Of all the evil ideologies in the history of man, none are as deadly or deceptive than modern progressivism, or leftist thought. This article is a systematic examination & evaluation of progressive ideology & its effect on society. Each point can & should be expounded upon, to drive the warning home about this evil in human thinking, but to start, i wanted to present an outline.. an overview of the whole.
1. Us vs them mentality.
a. Hatred. Ridicule & despise 'them'
b. Division
c. Submission to group leaders, demonize opposition
d. Loyalty to group over reason
2. Anti science.
a. Truth by decree
b. Credentials over reason & facts
c. Hijacking of terms for political agenda
3. Racism
a. anti diversity
b. Demonize scapegoats
4. Propaganda.
a. The ends justify the means.
b. Lying to promote a cause.
c. Political Correctness
d. Control the narrative, caricature any opposition
5. Ideology based on lies & delusions.
a. The Great Fiction, that govt can enable you to live off the labors of others
b. Entitlement, elitism
c. Deception of source of wealth & the necessities of life.
6. Anti America
a. Elites, not citizen representatives
b. Imperial rule, not Law
c. Anti gun rights, speech, religion, due process
d. Adore anything European, regardless of consequences
7. Anti Christian
a. pro anarchy, Islam, atheism, or anything opposing Christianity
b. Constant assault on morality, law enforcement
8. Corruption
a. nepotism
b. Cronyism
c. Acquiring wealth by taking from others, not production (redistribution)
This ideology is a great evil in any society. It is driving us backwards to the dark ages, not toward human freedom & enlightenment. It has crept in & corrupted almost all human institutions, & is intolerant to any alternate views. Academia, Govt, the media, entertainment, and even within corporate structures, progressive dominated thought & followers are increasingly militant & aggressive, mandating conformity & ruling by decree.
Progressive ideology is not an immature, silly concept for empty headed fools, but a deadly evil for humanity. It is not just based on lies, but Damned lies. It is targeting freedom, dignity, & prosperity. It is just another 'ism' in the progression of Statism, built upon Marxism, Darwinism, communism, & Nazism. Its fruit is death. It offers bondage & slavery, but in smooth words. It should be exposed & opposed at every glimpse by those who value their freedoms, lives, & property.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Saving America
The American Experiment was one of self rule & govt as a servant, that secured the basic rights of Life, Liberty, & Property. Over the years, we have strayed from that mission statement, & are a dim reflection of our original intent.
Any society has problems. Some are innocuous, & others threaten the fabric of that society, if they are not resolved.
Problems:
1. Post Western Civilization. The root of America's decline can be seen in the decline of western civilization as a whole. The concepts of Natural Law, the dignity of man, & order in the universe are giving way to imperial rule, science by decree, & the view of man as an animal. The core of this decline is based in a naturalistic view of the universe, without God, moral law, or accountability for actions. Moral relativism is sweeping the culture, where once a strong sense of morality was reflected. This fundamental view of humanity & the universe is at the core of the decline of western civilization. Almost all other problems can be found stemming from this root.
2. The rise of a ruling elite. The American system of govt is becoming dominated by a ruling elite. Professional politicians worm their way into power & become rich beyond their wildest dreams, all on the back of the working man. Instead of public service, individual wealth & glory are the lure, & are a magnet to corruptible personalities. The system favors a ruling class, run by lawyers & academians who have little in common with the real issues of productive American life such as small business & the working man. All the institutions promote & feed this system: Entertainment, academia, all branches of Govt, the media, the banking sector, etc. Everyone except the actual producers in the nation are catered to & wooed for influence.
3. Corruption in Govt. ..and all of society. America is beginning to approach 3rd world levels of corruption, where position dictates power, & that power is used for gain. Fraud is rampant in every sector of govt. Military waste, crony deals, bailouts, solyndra & other corrupt funding scams, irs power used to intimidate political enemies, corruption in medicare & social security is so rampant that their solvency is threatened, cronyism, nepotism, lobbyists, conflict of interests, insider trading.. .the list goes on. There are few watchdogs that have any teeth for our public sector, & winning an election is like winning the lottery.
4. Fiscal insolvency & the collapse of the currency.
"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." ~Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler
America is so far in debt that only default or collapse of the currency can solve it. There are no assets to justify the dumping of currency into the economy, which only enriches bankers & money shufflers, by diluting the actual wealth of the nation. But the massive debt & dangers to the very existence of the nation do not bother the plunderers, who just print more & spend wildly, enriching themselves & their corrupt cronies.
5. Law & due process giving way to imperial rule by decree. The roots of western civilization are reflected in Law. Presumption of innocence, due process, right to face accuser, and other basics of western Law are being displaced by imperial rule. Relative morality, driven by a hidden Politically Correct engine that changes with the weather is becoming the new standard of Law. False narratives are promoted that accuse, try, & condemn any political or cultural enemies, rather than following due process & Law. Public trials by the media take center stage in cases like Martin/Zimmerman, Ferguson, Baltimore, & countless other examples. Some are in the national narrative, & some remain local. But the standard of accusation & guilt being declared, by the media or the decree of public officials shows the disdain for due process & illustrates the decay of individual rights. Grievance & phony narrative are elevated over Law, providing further examples of this departure from Natural Law.
6. Dependency & entitlement are not just tolerated, but promoted & celebrated. Govt programs build dependency & tear at the fabric of society, replacing the nuclear family with nanny state bureaucrats. The welfare state is nothing more than a progressive zoo, where self reliance & opportunity are meaningless terms.
7. Redistribution: Theft of Property. Collectivist notions are constantly pounded into the public consciousness, ignoring the basic violation of individual property & sovereignty. Political activism, which is nothing more than plundering the treasury under the euphemistic terms of 'economic equality' or 'social justice' do violence to the previous world view of natural rights to life & property.
8. Truth by Decree. The educational system is slowly changing from the former model of discovery & enlightenment, to one of mandated conformity & indoctrination. Critical thinking skills are not promoted, but memorized dogma. Even science is by mandate, with an ideological agenda, not truth, as the goal.
9. The perversion of Law into an instrument of plunder.
"Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter -- by peaceful or revolutionary means -- into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it." ~Frederic Bastiat
As the sense of Natural Law has declined, & moral relativism dominates the social conscience, Law is no longer seen as a standalone entity, with absolute truth as a basis, but a fluid, relativistic thing to be manipulated by those in power. Greedy manipulators gain power & use Law to plunder the working man & promote a utopian agenda.
10. Division. The national unity of America used to be our system of self rule. Regardless of our economic status, race, gender, religious views, or education, we were united in the common cause of a govt of, by, & for the people. This is giving way to divisive partisanship, where special interests & artificial loyalties trump our national ideology. Years of indoctrination by anti-American forces have soured the common citizen on the virtues of the American experiment, & have focused on division, suspicion, envy, & hate to unite into narrow partisan groups.
Solutions:
1. Spiritual Awakening. As long as the root of our worldview is based on naturalism, we cannot regain a sense of the dignity of man, Natural Law, order in the universe, & a sense of higher destiny. Stopping the indoctrination of naturalism would be a step, but a hard one, as the institutions are steeped in naturalistic dogma, & their goal is indoctrination. Without a basis of morality, dignity, & accountability, man is nothing more than a wild animal, with only survival instincts to drive him.
