along the line, the rulers created a self serving monster that did not concern itself with the interests of the people, but their cronies & themselves. Citizen representation was eroded, as a ruling elite gained power & jockeyed for position & re-election. The 'contest' that webster speaks of seems to be going against the people, & for the rich ruling elite, who seem drawn to politics like moths to flames. Unfortunately, we the people are the ones who get burned.
What can we do to turn this contest around? Is it too late, & only a 'reset' of revolution will end the current slide? How can the individual once again be granted freedom.. for his own life & property?
"This human struggle and scramble for office, for a way to live without work, will finally test the strength of our institutions" ~Abraham Lincoln
Those who rise to power, and in power ride rough-shod over the rights of men, seem always to stand in marble on our public squares while those who carry the torch of liberty rest in unmarked graves. ~R. Carter Pittman
History is a record of man's struggle for freedom & survival. Ambitious people have enslaved, oppressed, & lorded it over the common man forever. But over the millennia, humans have banded together to deter the aspirations of conquerors & despots. IMO, it culminated in the creation of the United States, the first nation centered on the individual rather than the leaders in govt. Govt was to SERVE the people, not exploit them. The people WERE the govt, & it existed of, by, & for them.
Somewhere along the line, the rulers created a self serving monster that did not concern itself with the interests of the people, but their cronies & themselves. Citizen representation was eroded, as a ruling elite gained power & jockeyed for position & re-election. The 'contest' that webster speaks of seems to be going against the people, & for the rich ruling elite, who seem drawn to politics like moths to flames. Unfortunately, we the people are the ones who get burned.
What can we do to turn this contest around? Is it too late, & only a 'reset' of revolution will end the current slide? How can the individual once again be granted freedom.. for his own life & property?
"This human struggle and scramble for office, for a way to live without work, will finally test the strength of our institutions" ~Abraham Lincoln
Those who rise to power, and in power ride rough-shod over the rights of men, seem always to stand in marble on our public squares while those who carry the torch of liberty rest in unmarked graves. ~R. Carter Pittman
Saturday, July 26, 2014
The end of limited govt..
I always find it ironic how leftists see tea party types & anarchists as the same.. i guess if you're a big govt worshipper, any limits on govt is seen as 'no govt'. Anarchists are the same, & see traditional americans as 'statists'.
In the spanish revolution of the last century, resisting monarchism & their fascist supporters was the only thing that united the anarchists & the communists. They fought together against the 'system' there, to bring it down. I see a similar pattern in the US. The one thing anarchists & leftists have in common is their hatred of traditional america. They both want the american dream to be over, they just have different goals afterward. The anarchist/libertarians want 'no govt' to take its place, while the progressives have a collective, socialist utopia in mind, where govt provides all, & is actively involved in every aspect of our lives.
The limited govt, traditional american is caught in the middle. The leftists call them anarchists, & claim they have no respect for law or any govt. The anarchists call them statists, & claim they want total govt domination. But their common goal of overloading & destroying the american system of limited, citizen run govt will likely bring it to pass. Those are seen as 'new' or 'hip' ideals, & are more exciting than the boring old notion of a govt of, by & for the people, & the slow, inefficient process of representative democracy. The loudest voices now are either the more radical libertarian anarchists, or the progressive left socialists. Just like in spain, they might work together for a while to defeat a common foe, but they have nothing in common, otherwise.
To a limited govt, citizen based proponent of the american experiment, both of these ideals seem very short sighted, & have NO historical basis of working as a system of governance. How can people be deluded into thinking these are valid options? The only thing that anarchists & collectivists are good at is tearing down. Neither of these ideologies has any track record of building, but only destroying. They attack the status quo, & tear apart the culture & power structure, but have nothing to replace it with, except tyranny. The left has been tirelessly working at overloading the system in america.. ..the safety net, the budget, foreign policy, domestic policy & programs have burdened the taxpaying citizens to the point of collapse. The currency is unstable, the confidence in govt is at an all time low, prison populations are booming, the debt is insurmountable, the nanny state growing.. Anarchists applaud this as a sign of impending collapse. Collectivists say we need to spend more, & hasten the collapse, as corruption rises to third world levels.
But they have a new ally in the quest for america's destruction! The muslim caliphate! Now, the euro socialists, the academic constitution haters, the anti ALL govt anarchists, & the muslim empire builders have something in common to fight against: American liberty. Together, they will bring it down, & then they can fight among themselves to see who gets the spoils. The great irony is that just like in spain, neither extreme was organized or competent enough to manage a real revolution, so it fell to the aggressive tyrants to gain control. That is the usual pattern of revolutions. Promises are made. Utopias are dreamed about. But despotism is the typical result. Both the anarchists & the collectivists are mere useful idiots for the caliphate empire builders.. they are more realistic about their goals, & will kill & die for them. The faculty lounge anarchists & progressives will aid them in their goal.
It was a good run. It proved that citizen representatives & limited govt COULD work, but it is easily corrupted. Without the constant care & attention from the citizens, unscrupulous scoundrels interject themselves into positions of power, & corrupt the system from within. We were victims of our own success, as opportunity, freedom, & equality brought unprecedented prosperity. But promises & lies have deceived the people into believing the extremes, that either govt is a god, or it is the devil. There is no room for a balanced view of limited, citizen run govt, so it will fade into the dustbin of history.
It is a sad time to live in, & watch the slow destruction of such a grand experiment in human freedom. Hope against hope, i wish for a turnaround, but that would require a devoted, altruistic citizenry, which you both have noted we do not have, anymore. Daniel webster's prophetic warning is very sobering, even though the anarchists will celebrate that event, if it happens.
