Stories of America: Production & Prosperity

The traits that made America a healthy, vibrant society were a strong work ethic, a universal sense of morality, & a productive citizenry. To have a strong economy, most of the citizens must labor at something useful & productive for society. Moochers & looters should be minor factors, & in a healthy society, there is strong cultural pressure for them to contribute, rather than just take.

Being on the dole used to be an embarrassment, & many people, even those who needed assistance, would not take it. A sense of pride & dignity flavored the moral base of the nation, & even poor folks were reluctant to take 'charity', if they could manage at all.

I am intimately familiar with several poor families that went through the great depression. These are cultural examples of traditional American society. These were productive, hard working citizens, who felt their current condition was just a temporary embarrassment, & they would work their way out of it. None of these families went on the dole, or took public assistance of any kind. Oh, i know that fellow family members all chipped in if one had urgent needs, but this was a FAMILY problem, not a societal one.

1. My maternal grandmother.  Born at the turn of the last century, her family came to Tx with some of the other Houstons from Ky before & after the civil war. She married & had a child in Tx, then 2 more in California, where they moved right before the depression. My grandfather worked construction, & the stress of the move, strong personalities, & no doubt the economic climate of the time took its toll on their marriage. They split, & my grandfather faded from the picture, by his own choice, aided by my grandmother who evaded him. Some of those details are lost in family folklore, but the end result was a single mother with 3 small children living in southern California.. grapes of wrath kind of thing.

She was very frugal, & told stories about when her siblings needed money, they would always look to her. 'Tiny has something hidden away', they would say, & sure enough, she had a bit of cash stashed, & it would cover a crisis. She was also a survivor, & remarried another construction worker, while living in Cal. When my dad was a teenager, he dropped out of school to work with his step dad on the panama canal. They sent money back to the family for their support. My dad was the oldest, & he put his brother & sister through school, until the Big War broke out. He had just turned 21, & joined the navy, no doubt from familiarity with ships & servicemen in Panama. His baby sister married a poor farm boy from Missouri, who joined the army. The younger brother also joined the army & went into the air corps. After the war, my dad got his GED, went back to college, graduated valedictorian as an electrical engineer, & designed power plants. My uncle became a dentist, & my aunt raised her kids, married to a career army guy, stationed in Japan, Germany, & other places over the years.

They all put their kids through college, sent money every month to their old mother, & lived productive, industrious lives. They all died well to do, beneficiaries of their hard work, opportunity, & a vibrant national economy, built by these kinds of people.. working people who made things, & provided necessary, useful services to society.

2. My wife's mother. Born at the turn of the last century, raised by an aunt after her mother & father died when she was an infant. She grew up in Emporia, Ks, the daughter of Irish, German, & Scotch immigrants coming from Ohio & Michigan to settle in Kansas. She married & had 3 kids with a bricklayer, & became a young widow when he died during the peak of the depression while working in Wyoming. She returned to Kansas with the small children, & remarried another bricklayer, & had 3 more kids with him. Work was scarce during the depression, & you had to go where it was, if you didn't have other means of survival. They moved to Kansas City after the war, where my wife was born. She was the only child in the family to go beyond high school, and most of the boys became bricklayers, like their dad. A couple became successful contractors, & all of them bought houses, & lived the American Dream.

3. My stepmother's family. My stepmother was born to descendants of poor farmers living in S. Missouri. She grew up in the depression, & her dad would work for $1 per day. They had a garden & an extended family with many aunts & uncles. They were very religious, & committed to family. They hunted to supplement their food supply, & raised chickens & usually a pig. They canned vegetables & fruits, & lived rural, fairly self sufficient lives. They never had much, but had strong, interconnected family & church/community ties.

These are examples of what made America. There are thousands, if not millions more, in every region, from every family. What they had in common was a strong work ethic & family unity. Each of these families went through difficulties that no modern family in America can relate to. They went hungry. Basic food supplies were scarce, & money was tight. Jobs were scarce, & you had to leave your home sometimes to go where the work was. There was assistance, but it was viewed with disdain.. you could stand in soup lines, or get a job with the WPA (we piddle around, said the old timers), but not very many people went that route. In the 19th century, civil jobs were mostly for the disabled or the addled, except for law enforcement. But street sweepers, lamplighters, etc, were often the less capable, mentally or physically. There were poor houses, for elderly paupers, who had no family & who had no means of support. So civil jobs were often seen as semi-charitable.. something 'make work' to provide for those who did not have the tools to work in the real world. Capable, able bodied & intelligent adults were not expected to do those kinds of jobs, as a whole. Big cities had a different culture, & civil jobs had a different perception there. But in rural, small town, middle America, which was the majority of the nation, there was no looking to govt to fix things, or provide for everyone. You were expected to work, not mooch off of everyone else. There was no tolerance for sloth or laziness.

"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." ~John Steinbeck

Production is what builds a vibrant economy. Hard work & intelligent industry is what makes production. Mooching & dependency is an enemy of a healthy, prosperous society, & needs to be discouraged by society.
But instead, mooching & looting are esteemed as superior means of living. Hard work is for saps, or for fools who aren't clever enough to make it by huckstering & chicanery. The end result of this 'new' ideology in America will be collapse & destruction.