2. Emphasis on citizen representatives. Stop the trend of a ruling elite. Term limits, minimal compensation for public service, & severe penalties for corruption should be the standard of American governance. Elitism, celebrity worship, & winking at corruption should be seen as enemies of the American system of governance.
3. As in #2, severe penalties for public corruption.
4. Balanced budget, & stabilizing the currency. Tie it to hard assets, & real production, not fiat declarations.
5. Will require solution #1, with a sense of moral absolutes & natural Law guiding our legislative process, rather than moral relativism.
6. Dismantle the welfare state, promote a work ethic, personal responsibility, & nuclear family values. End the nanny state & the collectivist view of raising children. All they produce is thugs & sociopaths.
7. Stop all collectivist schemes of redistribution. Respect the property of the individual, & have minimal demands on the taxpayers for basic govt: National defense, regulation of commerce, interstate infrastructure.
8. Reform the educational system, promoting critical thinking & discovery over indoctrination. This will also require solution #1. The root must be there for the fruit to bear.
9. Follow the constitution. Return to the American values of Law & separation of powers. Impeach enemies of the constitution, & wake up the citizens to a more assertive role in this nation of self rule. Reform voting. Authorize productive citizens to vote, not moochers or looters in society. This is the most radical solution to the problems in America, as universal suffrage is the holy grail of democracy. But it is an enemy of the producers & the rule of Law. Those who PAY for the services of govt should be the ones who decides WHO the representatives are, not those who BENEFIT from the services of govt. That is a built-in conflict of interest, & promotes 'voting for a living' as an avocation.
10. The only solution to this is still #1. It will take enlightenment within the culture to see the real evils, & oppose them. Propaganda will have to be despised, lies exposed & hated. Unless the overriding unity of our common ideology becomes preeminent, the artificial divisions of race, social standing, money, & power will continue to divide us.
I have little hope of a reversal of the current trends, as the indoctrination of a naturalistic view of the universe is pounded into every citizen since birth, from all human institutions. It would take a miracle, for reason & clear thinking to overcome hysteria & emotional appeals. It would require an awakening, & a return to the values of Western Civilization, which is clearly in decline across the globe. The enemies of truth & freedom are too many, & they control the narrative.
But, it has happened before, it can happen again. There can be an awakening of a moral conscience, & a return to the values of Civilized Man. But the course we are on, driven by the progressive left & radical Islam, leads back to the dark ages. They are enemies of Western Civilization, & will not rest until they destroy it.
Any society has problems. Some are innocuous, & others threaten the fabric of that society, if they are not resolved.
Problems:
1. Post Western Civilization. The root of America's decline can be seen in the decline of western civilization as a whole. The concepts of Natural Law, the dignity of man, & order in the universe are giving way to imperial rule, science by decree, & the view of man as an animal. The core of this decline is based in a naturalistic view of the universe, without God, moral law, or accountability for actions. Moral relativism is sweeping the culture, where once a strong sense of morality was reflected. This fundamental view of humanity & the universe is at the core of the decline of western civilization. Almost all other problems can be found stemming from this root.
2. The rise of a ruling elite. The American system of govt is becoming dominated by a ruling elite. Professional politicians worm their way into power & become rich beyond their wildest dreams, all on the back of the working man. Instead of public service, individual wealth & glory are the lure, & are a magnet to corruptible personalities. The system favors a ruling class, run by lawyers & academians who have little in common with the real issues of productive American life such as small business & the working man. All the institutions promote & feed this system: Entertainment, academia, all branches of Govt, the media, the banking sector, etc. Everyone except the actual producers in the nation are catered to & wooed for influence.
3. Corruption in Govt. ..and all of society. America is beginning to approach 3rd world levels of corruption, where position dictates power, & that power is used for gain. Fraud is rampant in every sector of govt. Military waste, crony deals, bailouts, solyndra & other corrupt funding scams, irs power used to intimidate political enemies, corruption in medicare & social security is so rampant that their solvency is threatened, cronyism, nepotism, lobbyists, conflict of interests, insider trading.. .the list goes on. There are few watchdogs that have any teeth for our public sector, & winning an election is like winning the lottery.
4. Fiscal insolvency & the collapse of the currency.
"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." ~Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler
America is so far in debt that only default or collapse of the currency can solve it. There are no assets to justify the dumping of currency into the economy, which only enriches bankers & money shufflers, by diluting the actual wealth of the nation. But the massive debt & dangers to the very existence of the nation do not bother the plunderers, who just print more & spend wildly, enriching themselves & their corrupt cronies.
5. Law & due process giving way to imperial rule by decree. The roots of western civilization are reflected in Law. Presumption of innocence, due process, right to face accuser, and other basics of western Law are being displaced by imperial rule. Relative morality, driven by a hidden Politically Correct engine that changes with the weather is becoming the new standard of Law. False narratives are promoted that accuse, try, & condemn any political or cultural enemies, rather than following due process & Law. Public trials by the media take center stage in cases like Martin/Zimmerman, Ferguson, Baltimore, & countless other examples. Some are in the national narrative, & some remain local. But the standard of accusation & guilt being declared, by the media or the decree of public officials shows the disdain for due process & illustrates the decay of individual rights. Grievance & phony narrative are elevated over Law, providing further examples of this departure from Natural Law.
6. Dependency & entitlement are not just tolerated, but promoted & celebrated. Govt programs build dependency & tear at the fabric of society, replacing the nuclear family with nanny state bureaucrats. The welfare state is nothing more than a progressive zoo, where self reliance & opportunity are meaningless terms.
7. Redistribution: Theft of Property. Collectivist notions are constantly pounded into the public consciousness, ignoring the basic violation of individual property & sovereignty. Political activism, which is nothing more than plundering the treasury under the euphemistic terms of 'economic equality' or 'social justice' do violence to the previous world view of natural rights to life & property.
8. Truth by Decree. The educational system is slowly changing from the former model of discovery & enlightenment, to one of mandated conformity & indoctrination. Critical thinking skills are not promoted, but memorized dogma. Even science is by mandate, with an ideological agenda, not truth, as the goal.
9. The perversion of Law into an instrument of plunder.
"Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter -- by peaceful or revolutionary means -- into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it." ~Frederic Bastiat
As the sense of Natural Law has declined, & moral relativism dominates the social conscience, Law is no longer seen as a standalone entity, with absolute truth as a basis, but a fluid, relativistic thing to be manipulated by those in power. Greedy manipulators gain power & use Law to plunder the working man & promote a utopian agenda.
10. Division. The national unity of America used to be our system of self rule. Regardless of our economic status, race, gender, religious views, or education, we were united in the common cause of a govt of, by, & for the people. This is giving way to divisive partisanship, where special interests & artificial loyalties trump our national ideology. Years of indoctrination by anti-American forces have soured the common citizen on the virtues of the American experiment, & have focused on division, suspicion, envy, & hate to unite into narrow partisan groups.
Solutions:
1. Spiritual Awakening. As long as the root of our worldview is based on naturalism, we cannot regain a sense of the dignity of man, Natural Law, order in the universe, & a sense of higher destiny. Stopping the indoctrination of naturalism would be a step, but a hard one, as the institutions are steeped in naturalistic dogma, & their goal is indoctrination. Without a basis of morality, dignity, & accountability, man is nothing more than a wild animal, with only survival instincts to drive him.