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world." ~Daniel Webster
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." ~Alexis de Tocqueville
“I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such: because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing to the People if well-administred; and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administred for a Course of Years and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.” ~Benjamin Franklin
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." ~Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler
In the spanish revolution of the last century, resisting monarchism & their fascist supporters was the only thing that united the anarchists & the communists. They fought together against the 'system' there, to bring it down. I see a similar pattern in the US. The one thing anarchists & leftists have in common is their hatred of traditional america. They both want the american dream to be over, they just have different goals afterward. The anarchist/libertarians want 'no govt' to take its place, while the progressives have a collective, socialist utopia in mind, where govt provides all, & is actively involved in every aspect of our lives.
The limited govt, traditional american is caught in the middle. The leftists call them anarchists, & claim they have no respect for law or any govt. The anarchists call them statists, & claim they want total govt domination. But their common goal of overloading & destroying the american system of limited, citizen run govt will likely bring it to pass. Those are seen as 'new' or 'hip' ideals, & are more exciting than the boring old notion of a govt of, by & for the people, & the slow, inefficient process of representative democracy. The loudest voices now are either the more radical libertarian anarchists, or the progressive left socialists. Just like in spain, they might work together for a while to defeat a common foe, but they have nothing in common, otherwise.
To a limited govt, citizen based proponent of the american experiment, both of these ideals seem very short sighted, & have NO historical basis of working as a system of governance. How can people be deluded into thinking these are valid options? The only thing that anarchists & collectivists are good at is tearing down. Neither of these ideologies has any track record of building, but only destroying. They attack the status quo, & tear apart the culture & power structure, but have nothing to replace it with, except tyranny. The left has been tirelessly working at overloading the system in america.. ..the safety net, the budget, foreign policy, domestic policy & programs have burdened the taxpaying citizens to the point of collapse. The currency is unstable, the confidence in govt is at an all time low, prison populations are booming, the debt is insurmountable, the nanny state growing.. Anarchists applaud this as a sign of impending collapse. Collectivists say we need to spend more, & hasten the collapse, as corruption rises to third world levels.
But they have a new ally in the quest for america's destruction! The muslim caliphate! Now, the euro socialists, the academic constitution haters, the anti ALL govt anarchists, & the muslim empire builders have something in common to fight against: American liberty. Together, they will bring it down, & then they can fight among themselves to see who gets the spoils. The great irony is that just like in spain, neither extreme was organized or competent enough to manage a real revolution, so it fell to the aggressive tyrants to gain control. That is the usual pattern of revolutions. Promises are made. Utopias are dreamed about. But despotism is the typical result. Both the anarchists & the collectivists are mere useful idiots for the caliphate empire builders.. they are more realistic about their goals, & will kill & die for them. The faculty lounge anarchists & progressives will aid them in their goal.
It was a good run. It proved that citizen representatives & limited govt COULD work, but it is easily corrupted. Without the constant care & attention from the citizens, unscrupulous scoundrels interject themselves into positions of power, & corrupt the system from within. We were victims of our own success, as opportunity, freedom, & equality brought unprecedented prosperity. But promises & lies have deceived the people into believing the extremes, that either govt is a god, or it is the devil. There is no room for a balanced view of limited, citizen run govt, so it will fade into the dustbin of history.
It is a sad time to live in, & watch the slow destruction of such a grand experiment in human freedom. Hope against hope, i wish for a turnaround, but that would require a devoted, altruistic citizenry, which you both have noted we do not have, anymore. Daniel webster's prophetic warning is very sobering, even though the anarchists will celebrate that event, if it happens.
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world." ~Daniel Webster
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." ~Alexis de Tocqueville
“I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such: because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing to the People if well-administred; and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administred for a Course of Years and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.” ~Benjamin Franklin
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." ~Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Pharaoh's Dream
A familiar pattern in history is where the ruling class, complicit with the bankers, manipulate the law to become an instrument of plunder.. so the wealth & property of the nation becomes concentrated with those in power.
This is a bit long, but it is mostly a biblical quote. I could have used a more current example, but this is an old one, to show the pattern of human behavior. Also, whether you see this as actual history, or just a parable, the principles are the point.
Gen.41:17 So Pharaoh told him the dream. “I was standing upon the bank of the Nile River,” he said, 18 “when suddenly, seven fat, healthy-looking cows came up out of the river and began grazing along the riverbank. 19 But then seven other cows came up from the river, very skinny and bony—in fact, I’ve never seen such poor-looking specimens in all the land of Egypt. 20 And these skinny cattle ate up the seven fat ones that had come out first, 21 and afterwards they were still as skinny as before! Then I woke up.
22 “A little later I had another dream. This time there were seven heads of grain on one stalk, and all seven heads were plump and full. 23 Then, out of the same stalk, came seven withered, thin heads. 24 And the thin heads swallowed up the fat ones! I told all this to my magicians, but not one of them could tell me the meaning.”
25 “Both dreams mean the same thing,” Joseph told Pharaoh. “God was telling you what he is going to do here in the land of Egypt. 26 The seven fat cows (and also the seven fat, well-formed heads of grain) mean that there are seven years of prosperity ahead. 27 The seven skinny cows (and also the seven thin and withered heads of grain) indicate that there will be seven years of famine following the seven years of prosperity.
28 “So God has showed you what he is about to do: 29 The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout all the land of Egypt; 30 but afterwards there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten and wiped out; famine will consume the land. 31 The famine will be so terrible that even the memory of the good years will be erased. 32 The double dream gives double impact, showing that what I have told you is certainly going to happen, for God has decreed it, and it is going to happen soon. 33 My suggestion is that you find the wisest man in Egypt and put him in charge of administering a nationwide farm program. 34-35 Let Pharaoh divide Egypt into five administrative districts,[a] and let the officials of these districts gather into the royal storehouses all the excess crops of the next seven years, 36 so that there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come. Otherwise, disaster will surely strike.”
