Primary superficial traits:
1. race
2. region
3. education
These are the big 3. There are a few others.. gender, sexuality, culture.. but some of those overlap, or are functionally the same.
Race is the most obvious, has been with us the longest, & generates the most division. Region can include dialect & even culture, & stirs local loyalties. Education is supposed to be a healing agent, that exposes the artificial contrasts, but it has become a source of division itself. Instead of being a tool for enlightenment, it has been hijacked into a tool of propaganda, to indoctrinate, not promote critical thinking. Education now promotes this division, rather than heal it, as it used to.
Sports are a substitute for national division & rivalry. You can root for your regional team or hero, & feel pride for their accomplishments. After the game, the sportsmanship that the games teach *should* cause us to shake hands of congratulations, knowing our deeper national loyalties override any feelings of resentment or division over the sports teams. But the division runs deep, & some humans find their loyalties conflicted. They do NOT show sportsmanship, but let their resentment grow to hate, & build artificial divisions. The 'fan' is the poster child for this malady.
America has governance as its source of national pride, or it used to, historically. We are a govt of, by & for the people. Our unity is based not on similarity of culture, race, education, region, or any superficial trait, but our common govt, which has been a source of great pride & patriotism for americans over the centuries. But when other factors upstage the primary loyalty of the nation, national division results. The secondary superficial allegiance overrides the broader national identity, & a shallow pool of parochial devotion divides us.
Lincoln made his famous 'house divided' speech running for the senate in 1858, which he lost.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free."
It illustrated the division of the day: Slavery. It was a major division, & a very heated issue, which eventually erupted in the civil war. That is the most common 'solution' for man, in our disputes with each other: War.
Man has always been a conflicted, divided creature. Today we have race baiters, regional loyalists, & other dividers pitching us against each other based NOT on our ideology of freedom & self governance, but on race, education, & regional or cultural differences. The detractors of american freedom constantly fan the flames of division, distracting us from the deeper issue of human freedom & self reliance. They mock the less educated, or impugn those they deem inferior intellectually, or they ridicule the snobbish elitism of the educated. They promote absurd differences in race, pounding drums of suspicion & mistrust, based only on skin pigmentation. And these dividers are trying to build a coalition of grievance.. pitting all the big 3 against a trumped up opponent. They try to paint the divisions as these artificial traits, to rally their side against their ideological opponents.
But the real struggle going on is ideological. Will we be a govt of, by, & for the people, or will we promote an elite ruling class? Will we defend & secure individual rights of sovereignty & responsibility, or trample them with redistribution & nanny state solutions? Will we be a nation of free people, or a state centered bureaucracy? THIS is the real choice before us, not the phony superficial divisions the race baiters & dividers try to portray. People of ALL education, region, & racial backgrounds need to wake up to the fake wars over superficials & see the bigger picture.
Once we lose our sense of national identity, & let the dividers run rampant with superficial loyalties of race, region, or anything that distracts us from the central truth of american liberty, we are finished as a nation, as a house divided cannot stand.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Exceptional or Multicultural.
Whenever i hear the race baiters carry on about the supremacy of the {insert race here} man, or a 'manifest destiny' kind of attitude, i remember what made america. It was not the cream of the crop.. the elite, superior specimens of human evolution. No, it was the dregs.. the misfits.. the castoffs.
America is an argument AGAINST any racial or cultural superiority. We cannot claim thousands of years of racial or ethnic purity. Mongrelism is the norm, here. Yet what the purists despise is our greatest strength. Most of european race & culture was highly esteemed, especially early in the last century. They ruled the world.. dominating every other culture & race, occupying their lands with superior armies & technologies. Their smug superiority found a climax in the nazis, who made a religion out of racial & ethnic superiority. But they were just openly expressing what most europeans already felt.
A significant contribution to the psyche of america was the native people. They were not ruled by a central, powerful state, but by small, independent tribes. The values of the 'noble savage' were revered, & continue to be to this day. They could not be enslaved, like some conquered peoples, but were very defiant & independent. This trait infected the nannied europeans who came, even though they possessed superior technology & eventually, numbers, & who in general, looked down on the 'savages'. But by & large, the native american tribes were much more individualistic in their basic ideals than the euro settlers. The europeans had to learn that.. sometimes just to survival in the new, wild world, but it carried over to the rest of their lives.
Some americans tried to jump on the bandwagon of racial superiority, but it just didn't work. Maggie Sanger got the nation fired up about eugenics, & tried to bring us into euro cool, wanting to bump off inferior races & hasten the evolution of the Perfect Man, which was all the rage back then. But the message was so similar to what the nazis preached that it fell into disrepute. So multiculturalism has pretty much ruled western ideology since ww2. It is now, however, becoming a pariah in europe, as the social engineers in the various countries seem bent on not just accepting other cultures & diversity, but actively destroying the culture of the indigent population. Europeans are not inherently multicultural, like the US, so forcing american parameters of culture has backfired. The success of america was a boon for the concept of multiculturalism, but it has been perverted & is used to destroy the long, rich cultures of the individual euro states.