2. Emphasis on citizen representatives. Stop the trend of a ruling elite. Term limits, minimal compensation for public service, & severe penalties for corruption should be the standard of American governance. Elitism, celebrity worship, & winking at corruption should be seen as enemies of the American system of governance.
3. As in #2, severe penalties for public corruption.
4. Balanced budget, & stabilizing the currency. Tie it to hard assets, & real production, not fiat declarations.
5. Will require solution #1, with a sense of moral absolutes & natural Law guiding our legislative process, rather than moral relativism.
6. Dismantle the welfare state, promote a work ethic, personal responsibility, & nuclear family values. End the nanny state & the collectivist view of raising children. All they produce is thugs & sociopaths.
7. Stop all collectivist schemes of redistribution. Respect the property of the individual, & have minimal demands on the taxpayers for basic govt: National defense, regulation of commerce, interstate infrastructure.
8. Reform the educational system, promoting critical thinking & discovery over indoctrination. This will also require solution #1. The root must be there for the fruit to bear.
9. Follow the constitution. Return to the American values of Law & separation of powers. Impeach enemies of the constitution, & wake up the citizens to a more assertive role in this nation of self rule. Reform voting. Authorize productive citizens to vote, not moochers or looters in society. This is the most radical solution to the problems in America, as universal suffrage is the holy grail of democracy. But it is an enemy of the producers & the rule of Law. Those who PAY for the services of govt should be the ones who decides WHO the representatives are, not those who BENEFIT from the services of govt. That is a built-in conflict of interest, & promotes 'voting for a living' as an avocation.
10. The only solution to this is still #1. It will take enlightenment within the culture to see the real evils, & oppose them. Propaganda will have to be despised, lies exposed & hated. Unless the overriding unity of our common ideology becomes preeminent, the artificial divisions of race, social standing, money, & power will continue to divide us.
I have little hope of a reversal of the current trends, as the indoctrination of a naturalistic view of the universe is pounded into every citizen since birth, from all human institutions. It would take a miracle, for reason & clear thinking to overcome hysteria & emotional appeals. It would require an awakening, & a return to the values of Western Civilization, which is clearly in decline across the globe. The enemies of truth & freedom are too many, & they control the narrative.
But, it has happened before, it can happen again. There can be an awakening of a moral conscience, & a return to the values of Civilized Man. But the course we are on, driven by the progressive left & radical Islam, leads back to the dark ages. They are enemies of Western Civilization, & will not rest until they destroy it.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
FreeDOM or free STUFF
Do Americans want free DOM, or free STUFF?
It comes down to the 'Great Fiction'. That govt can enable you to live off of everybody else. It IS an illusion, but a very persistent one, & it keeps on deceiving, generation after generation.
It comes down to the 'Great Fiction'. That govt can enable you to live off of everybody else. It IS an illusion, but a very persistent one, & it keeps on deceiving, generation after generation.
It is unbelievable that this delusion, which is illogical & untenable on the surface, still has dedicated followers. And it still is based on govt theft.. 'You loot, we'll mooch' is the motto. It is the bane of democracy, & is the primary driver in the decline of America. But no matter how many people warn, 'eventually you run out of other people's money', still they try to loot just a bit more, to make themselves rich, & hope to live on easy street.
The dream always ends, & badly, for the looters. The people tire of it & rise up, & they will again. We may be in the throes of economic collapse, or runaway inflation, or some other currency related bubble, but when the producers can no longer provide for themselves, they will cast off the looters & moochers, as they have always done throughout history. Of course, this does not mean that freedom will rise from the ashes. It usually doesn't. And the looters may only change hats.
The best we can hope for is enlightened revolution.. intelligent change, like we had in the first American revolution. That was not mob rule, or anarchy breeding despotism. If enough clear thinking Americans can lead the charge in an altruistic rebirth of American constitutional values, the dream of self rule can be kept alive. But collapse seems inevitable. The bubbles are too big, the moochers too many, the looters too corrupt for simple non violent reform. The question is, are there enough Americans willing to fight the hordes of moochers & looters, & put us back on track?
Communists are just looters. The only thing they offer is redistribution, which is just theft from the producers, to prop up the illusion.. to keep the 'Great Fiction' alive. No society can prosper if it is based on theft from their own people. Communism is just old fashioned tyranny of an elite ruling class. They are no different than any totalitarian system, they just have different labels & different ear tickling rhetoric.
A generation ago, people understood the dangers of collectivist thought. Now it is mainstream, & standard fare in academia. But it is an ideology that is built upon lies. It is fiction, masquerading as a valid social structure.
"Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." ~Frederic Bastiat
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Roots of Freedom: Revolution
Revolution is a natural right
One of the things the progressive left has twisted & redefined is the roots of America. It is not lovey, dovey, warm & fuzzy platitudes of singing kumbaya & making smores. At the root of America is defiance. Rebellion. Insurrection. Revolution.
Revolution is a core Natural Right.. it is the basis for America.
-That 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.. ~Declaration of Independence
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. ~Abraham Lincoln
Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels- men and women who dared to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion. ~Dwight Eisenhower
All men recognize the right of revolution: that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, or to resist, the government when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable. ~Henry David Thoreau
But common core is teaching kids that respect for govt is paramount.. they are preparing fit tools for servitude, not an enlightened, involved electorate. Modern govt & the goals of academia are for indoctrination, not education.
This is not your father's America. THAT was one of cynicism & mistrust of govt officials, politicians, & a shrewd eye on corruption, supported by a watchful press. But now the watchdogs have become complicit with the foxes, & are fleecing the people together.
The problem with our govt today, is they do not fear the people. They think they can do whatever they want, be as corrupt & lie all they want, & the people will just take it. We will sell our freedoms for an illusion of prosperity, as they tell us how lucky we are to have such benevolent dictators.
But govt SHOULD fear the people. That is the source of liberty. If they think the slightest overreach or graft would enrage the public, & we would drag out guillotines for remedy, they would not so quickly neglect their vows of public service. But they do not, so corruption, graft, & cronyism is rampant. Election to public office is like winning the lottery. It is a magnet for corruptible, sleazy personalities, & the system has gathered a horde of such characters to plunder the treasury.
When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty. ~Thomas Jefferson
"If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." ~Samuel Adams
The problem is we have lost our defiance.. our independence.. our rebelliousness. We have become soft & complacent. We have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage. It is long past time for Americans to rise up & throw off the corruption & worm tongued deception from the sleazy politicians. it is time for reform.. the currency is corrupted, the budget is filled with graft, cronyism, & waste, the producers of the nation are saddled with a growing horde of leeches & thieves who take everything they work for, including their future earnings, & their children's earnings.
We should get back to our roots. Is this a govt of, by & for the people? Or is it just another state centered swindle of the working man? The govt should fear us, we should not fear them.
One of the things the progressive left has twisted & redefined is the roots of America. It is not lovey, dovey, warm & fuzzy platitudes of singing kumbaya & making smores. At the root of America is defiance. Rebellion. Insurrection. Revolution.
Revolution is a core Natural Right.. it is the basis for America.
-That 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.. ~Declaration of Independence
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. ~Abraham Lincoln
Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels- men and women who dared to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion. ~Dwight Eisenhower
All men recognize the right of revolution: that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, or to resist, the government when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable. ~Henry David Thoreau
But common core is teaching kids that respect for govt is paramount.. they are preparing fit tools for servitude, not an enlightened, involved electorate. Modern govt & the goals of academia are for indoctrination, not education.