37 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his assistants. 38 As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, “Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the Spirit of God.” 39 Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said to him, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the country! 40 I am hereby appointing you to be in charge of this entire project. What you say goes, throughout all the land of Egypt. I alone will outrank you.”
...47 And sure enough, for the next seven years there were bumper crops everywhere. 48 During those years, Joseph requisitioned for the government a portion of all the crops grown throughout Egypt, storing them in nearby cities. 49 After seven years of this, the granaries were full to overflowing, and there was so much that no one kept track of the amount.
...53 So at last the seven years of plenty came to an end. 54 Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There were crop failures in all the surrounding countries, too, but in Egypt there was plenty of grain in the storehouses. 55 The people began to starve. They pleaded with Pharaoh for food, and he sent them to Joseph. “Do whatever he tells you to,” he instructed them.
56-57 So now, with severe famine all over the world, Joseph opened up the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians and to those from other lands who came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph.
47:13 The famine became worse and worse, so that all the land of Egypt and Canaan was starving. 14 Joseph collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan in exchange for grain, and he brought the money to Pharaoh’s treasure-houses. 15 When the people were out of money, they came to Joseph crying again for food.
“Our money is gone,” they said, “but give us bread; for why should we die?”
16 “Well then,” Joseph replied, “give me your livestock. I will trade you food in exchange.”
17 So they brought their cattle to Joseph in exchange for food. Soon all the horses, flocks, herds, and donkeys of Egypt were in Pharaoh’s possession.
18 The next year they came again and said, “Our money is gone, and our cattle are yours, and there is nothing left but our bodies and land. 19 Why should we die? Buy us and our land and we will be serfs to Pharaoh. We will trade ourselves for food, then we will live, and the land won’t be abandoned.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; all the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe. And the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 Thus all the people of Egypt became Pharaoh’s serfs. 22 The only land he didn’t buy was that belonging to the priests, for they were assigned food from Pharaoh and didn’t need to sell.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “See, I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is grain. Go and sow the land. 24 And when you harvest it, a fifth of everything you get belongs to Pharaoh. Keep four parts for yourselves to be used for next year’s seed, and as food for yourselves and for your households and little ones.”
25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “We will gladly be the serfs of Pharaoh.”
This is the pattern for most of human history. The nobles, bankers, royalty, & those in power use that power to slowly take what the people have worked for, until they are serfs of the ruling class. The statists want to own everything, & have complete power over everyone.
America was founded on a different principle. The ruling class were to be the citizens, not a greedy elite. The govt was to dedicate itself to preserving freedom & dispensing justice, not taking the labors of the people.
I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. ~James Madison
These things do not happen overnight. Pharaoh did not own all the property of egypt overnight. But slowly, deliberately, the power of the state increases its holdings, until the bankers & ruling elite own everything, & the people are reduced to indentured servitude to those in power.
If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." ~Thomas Jefferson
“We will gladly be the serfs of Pharaoh.” This is music to the ears of the statists. They promote the false narrative that they hold the power of life & death, & we exist at their pleasure. They build a dependency.. not by producing anything themselves, but by TAKING from the producers & then benevolently dribbling it out, after enriching themselves. This dependency & looking to govt to provide is part of the absorption process, until we are all serfs of pharaoh.
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition. ~Thomas Jefferson
In the biblical illustration, pharaoh did not sow, cultivate, or harvest any of the grain, yet by taxation he acquired everything, & all the people became his serfs. This is a consistent pattern in human history, interrupted by an occasional revolution, with the usual beheadings of the ruling class.
In america, we seem to be somewhere at the end of this pattern. The elite ruling classes have usurped the democratic republic, founded as a nation of self rule, & hijacked it to plunder the producers of the nation. Greedy & self serving charlatans have wormed their way into power & influence, & are systematically manipulating the currency, the markets, our homes & savings until it is owned by a small elite. Freedom & opportunity are dying concepts, while dependency & subservience are promoted as the new american ideal.
This is a bit long, but it is mostly a biblical quote. I could have used a more current example, but this is an old one, to show the pattern of human behavior. Also, whether you see this as actual history, or just a parable, the principles are the point.
Gen.41:17 So Pharaoh told him the dream. “I was standing upon the bank of the Nile River,” he said, 18 “when suddenly, seven fat, healthy-looking cows came up out of the river and began grazing along the riverbank. 19 But then seven other cows came up from the river, very skinny and bony—in fact, I’ve never seen such poor-looking specimens in all the land of Egypt. 20 And these skinny cattle ate up the seven fat ones that had come out first, 21 and afterwards they were still as skinny as before! Then I woke up.
22 “A little later I had another dream. This time there were seven heads of grain on one stalk, and all seven heads were plump and full. 23 Then, out of the same stalk, came seven withered, thin heads. 24 And the thin heads swallowed up the fat ones! I told all this to my magicians, but not one of them could tell me the meaning.”
25 “Both dreams mean the same thing,” Joseph told Pharaoh. “God was telling you what he is going to do here in the land of Egypt. 26 The seven fat cows (and also the seven fat, well-formed heads of grain) mean that there are seven years of prosperity ahead. 27 The seven skinny cows (and also the seven thin and withered heads of grain) indicate that there will be seven years of famine following the seven years of prosperity.
28 “So God has showed you what he is about to do: 29 The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout all the land of Egypt; 30 but afterwards there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten and wiped out; famine will consume the land. 31 The famine will be so terrible that even the memory of the good years will be erased. 32 The double dream gives double impact, showing that what I have told you is certainly going to happen, for God has decreed it, and it is going to happen soon. 33 My suggestion is that you find the wisest man in Egypt and put him in charge of administering a nationwide farm program. 34-35 Let Pharaoh divide Egypt into five administrative districts,[a] and let the officials of these districts gather into the royal storehouses all the excess crops of the next seven years, 36 so that there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come. Otherwise, disaster will surely strike.”