"No country can sustain in idleness more than a small percentage of its numbers. The great majority must labor at something productive." ~Abraham Lincoln

When Government becomes the Enemy

America was founded on the premise of human equality, individual liberty, & Natural Law. A collective system of rule was organized to accomplish the basic duties of govt: National defense, domestic justice, & regulation of commerce, with the overriding responsibility of securing the rights of the people. A minimal system of organization with citizen representatives was chosen, with checks & balances to minimize corruption & the ambitions of men.

That was the ideal. Have we reached it? Are we even going in the right direction? It is important in any journey to look back to see where we have come from, where we are, & what direction we are currently heading. Are we moving toward or away from our goals? 

We are NOT moving in the right direction, to achieve American Ideals, but have turned toward statism & collectivism. The evidence of our departure from the American ideals of freedom & self rule are legion, & spell the end of the republic, if we do not change course & return to the standards of self rule.

Problems:
1. Looting the producers

a. Collectivist concepts of 'social justice' trampling the individual right to property. Socialism & govt control corrupting the bill of rights.
b. Flood of dependents: looters & moochers exploiting the working producers of the nation.. unsustainable & driving us to collapse.
c. Steady, slow decline of real production in the nation. Work ethic dying, mooching & huckstering elevated as means of survival.

2. Corruption & misuse of public treasury

a. Foreign aid, grants, unconstitutional spending of the taxpayer's money, corruption, graft, crony-ism, nepotism
b. Outlandish spending on govt officials salaries, pensions, benefits
c. Corruption in election process, lure of power & money, lobbying & special interests.
d. Meddling & manipulation of the currency.. dilution of produced wealth, & collusion with the moneyed elite.
e. Predatory lending-- student loans. Return to dark ages lending practices
f. Market manipulation, causing bubbles & crashes, bringing hardship & needless suffering on the working producers of the nation, while the ruling elite live in the lap of luxury at their expense.
g. Welfare State. Breeding dependency, promoting bigotry, & destroying the family: the nuclear core of society. Promoting inferiority & low expectations in cultures of dependency & violence.

3. Defying the limits of the constitution

a. Wage war indiscriminately by executive branch
b. Executive orders/legislation
c. Cherry pick laws to enforce/ignore
d. Legislate from the bench/judicial overreach.
e. breakdown of checks & balances, complicity in trampling the constitution, emasculation of legislative branch.

5. Systematic takeover of all financial markets & control - housing, loans, banking, cronyist collusion of govt & business interests.
6. Transformation of collective education into state sponsored indoctrination.
7. Corruption of reason & science into 'facts by decree' by self appointed experts, & scorn toward the scientific method

a. Promotion of mob rule, loss of due process.
b. Media driven hysteria, without facts with complicity & inflammation from govt officials.
c. Promotion of 'messiah' mindset, with the citizens being indoctrinated to look for a Supreme Leader to lead them to the promised land. Celebrity worship & adulation of man.

Causes:
1. Promotion of a ruling elite. ..departure from citizen representative govt.

a. Corruption of ideal of self rule, & slow degradation to imperial rule
b. Complicity of media, academia, & govt to a ruling elite & celebrity worship of leaders.

2. Promotion of the Great Fiction, that govt can enable you to live off of everybody else. Disdain for production & work.
3. Lax watchfulness from the electorate, duped into believing the lies from the hucksters.
4. Constant indoctrination from the collusion of media, entertainment, academia, & govt.
5. The concept of the 'new man' who is evolved & altruistic. 

a. To reach that goal, the 'old man' has to be eliminated, except for the ruling elite. Disdain for life.
b. Class system revival, with elitist experts & nannies who pretend to know better what is good for the people, instead of just doing the job we have assigned them.

6. The universal drive to live off the labors of others. These leeches are drawn to govt like flies to rotten meat.

Remedy:
1. Defiant activism from the producers.

a. Say 'NO' to the childish demands of support from the moochers & looters.
b. Defy unconstitutional overreaches. Assert your rights to your property, life, & liberties.
c. Be an American. This is your heritage & birthright. Do not let slimy usurpers take the prize of freedom that your forefathers fought & died to give you.

2. Stop the gravy train. Take control of the finances

a. Balance the budget.
b. Cut govt programs, massively. National defense, domestic justice, & simple regulations for commerce are the constitutional directives. All others belong to the states.
c. Remove the manipulation of the currency from the moneyed elite, & return to a hard currency, indexed to real production & real assets. No fiat currency.
d. Money follows power, & power money. Strengthen & guard the checks & balances so they work, & have severe punishment for betrayal of the public trust.

3. Elect responsible, CITIZEN representatives, with term limits, & minimize an elite ruling class.
4. Open rebellion.

a. Armed defiance may be the only recourse, as the statist moochers will not give up their positions willingly.
b. It is the right of the people to alter or abolish any govt that does not secure our basic rights.
c. Domestic enemies of the constitution are just as dangerous, & more deceptive than foreign invaders.