This is not your father's America. THAT was one of cynicism & mistrust of govt officials, politicians, & a shrewd eye on corruption, supported by a watchful press. But now the watchdogs have become complicit with the foxes, & are fleecing the people together.
The problem with our govt today, is they do not fear the people. They think they can do whatever they want, be as corrupt & lie all they want, & the people will just take it. We will sell our freedoms for an illusion of prosperity, as they tell us how lucky we are to have such benevolent dictators.
But govt SHOULD fear the people. That is the source of liberty. If they think the slightest overreach or graft would enrage the public, & we would drag out guillotines for remedy, they would not so quickly neglect their vows of public service. But they do not, so corruption, graft, & cronyism is rampant. Election to public office is like winning the lottery. It is a magnet for corruptible, sleazy personalities, & the system has gathered a horde of such characters to plunder the treasury.
When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty. ~Thomas Jefferson
"If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." ~Samuel Adams
The problem is we have lost our defiance.. our independence.. our rebelliousness. We have become soft & complacent. We have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage. It is long past time for Americans to rise up & throw off the corruption & worm tongued deception from the sleazy politicians. it is time for reform.. the currency is corrupted, the budget is filled with graft, cronyism, & waste, the producers of the nation are saddled with a growing horde of leeches & thieves who take everything they work for, including their future earnings, & their children's earnings.
We should get back to our roots. Is this a govt of, by & for the people? Or is it just another state centered swindle of the working man? The govt should fear us, we should not fear them.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
The Progressive Left: Enemies of Freedom
I used to think that progressive ideology was benign. It was just a flavor of freedom, like choosing chocolate over vanilla. But the more i have seen it grow, & the more influence & control it has over a nation, the more i see it as a deadly evil for humanity. I wish i was wrong on this, but all the evidence points the other way.
The problem here isn't something so benign as 'income levels', or 'imbalance of wealth', or 'social justice'.. those are mere deflections.. distractions to take our attention from the prize: Human Freedom. Progressive ideology is hell bent on taking our freedoms, by whatever means possible. Oh, they may use orwellian phrases that seem to indicate otherwise, but that is just propaganda.
Ideology makes a difference. Pol Pot, Stalin, & Hitler all had utopian ideologies. They also tried to implement them on a national & international scale. So simply talking about intentions is not enough. You will know them by their fruits. Progressive fruit is rotten to the core. Lets look at some of the fruit of progressive ideology:
1. It is built on lies, censorship, & propaganda. In the last 6 years, while we have had progressive ideology as the majority in American governance, there has been a parade of scandals. Benghazi, fast & furious, using govt to censor the opposition (irs scandal), deleted emails, 'if you like your doctor, you can keep him', 'Obamacare will be cheaper, & cover everyone', busing illegal immigrants from central America, blocking due process investigations into corruption & misuse of power, solyndra & corrupt practices like it, voter fraud, selective enforcement of law, constitutional overreach... the list goes on. A single one might be excused (though there should be accountability for the slightest breach of public trust!), but these go on ad nauseum. Progressives deaden our senses with constant lies. Everything they get caught doing.. overreaches, incompetence, corruption.. they deny, lie, stall, & block. Their tactics & practices are steeped in propaganda & distortions. They censor others, but promote false narratives for their own purposes.
Every progressive run forum i have been in uses censorship to crush any opposing views. The govt does the same thing. So does the progressive run media, academia, & ANY progressive institution. It is part of their dna. They are controlling, manipulative, & oppressive. In forums, they promote phony narratives, like, 'the tea party is racist!', or 'hands up, don't shoot!' or attacks on conservative media, states, cities, counties, & individuals. But if any contrary narrative comes up, they squash it immediately. Schools are notorious for this. They deny patriotic activities, but promote anything that isn't. I could not post a thread like this in a progressive run forum. They would delete it. I have seen it in practice.
2. The eroding of basic human rights.. life & property, free speech, free exercise of religion, due process, etc. It is a constant fight with progressives to keep our basic rights. Even the supreme court has struck down mandate after mandate from Obama, as he tries to systematically limit our basic rights. Things like redistribution, welfare, & social security are used to take the property of those who worked, & make the govt the owner of everything. Religious views are attacked for their agenda, & attempts to control the information outlets are still being made. The IRS is used to bully & censor any opposing views, & taxpayer money is used to promote propaganda toward the people themselves. We actually pay them to deceive us.
3. The corruption & destruction of Citizen representatives. This has been a long time coming, but is rooted in the slow migration toward a ruling elite. These elite are the new royalty, fresh from academic institutions (aka progressive indoctrination factories), ready to build the New America.. a utopia where THEY are in control, & dictate to the unwashed masses their divine wisdom & enlightened solutions. But all they deliver is oppression, corruption, & a privileged elite, living like kings off the working man, plundering the treasury, enriching themselves & their cronies. Their policies are absurd, inefficient, & wasteful. They have no common sense.
4. The plundering of the treasury. They are filled with corruption, building their governing elite, with the explosion of govt employees making exorbitant salaries on the backs of the American worker. Fraud & corruption is rampant, with solyndra like industries & companies getting rich off the taxpayers. Not content with plundering the current taxpayers, they saddle us with massive debt for future generations, blowing money faster than they can print it. It is a system built on looting the working man. They produce NOTHING.. they are only leeches on society.
Now you may say, 'Wow. If these people are so horrible, why do we put up with it? Why do we not stage a revolution & throw out these crooks & evil doers?' Good question. Why don't we?
Some people think it is hopeless. It is out of control & we can do nothing. They are wrong. We CAN change things. We don't have to settle for the destruction of our country, or the slow morphing into a socialist nanny state. If you LIKE your freedom, you can KEEP your freedom. But it will be a fight. These leeches will not be detached easily.
Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! ~Patrick Henry
The problem here isn't something so benign as 'income levels', or 'imbalance of wealth', or 'social justice'.. those are mere deflections.. distractions to take our attention from the prize: Human Freedom. Progressive ideology is hell bent on taking our freedoms, by whatever means possible. Oh, they may use orwellian phrases that seem to indicate otherwise, but that is just propaganda.
Ideology makes a difference. Pol Pot, Stalin, & Hitler all had utopian ideologies. They also tried to implement them on a national & international scale. So simply talking about intentions is not enough. You will know them by their fruits. Progressive fruit is rotten to the core. Lets look at some of the fruit of progressive ideology:
1. It is built on lies, censorship, & propaganda. In the last 6 years, while we have had progressive ideology as the majority in American governance, there has been a parade of scandals. Benghazi, fast & furious, using govt to censor the opposition (irs scandal), deleted emails, 'if you like your doctor, you can keep him', 'Obamacare will be cheaper, & cover everyone', busing illegal immigrants from central America, blocking due process investigations into corruption & misuse of power, solyndra & corrupt practices like it, voter fraud, selective enforcement of law, constitutional overreach... the list goes on. A single one might be excused (though there should be accountability for the slightest breach of public trust!), but these go on ad nauseum. Progressives deaden our senses with constant lies. Everything they get caught doing.. overreaches, incompetence, corruption.. they deny, lie, stall, & block. Their tactics & practices are steeped in propaganda & distortions. They censor others, but promote false narratives for their own purposes.