The 'exceptional' part about america is its multicultural diversity. But that is the nature of america, & those dynamics cannot be forced upon other cultures. Other cultures & ethnicities should not despise their own culture, but embrace it.. it is YOUR heritage, accept it! That is your strength. Americans should do the same. We are a melting pot & a rag tag group of misfits & cultural rejects. Embrace it! It is our strength.
But the success of america should dispel any notion of individual cultural superiority. It is the core ideals.. the basic idea of america that has built our own success. Freedom. Responsibility. Self reliance. Opportunity. Hard work & intelligence pays off, here.. or it did. It was not something racial. There was not an evolving Man rising to perfection & prominence. No, it was the ideals of america.. individual sovereignty, personal freedoms, independence & self reliance.... THESE things were the major factors in building the new world hegemony, not any claims of racial superiority, as was done by most throughout history. That is why people are confused.. they are programmed to think that cultural & racial superiority is what makes a people great. Many people live in the past, coasting on dreams of past glories in their culture. They console themselves in their current state with memories of greatness & power, when THEY ruled the world.
America is an argument AGAINST any racial or cultural superiority. We cannot claim thousands of years of racial or ethnic purity. Mongrelism is the norm, here. Yet what the purists despise is our greatest strength. Most of european race & culture was highly esteemed, especially early in the last century. They ruled the world.. dominating every other culture & race, occupying their lands with superior armies & technologies. Their smug superiority found a climax in the nazis, who made a religion out of racial & ethnic superiority. But they were just openly expressing what most europeans already felt.
A significant contribution to the psyche of america was the native people. They were not ruled by a central, powerful state, but by small, independent tribes. The values of the 'noble savage' were revered, & continue to be to this day. They could not be enslaved, like some conquered peoples, but were very defiant & independent. This trait infected the nannied europeans who came, even though they possessed superior technology & eventually, numbers, & who in general, looked down on the 'savages'. But by & large, the native american tribes were much more individualistic in their basic ideals than the euro settlers. The europeans had to learn that.. sometimes just to survival in the new, wild world, but it carried over to the rest of their lives.
Some americans tried to jump on the bandwagon of racial superiority, but it just didn't work. Maggie Sanger got the nation fired up about eugenics, & tried to bring us into euro cool, wanting to bump off inferior races & hasten the evolution of the Perfect Man, which was all the rage back then. But the message was so similar to what the nazis preached that it fell into disrepute. So multiculturalism has pretty much ruled western ideology since ww2. It is now, however, becoming a pariah in europe, as the social engineers in the various countries seem bent on not just accepting other cultures & diversity, but actively destroying the culture of the indigent population. Europeans are not inherently multicultural, like the US, so forcing american parameters of culture has backfired. The success of america was a boon for the concept of multiculturalism, but it has been perverted & is used to destroy the long, rich cultures of the individual euro states.
The 'exceptional' part about america is its multicultural diversity. But that is the nature of america, & those dynamics cannot be forced upon other cultures. Other cultures & ethnicities should not despise their own culture, but embrace it.. it is YOUR heritage, accept it! That is your strength. Americans should do the same. We are a melting pot & a rag tag group of misfits & cultural rejects. Embrace it! It is our strength.
But the success of america should dispel any notion of individual cultural superiority. It is the core ideals.. the basic idea of america that has built our own success. Freedom. Responsibility. Self reliance. Opportunity. Hard work & intelligence pays off, here.. or it did. It was not something racial. There was not an evolving Man rising to perfection & prominence. No, it was the ideals of america.. individual sovereignty, personal freedoms, independence & self reliance.... THESE things were the major factors in building the new world hegemony, not any claims of racial superiority, as was done by most throughout history. That is why people are confused.. they are programmed to think that cultural & racial superiority is what makes a people great. Many people live in the past, coasting on dreams of past glories in their culture. They console themselves in their current state with memories of greatness & power, when THEY ruled the world.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
A hand up, or trapped in dependency?
This is how some people like to frame the argument: 'We should help people!' they cry, 'Those who are unfortunate should be treated with compassion!' This appeals to the natural herd instinct. In a successful society, like 20th century america with strong moral values, it resonated. On the surface, it sounds good. I agree with it, too. But here are the problems with it:
1. 'Help' is not defined. The liberal idea of 'help', the welfare state, is NOT helpful, but destructive. It traps people in dependency & strips them of their self respect.
2. Forced charity is not charity. It is theft. Redistribution, under the guise of 'helping people' is a deceptive, destructive method to encourage charity. Society can be rewarded for charity with tax breaks, recognition, or other ways, but forcing it, especially when it supports something filled with corruption, fraud, waste, & graft like the american welfare state, the result is as far from 'charity' as you can get.