37 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his assistants. 38 As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, “Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the Spirit of God.” 39 Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said to him, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the country! 40 I am hereby appointing you to be in charge of this entire project. What you say goes, throughout all the land of Egypt. I alone will outrank you.”
...47 And sure enough, for the next seven years there were bumper crops everywhere. 48 During those years, Joseph requisitioned for the government a portion of all the crops grown throughout Egypt, storing them in nearby cities. 49 After seven years of this, the granaries were full to overflowing, and there was so much that no one kept track of the amount.
...53 So at last the seven years of plenty came to an end. 54 Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There were crop failures in all the surrounding countries, too, but in Egypt there was plenty of grain in the storehouses. 55 The people began to starve. They pleaded with Pharaoh for food, and he sent them to Joseph. “Do whatever he tells you to,” he instructed them.
56-57 So now, with severe famine all over the world, Joseph opened up the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians and to those from other lands who came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph.
47:13 The famine became worse and worse, so that all the land of Egypt and Canaan was starving. 14 Joseph collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan in exchange for grain, and he brought the money to Pharaoh’s treasure-houses. 15 When the people were out of money, they came to Joseph crying again for food.
“Our money is gone,” they said, “but give us bread; for why should we die?”
16 “Well then,” Joseph replied, “give me your livestock. I will trade you food in exchange.”
17 So they brought their cattle to Joseph in exchange for food. Soon all the horses, flocks, herds, and donkeys of Egypt were in Pharaoh’s possession.
18 The next year they came again and said, “Our money is gone, and our cattle are yours, and there is nothing left but our bodies and land. 19 Why should we die? Buy us and our land and we will be serfs to Pharaoh. We will trade ourselves for food, then we will live, and the land won’t be abandoned.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; all the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe. And the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 Thus all the people of Egypt became Pharaoh’s serfs. 22 The only land he didn’t buy was that belonging to the priests, for they were assigned food from Pharaoh and didn’t need to sell.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “See, I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is grain. Go and sow the land. 24 And when you harvest it, a fifth of everything you get belongs to Pharaoh. Keep four parts for yourselves to be used for next year’s seed, and as food for yourselves and for your households and little ones.”
25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “We will gladly be the serfs of Pharaoh.”
This is the pattern for most of human history. The nobles, bankers, royalty, & those in power use that power to slowly take what the people have worked for, until they are serfs of the ruling class. The statists want to own everything, & have complete power over everyone.
America was founded on a different principle. The ruling class were to be the citizens, not a greedy elite. The govt was to dedicate itself to preserving freedom & dispensing justice, not taking the labors of the people.
I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. ~James Madison
These things do not happen overnight. Pharaoh did not own all the property of egypt overnight. But slowly, deliberately, the power of the state increases its holdings, until the bankers & ruling elite own everything, & the people are reduced to indentured servitude to those in power.
If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." ~Thomas Jefferson
“We will gladly be the serfs of Pharaoh.” This is music to the ears of the statists. They promote the false narrative that they hold the power of life & death, & we exist at their pleasure. They build a dependency.. not by producing anything themselves, but by TAKING from the producers & then benevolently dribbling it out, after enriching themselves. This dependency & looking to govt to provide is part of the absorption process, until we are all serfs of pharaoh.
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition. ~Thomas Jefferson
In the biblical illustration, pharaoh did not sow, cultivate, or harvest any of the grain, yet by taxation he acquired everything, & all the people became his serfs. This is a consistent pattern in human history, interrupted by an occasional revolution, with the usual beheadings of the ruling class.
In america, we seem to be somewhere at the end of this pattern. The elite ruling classes have usurped the democratic republic, founded as a nation of self rule, & hijacked it to plunder the producers of the nation. Greedy & self serving charlatans have wormed their way into power & influence, & are systematically manipulating the currency, the markets, our homes & savings until it is owned by a small elite. Freedom & opportunity are dying concepts, while dependency & subservience are promoted as the new american ideal.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
The American
My wife's ancestors are from new amsterdam (new york), & palatinate refugees from germany & holland. The dutch in New York were mostly indentured servants.. they worked for an investor who was making a business venture in the new world. The palatinate were religious refugees, fleeing papal persecution along the french border. This was reformation times, followed by a more enlightened thought time with science & human worth. My ancestors had massachusetts bay colony roots. They were primarily religious, almosts cult like.. a collectivist experiment that did not work (as usual!). The other side was scotch irish.. presbyterians fleeing the church of england & the pope. Then there were the virginians, the spanish in florida, georgia, & the other early colonies. They each had a part in shaping the new identity of the new nation.
But there was also the influence of the native peoples in all of these sub cultures, along with the enlightened thinkers of locke, rousseau, hobbes, bacon, & eventually jefferson & the other american founders. From this primordial soup was born the American.. not really european.. not native american.. a hybrid between the noble savage & the absolutist. This did not happen in mexico, even though there was a blend of spanish conquistadors, jesuits, & the native people, nor did it happen in canada, where the natives were kept more distant than in the us. The british monarchist system was clung to, there, & the wild natives had less influence on them. You also did not see it in s. africa, where dutch & british settlers kept very much apart from the native africans.
I'm sure that there are blends of culture in every emigration situation. None of us live in a vacuum, or are unaffected by other people. Our culture & ancestry are unique, & have made us into what we are today. It is also constantly in flux, & changing in every generation. We are moving away from a more individual, independent culture, to a more collectively centered one.. very eurocentric. Some is unavoidable, perhaps, as open land dwindles & populations increase. The time of the Historical, Traditional American may be winding down, but it was a unique evolution of a culture & governance in all of human history.