Every progressive run forum i have been in uses censorship to crush any opposing views. The govt does the same thing. So does the progressive run media, academia, & ANY progressive institution. It is part of their dna. They are controlling, manipulative, & oppressive. In forums, they promote phony narratives, like, 'the tea party is racist!', or 'hands up, don't shoot!' or attacks on conservative media, states, cities, counties, & individuals. But if any contrary narrative comes up, they squash it immediately. Schools are notorious for this. They deny patriotic activities, but promote anything that isn't. I could not post a thread like this in a progressive run forum. They would delete it. I have seen it in practice.
2. The eroding of basic human rights.. life & property, free speech, free exercise of religion, due process, etc. It is a constant fight with progressives to keep our basic rights. Even the supreme court has struck down mandate after mandate from Obama, as he tries to systematically limit our basic rights. Things like redistribution, welfare, & social security are used to take the property of those who worked, & make the govt the owner of everything. Religious views are attacked for their agenda, & attempts to control the information outlets are still being made. The IRS is used to bully & censor any opposing views, & taxpayer money is used to promote propaganda toward the people themselves. We actually pay them to deceive us.
3. The corruption & destruction of Citizen representatives. This has been a long time coming, but is rooted in the slow migration toward a ruling elite. These elite are the new royalty, fresh from academic institutions (aka progressive indoctrination factories), ready to build the New America.. a utopia where THEY are in control, & dictate to the unwashed masses their divine wisdom & enlightened solutions. But all they deliver is oppression, corruption, & a privileged elite, living like kings off the working man, plundering the treasury, enriching themselves & their cronies. Their policies are absurd, inefficient, & wasteful. They have no common sense.
4. The plundering of the treasury. They are filled with corruption, building their governing elite, with the explosion of govt employees making exorbitant salaries on the backs of the American worker. Fraud & corruption is rampant, with solyndra like industries & companies getting rich off the taxpayers. Not content with plundering the current taxpayers, they saddle us with massive debt for future generations, blowing money faster than they can print it. It is a system built on looting the working man. They produce NOTHING.. they are only leeches on society.
Now you may say, 'Wow. If these people are so horrible, why do we put up with it? Why do we not stage a revolution & throw out these crooks & evil doers?' Good question. Why don't we?
Some people think it is hopeless. It is out of control & we can do nothing. They are wrong. We CAN change things. We don't have to settle for the destruction of our country, or the slow morphing into a socialist nanny state. If you LIKE your freedom, you can KEEP your freedom. But it will be a fight. These leeches will not be detached easily.
Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! ~Patrick Henry
Sunday, February 22, 2015
The Communist Manifesto: a rebuttal
Part I... definitions & analysis.
The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.
In the earlier epochs of history, we find almost everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into various orders, a manifold gradation of social rank. In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations.
The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. from 'The Communist Manifesto'
I'll basically go along with this analysis. For an 1848 world perspective, its ok. It doesn't really apply in the american experiment.. at least after the civil war, when all men were recognized as free. And, it doesn't really work in day to day reality, but only as a general principle to base a philosophy on. I would say the deeper issue is the tendency of man to want to dominate or control others. Some want to live off the labors of others. Lincoln stated it like this:
“It is the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and wrong — throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, "You toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it." No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle.” ― Abraham Lincoln
This is the more basic struggle of humanity, not class distinctions. Classes are only the groups of the individuals who either work or exploit.
Most revolutions have been, 'Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss'. Very rarely in the history of mankind has there been true altruism or a recognition of the evil nature of man to dominate his neighbor. So we go from one oppressor to another, each promising to serve & promote our liberty. But all they ever do is dominate & take.
You can label them, 'bourgeois & proletariat', 'worker & moocher', 'noble & serf', or 'rulers & subjects'. The names may change, but they are the same throughout all time.
Collectivism, & especially communism, does nothing to end this struggle. It only changes the ruling elite. The 'party' is the new boss, & the proletariat work for them. All it has ever done is shrink the middle class, & widen the gap between the worker & the ruling elite. ..but i'm sure we'll get more into that, later.
The contest, for ages, has been to rescue Liberty from the grasp of executive power. ~Daniel Webster
Part 2: The Communists & the Proletariat.
The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement.
The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat.
...
They merely express, in general terms, actual relations springing from an existing class struggle, from a historical movement going on under our very eyes. The abolition of existing property relations is not at all a distinctive feature of communism.
All property relations in the past have continually been subject to historical change consequent upon the change in historical conditions.
The French Revolution, for example, abolished feudal property in favour of bourgeois property.
The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property. But modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few.
In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property. from 'The Communist Manifesto'
Here is where this fails, as a social experiment:
1. The communists are NOT the proletariat, but pretend to 'help' the poor, huddled masses. They want to organize them as pawns, to destroy the bourgeoisie, whom they hate with a greater passion than they do the monarchy or any military dictatorship. They pretend to speak for the worker, but they are not the worker.
2. They attack one of the most basic rights of man for all of history: The right of property. Locke said that govt has no other end, but the preservation of property.
"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." ~Abraham Lincoln
The appeal to just 'take' the property of another, that they have not worked for is alluring. It is a shiny lure of free stuff, that attempts to deceive the simple into believing the great fiction, that govt can enable you to live off of everybody else. It is diametrically opposed to the American experiment, that of securing the basic rights of man: life & property.
3. They make the bourgeoisie into a boogey man... a scapegoat to blame all of society's ills upon. That is a typical tactic of looters, who do nothing useful themselves, but only want to ride the gravy train of easy living without work. The 'party' becomes the new bourgeoisie, & the new boss is no better than the old one.. most of the time, the communist boss was MUCH WORSE than any monarch or industrialist that ever lived.
4. The russian revolution traded feudal property for party property.. just another bourgeois robber baron, but instead of merely exploiting the workers with cheap pay, made them slaves.
5. The chinese revolution traded imperial & feudal property for party property.. more slavery for the proletariat.
6. Any movement or group that constantly toots its horn about how sincere & altruistic they are should be viewed with skepticism. They are selling something, & they will not be the ones paying for it. You will.
7. They kill one of the biggest motivating factors for humanity: To get ahead. To improve one's station in life. They offer servitude, not prosperity, to the hard working man. There is no reward for hard work, or smart work, or bettering oneself through innovation & production. They reward party affiliation & political maneuvering. A society full of con men & salesmen cannot sustain itself. But productive work will not improve your lot, only rising in the party hierarchy. So the magnet is not productive work, but looting.
8. Their aim is to overthrow the bourgeois class, & replace it with a new ruling class: The Party. They USE the proletariat to accomplish this, & have continued to use & exploit the working man in EVERY venture that collectivists have done for all of human history. That is why collectivist experiments always fail. They are based on altruistic sacrifice for your fellow man, except for the leaders, who get to mooch off of everybody else & live the high life at your expense.
9. The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of human rights. Their promises are lies, & they offer servitude & slavery to the working man. Communism is a step backward in the quest for human freedom. They TAKE from the worker & exploit him for their political agenda, which is the same for all time:
There has never been but one question in all civilization-how to keep a few men from saying to many men: You work and earn bread and we will eat it. ~Abraham Lincoln
Contrast the above with the American ideal:
The working man is the representative... self rule is the goal, not a ruling elite.