Government has become the Enemy of the People. They do NOT promote fair, level regulations, but have become a breeding ground for thieves & scoundrels. They are driving us AWAY from the values of American Freedom, & toward despotism & imperial rule. 

Wake up, America! Your enemy is within. Progressive ideology is destroying the once noble dream of self rule & subservient government. They are building a monster, & it is devouring us. They are stripping us of our freedoms, our property, & our very lives. They come to kill & destroy. They are a cancer on humanity, & will not stop their destruction willingly. It is past time for action. It is past time for defiance. Our govt has forgotten its place, & needs a reminder.

"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

Roots of Freedom: The Reformation

In America, we tend to take Freedom for granted. 'We hold these truths to be self evident' is the opening argument in the Declaration of Independence, & it goes on to lay the basis for American Freedom: The equality of Man, Natural Law, & the role of collective organization (government). But where did this idea originate? Obviously, the history of Man is not filled with shining examples of freedom & self rule, but is primarily the history of man's oppression & inhumanity to his fellow man. 'Might makes right', has been the central lesson of history, so how did this get changed to 'Might FOR right'? How did a sense of Natural Law become rooted in the collective psyche of the people, & provide the basis for throwing out the old system of 'Might Makes Right'? Let's go backward in history, & see if we can follow this Thread of Freedom in humanity.

The Reformation.
This is an obvious correlation in American Freedom. The central message of the reformation is almost identical to those who wrote about freedom & Natural Law. Luther's 95 Theses is an amazing parallel to the Declaration of Independence. Each numbered point has the Reformation view equaled to the American founder's view.

1. The priesthood of believers = The equality of Man. This is a central tenet in the Reformation. There is no mediation class, but all believers have equal access to God. This concept began to erode the elite view of certain classes.. there is no 'divine right of Kings', or a special privileged class that has more access to God than anyone else. The American founders held to this same view, 'All men are created equal'.

2. Scripture as Authority, not edicts of man = Natural Law over imperial rule. Kings & priests were not above the Law, but were equally subject to the Law of God. Their whims were not the final authority, but the higher Law of God.. Natural or scriptural.

3. Money. ..to buy indulgences or to buy someone out of purgatory = No taxation without representation. 
Note in Luther's list:
# 27 - There is no divine authority for preaching that the soul flies out of the purgatory immediately the money clinks in the bottom of the chest.
This is an exact parallel to the American complaint of excessive taxation. Money always takes center stage, in matters of Human Freedom, as those who take our freedom are primarily interested in our money. They want us to pay them to oppress us. Both the reformers & the American founders told the powers that be to take a hike. Our money is ours, & we're not giving it to you any more. This was the greatest crime against the status quo, & causes the most alarm. They are less interested in the basis of ideology or our eternal souls than keeping the money coming in. They are much more interested in mooching off of the working man, than helping him to be free or spiritual.

Note the similarity of Luther's theses, compared it to the American 'list' in the DOI:
Luther: #66- The treasures of the indulgences are the nets which to-day they use to fish for the wealth of men. 
#86 - since the pope's income to-day is larger than that of the wealthiest of wealthy men, why does he not build this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of indigent believers?

DOI:For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: 
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

4. Defiance: We must obey God rather than Man = It is the right of the people to alter or abolish the Govt.

DOI:
..whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security..

Luther:
#32- All those who believe themselves certain of their own salvation by means of letters of indulgence, will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.
#92 - Away, then, with those prophets who say to Christ's people, "Peace, peace," where in there is no peace.

5. Corruption. Both the 95 Theses & the DOI are full of complaints of corruption in the system, & past appeals to resolve them. In the DOI, remedies are clearly spelled out, while Luther stops short of calling for open rebellion. Others got the idea, & the reformation was open rebellion to the status quo of the catholic church, & their power over the people.

6. Appeal to Reason.
Luther's opening statement: Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, the following heads will be the subject of a public discussion at Wittenberg..
#90 - These questions are serious matters of conscience to the laity. To suppress them by force alone, and not to refute them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christian people unhappy.

DOI: ..a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident,

Too often events in history are portrayed as disconnected from the time-line of history, or unrelated to other causes & correlations. Modern education sneers at the religious beliefs of those in the past, & tries to present a secular view of human thinking & ideology, when their deepest religious beliefs not only were the spring from which their ideas flowed, but provided the basis for their reasoning. Freedom has its roots in Natural Law, & in the equality of Man. Those who rule by elitist privilege & decree are enemies of Human Freedom.

We are in danger of losing what has taken centuries to secure. Natural Law is once again being replaced by imperial rule, & the whims of men are elevated over the written rule of Law. Oblivious to history & how we have arrived to where we are, the elites are once again trying to drive us into paying them to oppress us. They take our hard earned money, by deceptive taxation, hidden by currency manipulation & debt. They cast aside reason & offer smooth words & propaganda. They ignore the rule of Law, & return us to imperial rule & an elite ruling class. We only repeat history, we do not learn from it.

There is little else for the working citizens to do, other than what their ancestors before did: Defy the oppressors & exploiters. They will not reason. They will not give up their power. They will not concede anything except by force. If 'We the People' do not assert our might FOR right, the elites will assert their might AS right, & will return us to exploitation & subservience.