But there was also the influence of the native peoples in all of these sub cultures, along with the enlightened thinkers of locke, rousseau, hobbes, bacon, & eventually jefferson & the other american founders. From this primordial soup was born the American.. not really european.. not native american.. a hybrid between the noble savage & the absolutist. This did not happen in mexico, even though there was a blend of spanish conquistadors, jesuits, & the native people, nor did it happen in canada, where the natives were kept more distant than in the us. The british monarchist system was clung to, there, & the wild natives had less influence on them. You also did not see it in s. africa, where dutch & british settlers kept very much apart from the native africans.
I'm sure that there are blends of culture in every emigration situation. None of us live in a vacuum, or are unaffected by other people. Our culture & ancestry are unique, & have made us into what we are today. It is also constantly in flux, & changing in every generation. We are moving away from a more individual, independent culture, to a more collectively centered one.. very eurocentric. Some is unavoidable, perhaps, as open land dwindles & populations increase. The time of the Historical, Traditional American may be winding down, but it was a unique evolution of a culture & governance in all of human history.
Anarchy & the non aggression principle.
Anarchy & the non aggression principle.
The whole concept is so anti human.. they do not have a realistic view of humanity. Peace? Non aggression? We're talking humans here, right? We are warlike, brutal, & animalistic.. a lot more than we like to admit. The whole reason we have organized ourselves into regional governments is to protect us, collectively, from other brutal, aggressive humans, & their collectives. The entire history of mankind is one story after another of this aggression. So they can drone on about some utopian 'non aggression principle', but NO human throughout history has been able to live in that kind of state. There ALWAYS has to be a deterrence for any society to live in peace.
That is why i see the major flaw at the root of this ideology being the need for a 'new man'. It is an idealistic, unrealistic dream of humanity, that ignores our basic nature. IF you could change the human animal, you might be able to make us into peaceful, harmonious beings. But we are predators. Humans have few natural enemies in the wild, but other humans have always been the most deadly ones. It is like caribou deciding that they are going to live in peace with the wolves. They can decide that all they want, or eloquently describe their perfect world, where caribou & wolves live together in peace. But it won't work, because the wolves are still wolves. They might nod in agreement, at first, but they will NOT keep the pact, & they will begin to kill & eat the caribou. So the caribou better use what they have as defense mechanisms for this kind of natural behavior, or they will go extinct.
It is the same with people. If there are some altruistic humans out there, they are dependent on other more violent defenders to keep their personal peace. The quakers & amish come to mind. They cannot live under brutal totalitarian rule, but must flee it.
Some of my wife's ancestors were from the border of germany & france, during the reformation. They were palatinates, from that region in s. germany. They were persecuted, along with the french huguenots. They fled to holland, england, ireland, & eventually, america. Mostly PA. They would have preferred to live in peace & harmony, but Louis 14th would not let them. He didn't care about their peaceful ways or desires. So they needed the protection & sympathy of reformers who had equally sharp swords, to defend them from religious annihilation.
That is what the history of man is.. one man's or group's aggression toward another.. for whatever reason. We cannot just 'declare' that nature to be null & void, & say, 'why can't we all just get along?' There is only one way to live in peace: Strength. There is only one solution for human aggression: deterrence. We can speak softly, but we better carry that big stick.
The whole concept is so anti human.. they do not have a realistic view of humanity. Peace? Non aggression? We're talking humans here, right? We are warlike, brutal, & animalistic.. a lot more than we like to admit. The whole reason we have organized ourselves into regional governments is to protect us, collectively, from other brutal, aggressive humans, & their collectives. The entire history of mankind is one story after another of this aggression. So they can drone on about some utopian 'non aggression principle', but NO human throughout history has been able to live in that kind of state. There ALWAYS has to be a deterrence for any society to live in peace.
That is why i see the major flaw at the root of this ideology being the need for a 'new man'. It is an idealistic, unrealistic dream of humanity, that ignores our basic nature. IF you could change the human animal, you might be able to make us into peaceful, harmonious beings. But we are predators. Humans have few natural enemies in the wild, but other humans have always been the most deadly ones. It is like caribou deciding that they are going to live in peace with the wolves. They can decide that all they want, or eloquently describe their perfect world, where caribou & wolves live together in peace. But it won't work, because the wolves are still wolves. They might nod in agreement, at first, but they will NOT keep the pact, & they will begin to kill & eat the caribou. So the caribou better use what they have as defense mechanisms for this kind of natural behavior, or they will go extinct.
It is the same with people. If there are some altruistic humans out there, they are dependent on other more violent defenders to keep their personal peace. The quakers & amish come to mind. They cannot live under brutal totalitarian rule, but must flee it.
Some of my wife's ancestors were from the border of germany & france, during the reformation. They were palatinates, from that region in s. germany. They were persecuted, along with the french huguenots. They fled to holland, england, ireland, & eventually, america. Mostly PA. They would have preferred to live in peace & harmony, but Louis 14th would not let them. He didn't care about their peaceful ways or desires. So they needed the protection & sympathy of reformers who had equally sharp swords, to defend them from religious annihilation.
That is what the history of man is.. one man's or group's aggression toward another.. for whatever reason. We cannot just 'declare' that nature to be null & void, & say, 'why can't we all just get along?' There is only one way to live in peace: Strength. There is only one solution for human aggression: deterrence. We can speak softly, but we better carry that big stick.
Friday, May 9, 2014
The Press: watchdog or partisan propaganda machine?
The death of objectivity
Consider some of these issues:
1. 'He looks.. black'
2. fast & furious
3. Benghazi
4. Irs targeting conservative groups.
5. 'If you like your doctor, you can keep him.'