"All [reforms] can be... [achieved] peaceably by the people confining their choice of Representatives and Senators to persons attached to republican government and the principles of 1776; not office-hunters, but farmers whose interests are entirely agricultural. Such men are the true representatives of the great American interest and are alone to be relied on for expressing the proper American sentiments." ~Thomas Jefferson
And here an American contemporary of Marx says:
And inasmuch as most good things are produced by labour, it follows that all such things of right belong to those whose labour has produced them. But it has so happened in all ages of the world, that some have labored, and others have, without labour, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government. ~Abraham Lincoln
America is a classless society.. at least that is the mission statement. Aggressive exploiters need classes to compete.. so they can avoid work & live off the labors of others. They need & want a ruling class, & a working class. The modern progressives are just the same old exploiters of old, looking to 'help' the poor huddled working man, when all they really do is exploit him & pick his pockets, all the while giving him soothing words, or boogey men to fear.
Govt, from the American perspective, is not to 'give' us anything, but to merely secure our basic rights, so our labors can be protected & preserved. A massive, bloated bureaucracy is a burden on the working man. It is a magnet for moochers & looters, who see 'public service' as a means to live without work.
But we have strayed from our mission statement. American govt now is indistinguishable from collectivist party politics, or the monarchy, or the bourgeoisie. We do not have citizen representatives, but a horde of moochers... leeches on the working man, sucking him dry.
The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.
In the earlier epochs of history, we find almost everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into various orders, a manifold gradation of social rank. In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations.
The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. from 'The Communist Manifesto'
I'll basically go along with this analysis. For an 1848 world perspective, its ok. It doesn't really apply in the american experiment.. at least after the civil war, when all men were recognized as free. And, it doesn't really work in day to day reality, but only as a general principle to base a philosophy on. I would say the deeper issue is the tendency of man to want to dominate or control others. Some want to live off the labors of others. Lincoln stated it like this:
“It is the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and wrong — throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, "You toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it." No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle.” ― Abraham Lincoln
This is the more basic struggle of humanity, not class distinctions. Classes are only the groups of the individuals who either work or exploit.
Most revolutions have been, 'Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss'. Very rarely in the history of mankind has there been true altruism or a recognition of the evil nature of man to dominate his neighbor. So we go from one oppressor to another, each promising to serve & promote our liberty. But all they ever do is dominate & take.
You can label them, 'bourgeois & proletariat', 'worker & moocher', 'noble & serf', or 'rulers & subjects'. The names may change, but they are the same throughout all time.
Collectivism, & especially communism, does nothing to end this struggle. It only changes the ruling elite. The 'party' is the new boss, & the proletariat work for them. All it has ever done is shrink the middle class, & widen the gap between the worker & the ruling elite. ..but i'm sure we'll get more into that, later.
The contest, for ages, has been to rescue Liberty from the grasp of executive power. ~Daniel Webster
Part 2: The Communists & the Proletariat.
The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement.
The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat.
...
They merely express, in general terms, actual relations springing from an existing class struggle, from a historical movement going on under our very eyes. The abolition of existing property relations is not at all a distinctive feature of communism.
All property relations in the past have continually been subject to historical change consequent upon the change in historical conditions.
The French Revolution, for example, abolished feudal property in favour of bourgeois property.
The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property. But modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few.
In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property. from 'The Communist Manifesto'
Here is where this fails, as a social experiment:
1. The communists are NOT the proletariat, but pretend to 'help' the poor, huddled masses. They want to organize them as pawns, to destroy the bourgeoisie, whom they hate with a greater passion than they do the monarchy or any military dictatorship. They pretend to speak for the worker, but they are not the worker.
2. They attack one of the most basic rights of man for all of history: The right of property. Locke said that govt has no other end, but the preservation of property.
"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." ~Abraham Lincoln
The appeal to just 'take' the property of another, that they have not worked for is alluring. It is a shiny lure of free stuff, that attempts to deceive the simple into believing the great fiction, that govt can enable you to live off of everybody else. It is diametrically opposed to the American experiment, that of securing the basic rights of man: life & property.
3. They make the bourgeoisie into a boogey man... a scapegoat to blame all of society's ills upon. That is a typical tactic of looters, who do nothing useful themselves, but only want to ride the gravy train of easy living without work. The 'party' becomes the new bourgeoisie, & the new boss is no better than the old one.. most of the time, the communist boss was MUCH WORSE than any monarch or industrialist that ever lived.
4. The russian revolution traded feudal property for party property.. just another bourgeois robber baron, but instead of merely exploiting the workers with cheap pay, made them slaves.
5. The chinese revolution traded imperial & feudal property for party property.. more slavery for the proletariat.
6. Any movement or group that constantly toots its horn about how sincere & altruistic they are should be viewed with skepticism. They are selling something, & they will not be the ones paying for it. You will.
7. They kill one of the biggest motivating factors for humanity: To get ahead. To improve one's station in life. They offer servitude, not prosperity, to the hard working man. There is no reward for hard work, or smart work, or bettering oneself through innovation & production. They reward party affiliation & political maneuvering. A society full of con men & salesmen cannot sustain itself. But productive work will not improve your lot, only rising in the party hierarchy. So the magnet is not productive work, but looting.
8. Their aim is to overthrow the bourgeois class, & replace it with a new ruling class: The Party. They USE the proletariat to accomplish this, & have continued to use & exploit the working man in EVERY venture that collectivists have done for all of human history. That is why collectivist experiments always fail. They are based on altruistic sacrifice for your fellow man, except for the leaders, who get to mooch off of everybody else & live the high life at your expense.
9. The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of human rights. Their promises are lies, & they offer servitude & slavery to the working man. Communism is a step backward in the quest for human freedom. They TAKE from the worker & exploit him for their political agenda, which is the same for all time:
There has never been but one question in all civilization-how to keep a few men from saying to many men: You work and earn bread and we will eat it. ~Abraham Lincoln
Contrast the above with the American ideal:
The working man is the representative... self rule is the goal, not a ruling elite.
"All [reforms] can be... [achieved] peaceably by the people confining their choice of Representatives and Senators to persons attached to republican government and the principles of 1776; not office-hunters, but farmers whose interests are entirely agricultural. Such men are the true representatives of the great American interest and are alone to be relied on for expressing the proper American sentiments." ~Thomas Jefferson
And here an American contemporary of Marx says:
And inasmuch as most good things are produced by labour, it follows that all such things of right belong to those whose labour has produced them. But it has so happened in all ages of the world, that some have labored, and others have, without labour, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government. ~Abraham Lincoln
America is a classless society.. at least that is the mission statement. Aggressive exploiters need classes to compete.. so they can avoid work & live off the labors of others. They need & want a ruling class, & a working class. The modern progressives are just the same old exploiters of old, looking to 'help' the poor huddled working man, when all they really do is exploit him & pick his pockets, all the while giving him soothing words, or boogey men to fear.
Govt, from the American perspective, is not to 'give' us anything, but to merely secure our basic rights, so our labors can be protected & preserved. A massive, bloated bureaucracy is a burden on the working man. It is a magnet for moochers & looters, who see 'public service' as a means to live without work.
But we have strayed from our mission statement. American govt now is indistinguishable from collectivist party politics, or the monarchy, or the bourgeoisie. We do not have citizen representatives, but a horde of moochers... leeches on the working man, sucking him dry.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Is a stable currency impossible?