3. If a society is generous & charitable, let them do it, & even encourage it. If they are not, forcing it only makes them resentful. Let the culture & society evolve naturally, and allow human virtues to naturally rise to prominence & importance. Forced charity kills real charity, & degrades the truly virtuous part of it, & DISCOURAGES real charity. Forced charity is a negative in a society & breeds resentfulness, selfishness, & dependency.
4. Pain & discomfort are not always bad things. If you have a wound, & do not address it with antiseptics, it will worsen. The application of antiseptics is painful, but necessary for healing. People wound themselves & others with irresponsible behavior. If we let it fester, it only worsens things for them & everyone around them. If we insist on healing processes, it is better for all, even though it is painful for those wounded.
5. True charity is more skeptical of fraud. They may be fooled once, but they see through the scam & end it. Forced charity is run by bureaucrats who don't care. They even join with the corruption & profit by the scams.
6. It is a false face for political manipulating. The welfare state has become an instrument for buying votes. Politicians promise free stuff from the public treasury if people vote for them. It is a destructive force in a democracy, & once it begins, it is difficult to eradicate. But if the nation is to survive, it must stop this plunder & tool of ambitious men.
7. It is a guilt induced motivation. People know they are greedy & selfish, but by promoting the welfare state, they think they are exempted from helping their fellow man. But they are only supporting theft from others to redistribute to questionable characters with destructive results. It is a false guilt assuagement. People deceive themselves into thinking this is compassion & charity.
8. It strips people of their self respect, & breeds a culture of dependency. This kills the american dream of independence & individual sovereignty, & grows the statist rise of control & dominance. It is building a culture of subservience, & slowly destroying the dream of america. Statism will once again swallow up the movement toward freedom & independence.
9. It is a negative in society. It produces NOTHING, & costs the producers increasingly more every year, with no improvement in reducing poverty. It is a system of leeching, & sucks the life blood of the culture.
Some people think finding fault with the welfare state is a racist thing. But that is a deflection, because if you look at the root of the welfare state, it reveals racism as it's motivation. Our own govt has DRIVEN the black race into a culture of decline & corruption. There are great black churches, & hard working black people, who are smart, responsible, & like the idea of america. But there are too many who have drunk the progressive kool aid, & have entered the gulag of govt dependency, the breakdown of the family, moral relativism, entitlement, & blame. It is not just the govt.. it has been progressive ideology from the media, hollywood celebrities, the judicial system, & especially, academia. They are the driving force behind the cultural decline & glorification of violence, drug use, familial irresponsibility, blame & entitlement.
In phoenix, az, most of the problem areas are not black ghettos, but hispanic barrios, which are going the same direction, & confirms to me that the policies & destruction of the culture are the central problems, not race. Hispanic communities traditionally had strong family & religious values, but those are being undermined & the moral relativistic, violent, irresponsible, entitled, blame filled values are growing. Our cities are the petri dishes of the social engineering experiments, & they prove the ideals are a total failure for society. Places like LA, detroit, & chicago only emphasize the destructive results of progressive ideology. Americans are so dense & deceived.. we see where the progressive kool aid has been drunk for decades.. where they have had free reign to preach their gospel of moral relativism, blame, & entitlement.. & those cities are urban wastelands, unable to support themselves, or even survive without massive subsidies from the responsible taxpayer communities. They revel in mismanagement & dependency, but instead of seeing it & correcting it, they double down on stupid & demand MORE subsidies & aid for their corruption.
And it is not like it has no effect on white culture (whatever that is). Plenty of whites are lured into the same ideology. They are entitled, glorify violence, drugs, & irresponsibility. They get a bit awkward when the racial blame starts going around, so they'll either act as champions of the oppressed victims, or they'll talk in gangsta ebonics to try to fool the race hustlers.
I think these trends can be reversed. We can wean people off of dependency, require & reward responsibility. It will not be easy, & many people will suffer, but that is put right at the feet of the progressive ideologues, who have brought this destruction upon them.
1. No reward for children out of wedlock. Teen pregnancies can be handled the old fashioned way, either give the baby for adoption, or find someone.. parents, the father, charity homes.. to support the irresponsible childbirth. Society should not reward this behavior. It is the main cause of the breakdown of the family unit. Irresponsible behavior should be accountable to the family unit, not bailed out by the taxpayers.
2. Eliminate the welfare state. People will have to go where the jobs are, as they have done for millennia, instead of sitting in a progressive zoo, waiting to be fed, housed, & cared for as entitled pets. It will take a while, as the liberal zookeepers have built extreme dependency & these people will have trouble adapting in the wild world of reality. No govt housing, food stamps, or any of the 'war to stamp out poverty.' They lost that war years ago.