6. 'They are nothing but domestic terrorists'
7. Solyndra
8. executive waivers to big business, unions, & executive staff on laws passed by congress & signed by the president..
9. Pick & choose law enforcement.. the prime directive of the executive branch.
10. Ordered 1000 boeing employees fired & shut down a plant in SC for union cronies.
11. BLM land grab in nevada
How many of these things have the media 'exposed' & covered, like a free press watchdog should? The american media has traditionally been part of our freedom process. Has it become just a partisan propaganda tool?
In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection is must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. ~Hugo L. Black
But what is happening now? The free press has become partisan. Most are shills of the democratic party, with a strong bias for the progressive agenda. A few are conservative, but balance of bias is NOT the goal, here.. truth & 'serve the governed' is the role of the press, not manipulation of public opinion by propaganda.
IMO, the corporatization of the press has led to this unholy alliance. They are shills of big money, the same as the politicians. TRUTH & PUBLIC INTEREST is not the mission statement of the press.. they are slaves to power & money, & are beholden to both.
[T]he administration of government has become more complex, the opportunities for malfeasance and corruption have multiplied, crime has grown to most serious proportions, and the danger of its protection by unfaithful officials and of the impairment of the fundamental security of life and property by criminal alliances and official neglect, emphasizes the primary need of a vigilant and courageous press, especially in great cities. ~Charles Evans Hughes
"There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press" ~Mark Twain
Money is always a motivating factor, in any human venture. Journalists are not immune.. especially their bosses. But i think it is clear to any casual observer that the press has changed over the last 50 yrs. At one point, there was pride in objective journalism. Cronkite or Edward Murrow would not show overt partiality.. they would not be a partisan shill. But now we have Rather fabricating documents to smear bush, & most (all?) of the broadcast media complicit in the administration's coverups. Since Reagan, i have seen a slow decline in the objectivity of american media.. Both in print & broadcast. Fox covers things from a conservative angle, but they are a cable network, not part of the mainstream broadcast media. They have grown, mostly as a reaction from the overt partisanship of the others.
The press hounded johnson in the 60s, even though he was a democrat.. they were not as concerned about partisanship, & many of the old journalists took 'unbiased' coverage seriously. They were a bit soft on jfk, & they really went after nixon. They were not that kind to carter, & his blunders in iran, opec, & domestic policy were scrutinized.. contrast that with the pro obama propaganda from the current media. They hated reagan, & took pot shots at him constantly. Clinton got softer coverage, & bush 2 was vilified as an incompetent war monger.
Consider Sharyl Attkisson. She resigned in frustration from cbs because they wouldn't allow her investigative reports into the benghazi coverup. ANY of the media outlets in the past would have licked their chops at any hint of corruption, & made it their cover stories. It was a feeding frenzy with nixon, & all he did was spy on the opposition's political tactics & cover it up. The obama administration has done MUCH worse, where 4 americans died for incompetence, & the ensuing coverup.
Chris Christie is another. Here is a governor, linked to some bureaucrat closing down a bridge for political purposes.. inconveniencing a few people, & the media howls over this like a pack of wolves! Yet fast & furious, the irs scandal, benghazi, & a host of other administration 'scandals' are virtually ignored. A passing mention, at best, from the broadcast media. Some of these people died! Yet no coverage.. no expose.. no barking from the watchdogs. They have become useless mutts, lazing about, biting their owners, instead of the intruders.
In times past, the print media in almost every city had alternate views from competing newspapers. You could get a different angle from a different paper. It seems to me this has been dead for years, & it is clear that print newspapers are dinosaurs from the past. The Az Republic is a liberal rag, that promotes the progressive view in its pages. There are none that i know of that print the conservative view.. and this in a fairly conservative state!
I think there are many reasons for this.
1. Education has become the propaganda arm of progressive ideology. Liberal arts education is not the goal, but indoctrination. Each year a new crop of journalists enter the market with progressive ideology in their hearts, & matching words on their lips.
2. The conservative view is vilified so much.. linked to racism, stupidity, superstition, & back woods reactionary opinions, that it is difficult to get a fair hearing on the issues. The narrative is that conservative ideology is automatically irrelevant, so no reason is needed.. just dismiss it & continue the drive to a socialist utopia.
3. News & entertainment have become blurred.. the morning 'news' shows are mostly celebrity based entertainment, & that is what they deliver. That same mentality has taken over the 'hard' news divisions.
4. Money & power. Power follows the money, & money follows the power. Many despots have used the power of propaganda to subjugate the masses. Through clever use of the media, with their full consent, they are able to manipulate public opinion, not only by what they cover, but what they don't cover.
5. The rise of anti science. The concept of 'Truth' being something absolute, discoverable, & a goal to search for is becoming increasingly foreign. The trend now is to make the conclusions, first, then prop it up with supporting evidence, even if you have to fabricate it.
“The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief” ~Jacques Ellul
Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media. ~Noam Chomsky
The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system of ideological control - "indoctrination," we might say - exercised through the mass media. ~Noam Chomsky
Consider some of these issues:
1. 'He looks.. black'
2. fast & furious
3. Benghazi
4. Irs targeting conservative groups.
5. 'If you like your doctor, you can keep him.'
6. 'They are nothing but domestic terrorists'
7. Solyndra
8. executive waivers to big business, unions, & executive staff on laws passed by congress & signed by the president..
9. Pick & choose law enforcement.. the prime directive of the executive branch.
10. Ordered 1000 boeing employees fired & shut down a plant in SC for union cronies.
11. BLM land grab in nevada
How many of these things have the media 'exposed' & covered, like a free press watchdog should? The american media has traditionally been part of our freedom process. Has it become just a partisan propaganda tool?