If there is one thing that 'we the people' should educate ourselves about, it should be the nature & source of wealth, money, & currency. It is too important & too all encompassing in our lives to 'trust' it to con men & scoundrels with an agenda. It is not as complicated as the economists like to make out. Go back a few thousand years, & find the source. All we have done is extend & complicate it, but the same principle is in play. You make something of value.. harvest a crop, raise an animal, build a structure, make a spear or a fighter jet.. these are all 'hard' assets. Human labor produced them. Even mining gold, iron, or oil from the ground requires human labor, & those who labor PRODUCE the increase. Others may profit exorbitantly from their labors, but the labor is where it all begins.
"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." ~Abraham Lincoln
A currency does not have to be tied to gold to be 'hard'. It just has to be backed by something. By tying it to the assets of the producers, you get that. Having a scientific formula, that is not 'tweakable' by politicians & con men would stabilize the currency, slow or end inflation, & make money shuffling as a vocation less lucrative.
The PRIMARY problem is the dilution of the currency by QEs & banker money shuffling. THAT is what saps the value from the currency & 'redistributes' it to the non working, non producing leeches of society.
It would not be that hard to put some ELECTED representatives in charge of currency oversight.. with the EXPRESS goal of stability, transparency, & accountability. A mission statement can be drawn up declaring that purpose, & every congressman elected to that committee sworn to uphold it. Punishment for corruption should be swift & severe, with checks & balances to discourage it. Put term limits on that committee as well, & keep the public service concept fresh.
There are normal economic cycles, & the fiat drivers claim that govt manipulation can soothe & smooth these out. But in fact, the opposite is true. Economic contractions are actually worse, under fiat. The great depression can be explained better with simpler economics.. the 'new' dollar made people nervous, but it was mandated by the govt, & alternatives were forbidden under FDR.
The larger problem is the manipulation of the currency by whatever 'powers that be'. They can do this with gold, too, so a simple formula is not enough. '1 oz silver = $1 still bases valuation on a single marketable commodity: silver. Gold hoarders in the 20's.. especially in france, contributed to the world wide contraction in the 30's. But the statist's solution of fiat is using ponzi scheme dynamics to solve a much simpler problem:
How can we have a stable, simple currency?
Here are some ideals to target:
1. Stability in value over time. Inflation is a great evil & kills thrift. Spending is good for an economy short term, but without real production to back it up, spending leads only to bankruptcy. This is true on any scale, individual or national.
2. The currency should be difficult to manipulate by bankers, politicians, or other leeches on the producers of the nation. The more formulaic & scientific we base our money on, the less ability there is to manipulate it.
3. Money supply HAS to be tied to actual production. Fractional reserve banking does this, as loans are made on things of value.. collateral is give. Fractional reserve banking increases the money supply but it does so using production as the basis. You build a house, plant a crop, etc, you can take a loan out on it.
4. Predatory interest rates are dark ages practices, & are valid regulatory responsibilities of govt. Look at the interest rate chart. Before the major manipulations from politicians & their banker cronies, there were small market cycles.. but the big swings started AFTER fiat was declared. Since WW2, the birth of american big govt, the interest rate has swung wildly up & down, based primarily on banker manipulation, not real demand or supply, & especially not real production.
If you link the money supply to REAL production, you would not get the manipulations. More production would equate to more money. Normal contractions would bring a natural slowdown, without some bankers or politicians getting rich from the dilution of the currency. Then, as demand went up, so would the money supply. Interest rates would swing less wildly, & reflect actual supply & demand.
I'm probably getting too many charts in here, but if we tied money supply to production, there would be a natural buffering of the contractions, & people's savings would be protected. Economics isn't voodoo, or 'feel'. It is simple arithmetic.
The housing crash is a perfect example of currency meddling.. & govt using its power to try to redistribute. 'Everyone should have a home', was dubya & frank's heartfelt cry, & they tried to mandate it by govt decree. The banks were only too happy to go along with it, because it meant they could hand out money with no restraint or fear of default, since the govt promised to cover any deadbeats. That created the bubble, not the inflation of the currency. It was a false bubble, created by demand without ability. It is a side note of sorts, & illustrates the problems with govt meddling with the currency.
The housing boom of the last decade 'created' a lot of money. It was partially justified, since it coincided with the construction boom, but the artificial inflation of prices caused by the artificial demand created more than was actually justified. The rampant inflation in the 70's caused primarily by opec & the raising of oil prices, along with the complete abandonment of the gold standard by nixon in '73 created a bubble then, too. Everything was inflating, as the dollar diluted. I knew many old folks then who were unsophisticated savers.. they had a savings account in a bank, & their life savings were there. Year after year they watched as the value slowly diluted. Even Reagan spoke against it. And even with the high interest rates of the time, it was not enough to cover the losses of inflation. The bankers & their political puppets got rich off this scheme, & they plundered the savings of hard working people to do it. They produced nothing, they only took the people's money by diluting it.. just like a drug dealer 'cuts' the drugs with sugar or some other cheap filler.
The currency can only survive, as well as the nation, if it is tied to something of real value. Fiat money dooms any system that uses it. Even now, the euro zone is diluting the euro more, to compete globally with other currencies. It is political manipulation, & the only ones who win are the bankers.. the money shufflers, who produce nothing. All involved in the process are merely stealing from those who actually create the wealth. They don't do it directly, like with taxation, but slowly, by diluting & devaluing the currency. It brings temporary relief, by making imports seem cheaper, but then the fiat pendulum swings the other way, & the temporary price cuts of imports are all lost as the inflated currency buys less & less.
Fiat money is a recipe for disaster, & we have been on that road for decades now. With no restraint on the money supply, the currency can & has been constantly diluted, devalued, & manipulated.. all for political & secret board room deals. Tying the money supply to actual production would limit that, & base it on reality, instead of mandate.
Or, we can let the bankers & politicians relax on the train while they crush production & the livelihood of the workers.
The proper course of action would be so detrimental to a large segment of society that it would spark a revolution. The whole system relies on plundering the producers AND borrowing from future producers to support an ever growing entitled class. It is a ponzi scheme, & we are in the middle of it. But the courageous & RIGHT thing to do would be to stop deficit spending, CUT govt, the welfare state, & make all systems solvent. It would cripple the economy for a while, as it will take a long time to get solvent again. That is why all politicians just kick the can down the road, hoping they can get theirs before the house of cards collapses.
Here are the steps it would take to bring us back to fiscal sanity:
1. Commit to a hard currency.. stability & consistency for all the nation.
2. Index the currency to a group of hard assets.. gold, oil, food, construction, whatever.
3. Provide a formula for the currency that prevents swings in value.
4. This currency could be constructed concurrently with the existing dollar, as a transition occurs.
5. Eventually the old fiat dollar would be phased out, like confederate dollars after the civil war, or the Wiemar marks in Germany.
6. Stick to the plan. Don't let moochers or looters get control of the system, to corrupt it & use it to plunder the treasury.
7. Pay off all public debts with the old dollars.. should be plenty of them around, & all the creditors can have them.
In the long run, this is a better system for a society. It rewards thrift, hard work, & minimizes money shuffling as a vocation.
The data clearly shows the direction that inflation & fiat monetary policy have brought us, & we have many examples in different scales of economic collapse to choose from. Rome was large scale, at the time, & it collapsed, primarily because of fiscal mismanagement. Russia, Argentina, England in the 60's.. many examples of corrections & failures to correct bad monetary policy. The US will face this, if we continue down this path. If we can arrest the spending, shore up the dollar, increase production, & revive a strong work ethic, we can have it all.. prosperity, affluence, world hegemony status. But, if we keep running the charge cards, despise production, encourage dependency, dilute the dollar... then we will follow in other footsteps of failed nations.