3. End affirmative action. This propagates the sense of injury & grievance, & facilitates blame, rather than initiative.
4. Protect ALL civil rights. Make it a real law, with blind enforcement.
5. Strict, consistent law enforcement. America should be safe for people to walk the streets. There should be law & order, & severe, strict punishment of lawbreakers.
These things would destroy the ghettos & barrios, where this culture of dependency & corruption is rampant. This ideology is one of respect, not handicap. Other humans should be treated as sovereign individuals, not disabled, incapable dependents. The progressive zoo has done great damage to the psyche of the black community & is spreading to others. That is the root rottenness of the ideology.. it kills any sense of independence & self reliance. It is demeaning to humans, constantly telling them they cannot care for themselves, but need a benevolent 'massa' to handle them. It is the pinnacle of subtle racism.. the soft bigotry of low expectations. These are fellow humans, & they CAN take care of themselves. They don't need the progressive benefactors to tell them they are inferior to others, & cannot survive on their own. This is the most diabolical, racist, & destructive ideology on earth, & it is a slap in the face of people's self respect. It is contrary to the american ideal, & should be opposed & exposed at every opportunity.
Of all the destructive forces in our culture, the welfare state is near the top. The ruling elite & deficit spending are probably the only things worse. The insidious thing about the welfare state is it pretends virtue & compassion, but delivers destruction & death. It is a diabolical system, that is corrupting our culture & tearing up the fabric of society.
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.” ~Benjamin Franklin
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." ~Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition. ~Thomas Jefferson
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. ~Thomas Jefferson
1. 'Help' is not defined. The liberal idea of 'help', the welfare state, is NOT helpful, but destructive. It traps people in dependency & strips them of their self respect.
2. Forced charity is not charity. It is theft. Redistribution, under the guise of 'helping people' is a deceptive, destructive method to encourage charity. Society can be rewarded for charity with tax breaks, recognition, or other ways, but forcing it, especially when it supports something filled with corruption, fraud, waste, & graft like the american welfare state, the result is as far from 'charity' as you can get.
3. If a society is generous & charitable, let them do it, & even encourage it. If they are not, forcing it only makes them resentful. Let the culture & society evolve naturally, and allow human virtues to naturally rise to prominence & importance. Forced charity kills real charity, & degrades the truly virtuous part of it, & DISCOURAGES real charity. Forced charity is a negative in a society & breeds resentfulness, selfishness, & dependency.
4. Pain & discomfort are not always bad things. If you have a wound, & do not address it with antiseptics, it will worsen. The application of antiseptics is painful, but necessary for healing. People wound themselves & others with irresponsible behavior. If we let it fester, it only worsens things for them & everyone around them. If we insist on healing processes, it is better for all, even though it is painful for those wounded.
5. True charity is more skeptical of fraud. They may be fooled once, but they see through the scam & end it. Forced charity is run by bureaucrats who don't care. They even join with the corruption & profit by the scams.
6. It is a false face for political manipulating. The welfare state has become an instrument for buying votes. Politicians promise free stuff from the public treasury if people vote for them. It is a destructive force in a democracy, & once it begins, it is difficult to eradicate. But if the nation is to survive, it must stop this plunder & tool of ambitious men.
7. It is a guilt induced motivation. People know they are greedy & selfish, but by promoting the welfare state, they think they are exempted from helping their fellow man. But they are only supporting theft from others to redistribute to questionable characters with destructive results. It is a false guilt assuagement. People deceive themselves into thinking this is compassion & charity.
8. It strips people of their self respect, & breeds a culture of dependency. This kills the american dream of independence & individual sovereignty, & grows the statist rise of control & dominance. It is building a culture of subservience, & slowly destroying the dream of america. Statism will once again swallow up the movement toward freedom & independence.
9. It is a negative in society. It produces NOTHING, & costs the producers increasingly more every year, with no improvement in reducing poverty. It is a system of leeching, & sucks the life blood of the culture.
Some people think finding fault with the welfare state is a racist thing. But that is a deflection, because if you look at the root of the welfare state, it reveals racism as it's motivation. Our own govt has DRIVEN the black race into a culture of decline & corruption. There are great black churches, & hard working black people, who are smart, responsible, & like the idea of america. But there are too many who have drunk the progressive kool aid, & have entered the gulag of govt dependency, the breakdown of the family, moral relativism, entitlement, & blame. It is not just the govt.. it has been progressive ideology from the media, hollywood celebrities, the judicial system, & especially, academia. They are the driving force behind the cultural decline & glorification of violence, drug use, familial irresponsibility, blame & entitlement.