In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection is must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. ~Hugo L. Black
But what is happening now? The free press has become partisan. Most are shills of the democratic party, with a strong bias for the progressive agenda. A few are conservative, but balance of bias is NOT the goal, here.. truth & 'serve the governed' is the role of the press, not manipulation of public opinion by propaganda.
IMO, the corporatization of the press has led to this unholy alliance. They are shills of big money, the same as the politicians. TRUTH & PUBLIC INTEREST is not the mission statement of the press.. they are slaves to power & money, & are beholden to both.
[T]he administration of government has become more complex, the opportunities for malfeasance and corruption have multiplied, crime has grown to most serious proportions, and the danger of its protection by unfaithful officials and of the impairment of the fundamental security of life and property by criminal alliances and official neglect, emphasizes the primary need of a vigilant and courageous press, especially in great cities. ~Charles Evans Hughes
"There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press" ~Mark Twain
Money is always a motivating factor, in any human venture. Journalists are not immune.. especially their bosses. But i think it is clear to any casual observer that the press has changed over the last 50 yrs. At one point, there was pride in objective journalism. Cronkite or Edward Murrow would not show overt partiality.. they would not be a partisan shill. But now we have Rather fabricating documents to smear bush, & most (all?) of the broadcast media complicit in the administration's coverups. Since Reagan, i have seen a slow decline in the objectivity of american media.. Both in print & broadcast. Fox covers things from a conservative angle, but they are a cable network, not part of the mainstream broadcast media. They have grown, mostly as a reaction from the overt partisanship of the others.
The press hounded johnson in the 60s, even though he was a democrat.. they were not as concerned about partisanship, & many of the old journalists took 'unbiased' coverage seriously. They were a bit soft on jfk, & they really went after nixon. They were not that kind to carter, & his blunders in iran, opec, & domestic policy were scrutinized.. contrast that with the pro obama propaganda from the current media. They hated reagan, & took pot shots at him constantly. Clinton got softer coverage, & bush 2 was vilified as an incompetent war monger.
Consider Sharyl Attkisson. She resigned in frustration from cbs because they wouldn't allow her investigative reports into the benghazi coverup. ANY of the media outlets in the past would have licked their chops at any hint of corruption, & made it their cover stories. It was a feeding frenzy with nixon, & all he did was spy on the opposition's political tactics & cover it up. The obama administration has done MUCH worse, where 4 americans died for incompetence, & the ensuing coverup.
Chris Christie is another. Here is a governor, linked to some bureaucrat closing down a bridge for political purposes.. inconveniencing a few people, & the media howls over this like a pack of wolves! Yet fast & furious, the irs scandal, benghazi, & a host of other administration 'scandals' are virtually ignored. A passing mention, at best, from the broadcast media. Some of these people died! Yet no coverage.. no expose.. no barking from the watchdogs. They have become useless mutts, lazing about, biting their owners, instead of the intruders.
In times past, the print media in almost every city had alternate views from competing newspapers. You could get a different angle from a different paper. It seems to me this has been dead for years, & it is clear that print newspapers are dinosaurs from the past. The Az Republic is a liberal rag, that promotes the progressive view in its pages. There are none that i know of that print the conservative view.. and this in a fairly conservative state!
I think there are many reasons for this.
1. Education has become the propaganda arm of progressive ideology. Liberal arts education is not the goal, but indoctrination. Each year a new crop of journalists enter the market with progressive ideology in their hearts, & matching words on their lips.
2. The conservative view is vilified so much.. linked to racism, stupidity, superstition, & back woods reactionary opinions, that it is difficult to get a fair hearing on the issues. The narrative is that conservative ideology is automatically irrelevant, so no reason is needed.. just dismiss it & continue the drive to a socialist utopia.
3. News & entertainment have become blurred.. the morning 'news' shows are mostly celebrity based entertainment, & that is what they deliver. That same mentality has taken over the 'hard' news divisions.
4. Money & power. Power follows the money, & money follows the power. Many despots have used the power of propaganda to subjugate the masses. Through clever use of the media, with their full consent, they are able to manipulate public opinion, not only by what they cover, but what they don't cover.
5. The rise of anti science. The concept of 'Truth' being something absolute, discoverable, & a goal to search for is becoming increasingly foreign. The trend now is to make the conclusions, first, then prop it up with supporting evidence, even if you have to fabricate it.
“The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief” ~Jacques Ellul
Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media. ~Noam Chomsky
The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system of ideological control - "indoctrination," we might say - exercised through the mass media. ~Noam Chomsky
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Reformation + Indians = American Freedom
Why did America become a land of liberty? During the time of colonization many areas of the world were targets of European imperialism.
Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada.. all had lots of Europeans invading their shores. Why didn't america become like one of them? ..another European style statist system? They could be loyal to the king, and rule & oppress the native peoples. That is what most of them did.
Here is my theory:
The admiration for the honor and culture of the Native North American people.
1. The Native American would not be enslaved.
2. The Native American believed in dignity and honor. Their word was sacred and was something to be proud of.
3. They were utilitarian in their view of of war. War to them was to take the other guy's stuff, to take over their turf, and to carry off their children and women. It was an expansive tactic of coalition nation building.
4. Even though the European settlers brutalized the Native Americans, they admired them. The concept of the noble savage has been prominent in North American culture to this day. They learned how to survive in the New World from their native neighbors. They saw how they faced adversity with courage. They were sanguine about death. They were independent and self reliant from any central government.
5. They fought bravely, even when outnumbered. Courage and freedom were highly esteemed. ..More so than life in slavery or domination from another.
The Europeans however, had different roots.
1. For a thousand years or more, kings and popes and lords and masters had ruled the Europeans. They were used to being nannied, cared for and submissive and subservient. Independent living and thinking was not in their dna.