"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." ~Abraham Lincoln
A currency does not have to be tied to gold to be 'hard'. It just has to be backed by something. By tying it to the assets of the producers, you get that. Having a scientific formula, that is not 'tweakable' by politicians & con men would stabilize the currency, slow or end inflation, & make money shuffling as a vocation less lucrative.
The PRIMARY problem is the dilution of the currency by QEs & banker money shuffling. THAT is what saps the value from the currency & 'redistributes' it to the non working, non producing leeches of society.
It would not be that hard to put some ELECTED representatives in charge of currency oversight.. with the EXPRESS goal of stability, transparency, & accountability. A mission statement can be drawn up declaring that purpose, & every congressman elected to that committee sworn to uphold it. Punishment for corruption should be swift & severe, with checks & balances to discourage it. Put term limits on that committee as well, & keep the public service concept fresh.
There are normal economic cycles, & the fiat drivers claim that govt manipulation can soothe & smooth these out. But in fact, the opposite is true. Economic contractions are actually worse, under fiat. The great depression can be explained better with simpler economics.. the 'new' dollar made people nervous, but it was mandated by the govt, & alternatives were forbidden under FDR.
The larger problem is the manipulation of the currency by whatever 'powers that be'. They can do this with gold, too, so a simple formula is not enough. '1 oz silver = $1 still bases valuation on a single marketable commodity: silver. Gold hoarders in the 20's.. especially in france, contributed to the world wide contraction in the 30's. But the statist's solution of fiat is using ponzi scheme dynamics to solve a much simpler problem:
How can we have a stable, simple currency?
Here are some ideals to target:
1. Stability in value over time. Inflation is a great evil & kills thrift. Spending is good for an economy short term, but without real production to back it up, spending leads only to bankruptcy. This is true on any scale, individual or national.
2. The currency should be difficult to manipulate by bankers, politicians, or other leeches on the producers of the nation. The more formulaic & scientific we base our money on, the less ability there is to manipulate it.
3. Money supply HAS to be tied to actual production. Fractional reserve banking does this, as loans are made on things of value.. collateral is give. Fractional reserve banking increases the money supply but it does so using production as the basis. You build a house, plant a crop, etc, you can take a loan out on it.
4. Predatory interest rates are dark ages practices, & are valid regulatory responsibilities of govt. Look at the interest rate chart. Before the major manipulations from politicians & their banker cronies, there were small market cycles.. but the big swings started AFTER fiat was declared. Since WW2, the birth of american big govt, the interest rate has swung wildly up & down, based primarily on banker manipulation, not real demand or supply, & especially not real production.
If you link the money supply to REAL production, you would not get the manipulations. More production would equate to more money. Normal contractions would bring a natural slowdown, without some bankers or politicians getting rich from the dilution of the currency. Then, as demand went up, so would the money supply. Interest rates would swing less wildly, & reflect actual supply & demand.
I'm probably getting too many charts in here, but if we tied money supply to production, there would be a natural buffering of the contractions, & people's savings would be protected. Economics isn't voodoo, or 'feel'. It is simple arithmetic.
The housing crash is a perfect example of currency meddling.. & govt using its power to try to redistribute. 'Everyone should have a home', was dubya & frank's heartfelt cry, & they tried to mandate it by govt decree. The banks were only too happy to go along with it, because it meant they could hand out money with no restraint or fear of default, since the govt promised to cover any deadbeats. That created the bubble, not the inflation of the currency. It was a false bubble, created by demand without ability. It is a side note of sorts, & illustrates the problems with govt meddling with the currency.
The housing boom of the last decade 'created' a lot of money. It was partially justified, since it coincided with the construction boom, but the artificial inflation of prices caused by the artificial demand created more than was actually justified. The rampant inflation in the 70's caused primarily by opec & the raising of oil prices, along with the complete abandonment of the gold standard by nixon in '73 created a bubble then, too. Everything was inflating, as the dollar diluted. I knew many old folks then who were unsophisticated savers.. they had a savings account in a bank, & their life savings were there. Year after year they watched as the value slowly diluted. Even Reagan spoke against it. And even with the high interest rates of the time, it was not enough to cover the losses of inflation. The bankers & their political puppets got rich off this scheme, & they plundered the savings of hard working people to do it. They produced nothing, they only took the people's money by diluting it.. just like a drug dealer 'cuts' the drugs with sugar or some other cheap filler.
The currency can only survive, as well as the nation, if it is tied to something of real value. Fiat money dooms any system that uses it. Even now, the euro zone is diluting the euro more, to compete globally with other currencies. It is political manipulation, & the only ones who win are the bankers.. the money shufflers, who produce nothing. All involved in the process are merely stealing from those who actually create the wealth. They don't do it directly, like with taxation, but slowly, by diluting & devaluing the currency. It brings temporary relief, by making imports seem cheaper, but then the fiat pendulum swings the other way, & the temporary price cuts of imports are all lost as the inflated currency buys less & less.
Fiat money is a recipe for disaster, & we have been on that road for decades now. With no restraint on the money supply, the currency can & has been constantly diluted, devalued, & manipulated.. all for political & secret board room deals. Tying the money supply to actual production would limit that, & base it on reality, instead of mandate.
Or, we can let the bankers & politicians relax on the train while they crush production & the livelihood of the workers.
The proper course of action would be so detrimental to a large segment of society that it would spark a revolution. The whole system relies on plundering the producers AND borrowing from future producers to support an ever growing entitled class. It is a ponzi scheme, & we are in the middle of it. But the courageous & RIGHT thing to do would be to stop deficit spending, CUT govt, the welfare state, & make all systems solvent. It would cripple the economy for a while, as it will take a long time to get solvent again. That is why all politicians just kick the can down the road, hoping they can get theirs before the house of cards collapses.
Here are the steps it would take to bring us back to fiscal sanity:
1. Commit to a hard currency.. stability & consistency for all the nation.
2. Index the currency to a group of hard assets.. gold, oil, food, construction, whatever.
3. Provide a formula for the currency that prevents swings in value.
4. This currency could be constructed concurrently with the existing dollar, as a transition occurs.
5. Eventually the old fiat dollar would be phased out, like confederate dollars after the civil war, or the Wiemar marks in Germany.
6. Stick to the plan. Don't let moochers or looters get control of the system, to corrupt it & use it to plunder the treasury.
7. Pay off all public debts with the old dollars.. should be plenty of them around, & all the creditors can have them.
In the long run, this is a better system for a society. It rewards thrift, hard work, & minimizes money shuffling as a vocation.
The data clearly shows the direction that inflation & fiat monetary policy have brought us, & we have many examples in different scales of economic collapse to choose from. Rome was large scale, at the time, & it collapsed, primarily because of fiscal mismanagement. Russia, Argentina, England in the 60's.. many examples of corrections & failures to correct bad monetary policy. The US will face this, if we continue down this path. If we can arrest the spending, shore up the dollar, increase production, & revive a strong work ethic, we can have it all.. prosperity, affluence, world hegemony status. But, if we keep running the charge cards, despise production, encourage dependency, dilute the dollar... then we will follow in other footsteps of failed nations.
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