In phoenix, az, most of the problem areas are not black ghettos, but hispanic barrios, which are going the same direction, & confirms to me that the policies & destruction of the culture are the central problems, not race. Hispanic communities traditionally had strong family & religious values, but those are being undermined & the moral relativistic, violent, irresponsible, entitled, blame filled values are growing. Our cities are the petri dishes of the social engineering experiments, & they prove the ideals are a total failure for society. Places like LA, detroit, & chicago only emphasize the destructive results of progressive ideology. Americans are so dense & deceived.. we see where the progressive kool aid has been drunk for decades.. where they have had free reign to preach their gospel of moral relativism, blame, & entitlement.. & those cities are urban wastelands, unable to support themselves, or even survive without massive subsidies from the responsible taxpayer communities. They revel in mismanagement & dependency, but instead of seeing it & correcting it, they double down on stupid & demand MORE subsidies & aid for their corruption.
And it is not like it has no effect on white culture (whatever that is). Plenty of whites are lured into the same ideology. They are entitled, glorify violence, drugs, & irresponsibility. They get a bit awkward when the racial blame starts going around, so they'll either act as champions of the oppressed victims, or they'll talk in gangsta ebonics to try to fool the race hustlers.
I think these trends can be reversed. We can wean people off of dependency, require & reward responsibility. It will not be easy, & many people will suffer, but that is put right at the feet of the progressive ideologues, who have brought this destruction upon them.
1. No reward for children out of wedlock. Teen pregnancies can be handled the old fashioned way, either give the baby for adoption, or find someone.. parents, the father, charity homes.. to support the irresponsible childbirth. Society should not reward this behavior. It is the main cause of the breakdown of the family unit. Irresponsible behavior should be accountable to the family unit, not bailed out by the taxpayers.
2. Eliminate the welfare state. People will have to go where the jobs are, as they have done for millennia, instead of sitting in a progressive zoo, waiting to be fed, housed, & cared for as entitled pets. It will take a while, as the liberal zookeepers have built extreme dependency & these people will have trouble adapting in the wild world of reality. No govt housing, food stamps, or any of the 'war to stamp out poverty.' They lost that war years ago.
3. End affirmative action. This propagates the sense of injury & grievance, & facilitates blame, rather than initiative.
4. Protect ALL civil rights. Make it a real law, with blind enforcement.
5. Strict, consistent law enforcement. America should be safe for people to walk the streets. There should be law & order, & severe, strict punishment of lawbreakers.
These things would destroy the ghettos & barrios, where this culture of dependency & corruption is rampant. This ideology is one of respect, not handicap. Other humans should be treated as sovereign individuals, not disabled, incapable dependents. The progressive zoo has done great damage to the psyche of the black community & is spreading to others. That is the root rottenness of the ideology.. it kills any sense of independence & self reliance. It is demeaning to humans, constantly telling them they cannot care for themselves, but need a benevolent 'massa' to handle them. It is the pinnacle of subtle racism.. the soft bigotry of low expectations. These are fellow humans, & they CAN take care of themselves. They don't need the progressive benefactors to tell them they are inferior to others, & cannot survive on their own. This is the most diabolical, racist, & destructive ideology on earth, & it is a slap in the face of people's self respect. It is contrary to the american ideal, & should be opposed & exposed at every opportunity.
Of all the destructive forces in our culture, the welfare state is near the top. The ruling elite & deficit spending are probably the only things worse. The insidious thing about the welfare state is it pretends virtue & compassion, but delivers destruction & death. It is a diabolical system, that is corrupting our culture & tearing up the fabric of society.
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.” ~Benjamin Franklin
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." ~Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition. ~Thomas Jefferson
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. ~Thomas Jefferson
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Carpetbagger promises
This 'list' is the basis for progressive thought.. it is a 'wishlist' of the progressive agenda, from FDR's state of the union speech in 1944. But what basis does it have in reality? Can these things be provided by a benevolent govt? NO! It is a carpetbagger promise.. a con for votes, even if the purveyors of the con really believe it, unlike most con artists who know they are scamming people.
That is the appeal. Free stuff! No more hunger! A nice home for everyone! 5 acres & a mule! Carpetbaggers have done this scam for centuries. Just because people can be duped, does not make the promises valid. SOMEONE needs to examine the claims, & scrutinize the promises, to see if they are even possible.
Here's the list again.. the 'second bill of rights' from FDR,
Free food? Free homes? Free healthcare? Guarantees for job, investments, labors, & future economies? What planet is he from? This is not now nor has it ever been on earth. There are 4 ways to get the necessities of life:
1. work & earn them for yourself.
2. Steal them from someone else.
3. Depend on someone else to provide them for you.
4. Luck. Find gold, win the lottery, etc.
3 & 4 are hard to depend on. Other people may quit doing it, or you might not win the lottery. 1 & 2 are proactive. You can do this yourself, & control your own destiny. 2 is a bit risky, since those you steal from may resist you with violence. 1 is the only sure, morally valid way to provide the necessities of life.