2. When they made war it was for genocide. They sought to wipe out their enemies, or any race they thought inferior, not to assimilate them. Or, they felt a manifest destiny to manage and manipulate other people as pets or inferior beings. They enslaved those who would submit to their tyranny.
3. The europeans would willingly enslave them selves for material things. They would sell themselves as indentured servants for years to gain passage on a ship or to gain partial ownership of some business.
4. They lived lives of quiet desperation & degradation with no honor, yet they accepted this as their lot in life.
5. The religion of Christianity was used to placate. The concepts of freedom, liberty, honor and self respect was not common in European church circles. They preached submission to authority and honoring the king.
Then, a reformation began. Law was seen as above all. The written law superseded the edicts of men. This blend of reformation theology, combined with the noble savage sense of honor, freedom, and dignity came together to form a new creature: The American. It was the perfect storm. This guy would fight with ruthlessness like a European but die with dignity, honor, & self sacrifice like an Indian. He saw freedom and liberty as the foremost things. It flavored his religion and his outlook on Law and his fellow man.
Of course, this American went on to brutalize and break the spirit of the noble man he admired. He did not appreciate the lessons or the freedoms gained from his neighbors' philosophy of life. But the white man assimilated the ideology of the indian, even though he didn't know it. He tried to follow his euro creed of non assimilation and genocide. He pushed the red man into reservations to keep him dependent, subservient and broken. But the genie was out of the bottle. The spirit of the North American had taken over and blended with the European settlers.
Then more people came & were infected.. They got the idea that all men are created equal. ..They are endowed by their creator with unalienable rights. Not long after a great war was fought to free the black man from his years of servitude and oppression.
All during this time aggressive men and statists worked tirelessly to empower the state and strip the people of their liberties. Freedom, though tentative, was always preserved.
But now, as usual, we are at a crossroad. American liberties we took for granted are being chipped away by an ever growing & expanding state. No longer content with securing our rights, they make war at will, steal our property, and try to nanny and micro manage us like we are their third world conquests.
Wake up America! It is time to rise up and put these scoundrels in their place. It is time to remember our heritage, & honor the native american who has helped us cast off the chains of imperialism & servitude. No more euro nanny state! We came here for freedom, & we should not let anyone take it from us.
I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law, and restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did any where. Among the latter, under pretence of governing they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe. Cherish therefore the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. ~Thomas Jefferson
Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada.. all had lots of Europeans invading their shores. Why didn't america become like one of them? ..another European style statist system? They could be loyal to the king, and rule & oppress the native peoples. That is what most of them did.
Here is my theory:
The admiration for the honor and culture of the Native North American people.
1. The Native American would not be enslaved.
2. The Native American believed in dignity and honor. Their word was sacred and was something to be proud of.
3. They were utilitarian in their view of of war. War to them was to take the other guy's stuff, to take over their turf, and to carry off their children and women. It was an expansive tactic of coalition nation building.
4. Even though the European settlers brutalized the Native Americans, they admired them. The concept of the noble savage has been prominent in North American culture to this day. They learned how to survive in the New World from their native neighbors. They saw how they faced adversity with courage. They were sanguine about death. They were independent and self reliant from any central government.
5. They fought bravely, even when outnumbered. Courage and freedom were highly esteemed. ..More so than life in slavery or domination from another.
The Europeans however, had different roots.
1. For a thousand years or more, kings and popes and lords and masters had ruled the Europeans. They were used to being nannied, cared for and submissive and subservient. Independent living and thinking was not in their dna.
2. When they made war it was for genocide. They sought to wipe out their enemies, or any race they thought inferior, not to assimilate them. Or, they felt a manifest destiny to manage and manipulate other people as pets or inferior beings. They enslaved those who would submit to their tyranny.
3. The europeans would willingly enslave them selves for material things. They would sell themselves as indentured servants for years to gain passage on a ship or to gain partial ownership of some business.
4. They lived lives of quiet desperation & degradation with no honor, yet they accepted this as their lot in life.
5. The religion of Christianity was used to placate. The concepts of freedom, liberty, honor and self respect was not common in European church circles. They preached submission to authority and honoring the king.
Then, a reformation began. Law was seen as above all. The written law superseded the edicts of men. This blend of reformation theology, combined with the noble savage sense of honor, freedom, and dignity came together to form a new creature: The American. It was the perfect storm. This guy would fight with ruthlessness like a European but die with dignity, honor, & self sacrifice like an Indian. He saw freedom and liberty as the foremost things. It flavored his religion and his outlook on Law and his fellow man.
Of course, this American went on to brutalize and break the spirit of the noble man he admired. He did not appreciate the lessons or the freedoms gained from his neighbors' philosophy of life. But the white man assimilated the ideology of the indian, even though he didn't know it. He tried to follow his euro creed of non assimilation and genocide. He pushed the red man into reservations to keep him dependent, subservient and broken. But the genie was out of the bottle. The spirit of the North American had taken over and blended with the European settlers.
Then more people came & were infected.. They got the idea that all men are created equal. ..They are endowed by their creator with unalienable rights. Not long after a great war was fought to free the black man from his years of servitude and oppression.
All during this time aggressive men and statists worked tirelessly to empower the state and strip the people of their liberties. Freedom, though tentative, was always preserved.
But now, as usual, we are at a crossroad. American liberties we took for granted are being chipped away by an ever growing & expanding state. No longer content with securing our rights, they make war at will, steal our property, and try to nanny and micro manage us like we are their third world conquests.
Wake up America! It is time to rise up and put these scoundrels in their place. It is time to remember our heritage, & honor the native american who has helped us cast off the chains of imperialism & servitude. No more euro nanny state! We came here for freedom, & we should not let anyone take it from us.
I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law, and restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did any where. Among the latter, under pretence of governing they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe. Cherish therefore the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. ~Thomas Jefferson
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