'Economic security' is a fantasy. No one is 'economically secure'. Riches come & go, even for the rich, & the basic needs in life have NEVER been a given. Every human who has ever lived has had to work for his survival, or depend on someone else to help them. IF our basic needs could be met by opening up some infinite warehouse & dispensing food, shelter, protection, etc, then sure, survival would be easy. But that is not how life works.
The problems of income disparity are exacerbated by progressive policies, not fixed. The rich get richer, on the backs of the workers, while the progressive, elite ruling class shuffles stolen money around. Their cronies are not rich from production, but theft. What i want from govt is consistent, fair rules, & a level playing field, not someone changing the rules & changing the score so everyone wins a trophy.
If i cannot work & enjoy the fruits of my labors, even if they are modest, but what i make is taken by a nanny & given to others, it offends humanity's sense of fairness. Especially when those doing it divide it among themselves, & trickle a pittance down to those they pretend to help. They are not robin hoods, they are thieving hoods! They divide their plunder for their own enrichment, & live in lavish luxury. How has the income gap done under the current redistribution administration? It's gotten worse! It always does. Statism & redistribution do NOT provide opportunity for self improvement, but make EVERYONE slaves to an oppressive taskmaster. The producer is not rewarded for his labor, but punished, as what he makes is stolen by the state & divided among the propagandists, with some set aside to buy votes.
If you can come up with another option, or find a magic genie or a golden goose, we humans have fantasized about those for millennia, & always enjoy the stories.
That is the appeal. Free stuff! No more hunger! A nice home for everyone! 5 acres & a mule! Carpetbaggers have done this scam for centuries. Just because people can be duped, does not make the promises valid. SOMEONE needs to examine the claims, & scrutinize the promises, to see if they are even possible.
Here's the list again.. the 'second bill of rights' from FDR,
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;Seriously.. no jaded eyes, here? No skepticism for these 'pie in the sky' promises?
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
Free food? Free homes? Free healthcare? Guarantees for job, investments, labors, & future economies? What planet is he from? This is not now nor has it ever been on earth. There are 4 ways to get the necessities of life:
1. work & earn them for yourself.
2. Steal them from someone else.
3. Depend on someone else to provide them for you.
4. Luck. Find gold, win the lottery, etc.
3 & 4 are hard to depend on. Other people may quit doing it, or you might not win the lottery. 1 & 2 are proactive. You can do this yourself, & control your own destiny. 2 is a bit risky, since those you steal from may resist you with violence. 1 is the only sure, morally valid way to provide the necessities of life.
'Economic security' is a fantasy. No one is 'economically secure'. Riches come & go, even for the rich, & the basic needs in life have NEVER been a given. Every human who has ever lived has had to work for his survival, or depend on someone else to help them. IF our basic needs could be met by opening up some infinite warehouse & dispensing food, shelter, protection, etc, then sure, survival would be easy. But that is not how life works.
The problems of income disparity are exacerbated by progressive policies, not fixed. The rich get richer, on the backs of the workers, while the progressive, elite ruling class shuffles stolen money around. Their cronies are not rich from production, but theft. What i want from govt is consistent, fair rules, & a level playing field, not someone changing the rules & changing the score so everyone wins a trophy.
If i cannot work & enjoy the fruits of my labors, even if they are modest, but what i make is taken by a nanny & given to others, it offends humanity's sense of fairness. Especially when those doing it divide it among themselves, & trickle a pittance down to those they pretend to help. They are not robin hoods, they are thieving hoods! They divide their plunder for their own enrichment, & live in lavish luxury. How has the income gap done under the current redistribution administration? It's gotten worse! It always does. Statism & redistribution do NOT provide opportunity for self improvement, but make EVERYONE slaves to an oppressive taskmaster. The producer is not rewarded for his labor, but punished, as what he makes is stolen by the state & divided among the propagandists, with some set aside to buy votes.
If you can come up with another option, or find a magic genie or a golden goose, we humans have fantasized about those for millennia, & always enjoy the stories.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
An American reformation, or, The 35 Theses
Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, i intend to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in this place. Therefore, i ask that those who cannot be present to dispute with me orally shall do so in their absence over the internet.
- The most basic of human rights are life & property. All other rights stem from these underlying, foundational principles.
- These rights are not granted by any human institution, but are taken by the people as theirs, inherently, given by god or nature.
- Human institutions & tyrants may oppress the people & infringe upon their basic rights, but they do so only by oppressive power. The people do not willingly relinquish their rights.
- Whenever executive power endeavors to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience. (paraphrased from locke)
- Individual rights are mitigated by the rights of the collective, but they cannot be negated.
- The individual's rights to life & property are paramount, with only minor limitations by the collective where other's rights are affected.
- The historical struggle within humanity has been to rescue individual liberty from the control of executive power.
- History bears a record of this struggle.. from the magna carta to the declaration of independence.
- The american declaration of independence is a culmination of this struggle for personal freedom from statist authority.
- The american experiment was & is an attempt to limit govt & the demands of the state to maximize individual freedom & protect the individual's basic rights.
- The american experiment was predicated upon the right of the people to choose & organize a govt that best secures their basic rights to life & property.
- The american experiment was a balance of powers, where the legislative, executive, & judicial branches were provided as separate and equal powers for securing the basic rights of the people.
- The american constitution was the culmination of the goal of securing the lives & property of the people.
- The consummate oath by all public servants in all branches of govt is to the constitution. All other considerations are secondary or contrary.
- Each of the 3 branches of govt have specific duties to the constitution, & any dereliction of those duties is an affront to the people & american liberty.
- All wealth in the nation comes through production of real goods & services.
- The govt is responsible for providing a stable currency for the nation, for the purpose of trade & exchange.
- A stable currency should be based on something of value, such as hard assets or real production, as declared value has been shown to be historically unstable.
- A declared currency (fiat) is inflationary, dilutes the real wealth of the nation, plunders the producers, & promotes money shuffling as a standard for wealth accumulation, instead of actual production.
- A productive society with minimal dependency offers prosperity & opportunity to all. A growing dependent society is a burden upon the producers that cannot be sustained.
- Justice is the primary duty of govt. They are to protect the lives & property of the citizens from all thugs or enemies, foreign or domestic.
- If representatives of govt ignore their basic duty of justice, but instead become accomplices in stealing the wealth of the producers by legislation or edict, they have violated their basic duty to the people & have become enemies.
- If representatives of govt conspire against the producers of the nation by building a coalition of thieves to plunder the workers, & use law as an instrument of plunder, they violate their primary duty as citizen representatives & make themselves enemies of the people.
- Redistribution, or taking from some citizens to give it to others is a violation of the basic right to property & is an affront to human liberty & dignity. It is a basic violation of individual sovereignty & is demeaning & builds dependency for those on the dole.
- Money and power are at the root of government corruption.
- Professional politicians breed corruption. Citizen representatives are prone to less corruption & are the american ideal.
- Term limits & strict enforcement of corruption & conflict of interest laws should be employed to lessen govt corruption & revitalize the goal of citizen representation.
- Compensation for public service should be minimal and any graft or corruption punished severely.
- Deficit spending is crippling to the nation. It robs future generations & promotes corrupt & irresponsible fiscal policy.
- A balanced budget should be mandated by the people to the representatives as the normal fiscal policy.
- Military aggression against other sovereign nations without a declaration of war is a violation of the constitution & the basic principles of america.
- Citizen representatives of america can make treaties, trade agreements, & settle international disputes of law.
- Citizen representatives of america violate the constitution by bribing other nation's officials, bombing or intimidating with violence, using the military might of america to promote business interests, or any meddling that is not a result of due process, with the congress having the final decision, not the executive branch.
- Foreign aid, in all its forms, robs the american worker, & violates his right to property. It is unconstitutional & immoral.
- All govt grants, subsidies, or involvement in private business is a misuse of power, robs the worker of his labor, & breeds corruption.
There are more, but this should last for a while. I challenge anyone to debate on the points in these 35 theses, one at a time, addressing the basic philosophy & underlying principles regarding human rights. If you cannot defend the antithesis of these points, i understand your position. But please refrain from deflecting with ad hominems in your frustration.
At the very least, i hope for a diet of worms before these points are dismissed. Thanks to Martin Luther for the inspiration.Wednesday, February 12, 2014
'That's one small step for man.. one giant leap backward for mankind'
The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power. ~Daniel Webster
All of human history has been a battle. Most of these battles have been powerful, ambitious men fighting with other powerful, ambitious men over who gets the right to rule over the rest of us, exploiting us for their own personal gain. They lure us into fighting for them. ..supporting them in their quest for glory & dreams of power. They don't promise oppression, but that's what they deliver. They promise freedom. They promise easy living. They promise anything, to get the common people to work, kill, & die for their delusions of grandeur & vain pursuit of historical significance.
Once upon a time, there was a group of altruistic men. They came up with a plan to provide checks & balances for these aggressive, ambitious men. They got us to fight for our own freedom, & set up a system of governance where WE THE PEOPLE were in charge. It was a govt of, by & for US! Citizen representatives, not a ruling elite, were to make the collective decisions for the nation.
Unfortunately, grasping men of ambition are still among us. They worm their way into power, once again promising freedom & easy living if we will follow them & their edicts. They promise us affluence, if we go backward, & let the rule of executive power supercede the rule of Law.
Humans want justice. We want protection from aggressive, violent people. It does not matter if those people are common thieves, or dressed in flowing robes. One of the cornerstone victories for humanity was the concept of due process. You cannot be imprisoned or punished for a crime without it. We have the RIGHT, under due process, to face out accuser, be tried by a jury of our peers, NOT be detained without evidence, & NOT be punished or killed unless convicted for a crime. Justice was made into an orderly system, instead of a whimsical notion by a ruling elite. In america, our governance is based on due process. Even actions of war must have the majority of congress acting as the jury, determining the guilt of the accused, based on the evidence. FDR did not declare war himself, but the congress did, after the japanese attacked pearl harbor.
But now, progressives & statists want to suspend due process so they can bomb whomever they please, kill american citizens without a trial or any due process, & bypass any congressional or constitutional balance. This is a step backward for humanity. We are allowing the grasping delusions of ambitious men to supercede what has taken us centuries to arrive at. Basic human rights have been revoked in favor of executive power.
1. Rule of Law. LAW is the central factor in america. We are a republic.. a nation ruled by law, not the whimsical edicts of an emperor. But now we have had increasing suppression of Law, & increasing statist growth of executive power. Our congress & courts do not seem inclined to force a balance, or chasten the executive branch, so they continue with overreaches, ignoring laws they are bound to uphold, & dictating laws they have no right to enforce. These overreaches have been increasing in extent & impact for the last 100 yrs. If this continues, there will be no resemblance to a nation of separation of powers & limited govt.
2. Due Process. As mentioned above, the most basic rights of the individual are being nullified by executive overreach. American citizens are labeled 'terrorists', without due process. No trial. No jury of peers. No facing their accuser. The executive power acts as judge, jury, & executioner. This is anti american, anti human, & the most basic violation of human rights. All of the executive 'police actions' where the american military is used to intimidate, protect business interests, or prop up some crony dictator is anti american & anti human, too. The american military is used WITHOUT due process.. wars are fought, americans killed, taxpayer resources wasted for the ambitions of men, not anything resembling justice. The congress did not declare war, yet the executive branch makes war.
3. Destruction of the currency. The creation of the federal reserve bank was the beginning of the destruction of the currency. America's hard currency was replaced with fiat.. or 'declared' value. Ever since, the value of our money has slowly & steadily been stripped & diluted by executive power. Law is set aside, & more overreaches made. This is one of the most insidious methods of fleecing the people. They still get money for their labors, it is just diluted secretly, & the value stolen by the money shuffling cronies of politicians, who see Law as an instrument of plunder.
4. Protecting the citizenry. If the borders are not secure, & a flood of illegal immigration is allowed, it is a destructive force on the citizens. It strains the infrastructure, the safety net, encourages lawlessness, depresses wages, & robs the citizens of jobs. It is the duty of the executive branch to enforce immigration laws, & they have reneged on their duty for political reasons.
There are more examples of executive overreaches.. the IRS scandal, spying on the media, benghazi coverup, foreign aid to corrupt dictators, corruption & spoils politics, rewarding campaign donors with cushy govt appointments.. these are all symptoms of a grasping, overreaching, corrupt, statist system that we have struggled for millennia to escape.
What can we do to fix this?
1. Citizen involvement. This is our fault. We have sat idly by & watched as generations of corrupt, self serving individuals have flocked to the public treasury to exploit us for their own personal gain. We now need a vocal, defiant, & angry citizenry to turn it around.
2. Term limits. The current system builds a ruling elite. They rise in the power structure, which has NOTHING to do with the people. We need to limit the time representatives are in power to limit the corrupting influence of power.
3. Balanced budget. Politicians can buy votes or make wars if the people do not feel the pinch in their wallets. If the politicians had to actually PAY for their 'programs', the citizens would revolt for the taxation. But they borrow, instead, from future generations. This should anger the citizens, who see their children & grandchildren being exploited for the ambitions of men.
There is more, but this is a good start. It is up to us to choose the future we want. Do we want to continue in a direction of freedom & individual rights, or do we want to go backward, letting ambitious men of power rule over us, exploiting us for their own agendas?
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. ~Louis D. Brandeis
“Law and arbitrary power are at eternal enmity” ~Edmund Burke
"The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants." ~Albert Camus
All of human history has been a battle. Most of these battles have been powerful, ambitious men fighting with other powerful, ambitious men over who gets the right to rule over the rest of us, exploiting us for their own personal gain. They lure us into fighting for them. ..supporting them in their quest for glory & dreams of power. They don't promise oppression, but that's what they deliver. They promise freedom. They promise easy living. They promise anything, to get the common people to work, kill, & die for their delusions of grandeur & vain pursuit of historical significance.
Once upon a time, there was a group of altruistic men. They came up with a plan to provide checks & balances for these aggressive, ambitious men. They got us to fight for our own freedom, & set up a system of governance where WE THE PEOPLE were in charge. It was a govt of, by & for US! Citizen representatives, not a ruling elite, were to make the collective decisions for the nation.
Unfortunately, grasping men of ambition are still among us. They worm their way into power, once again promising freedom & easy living if we will follow them & their edicts. They promise us affluence, if we go backward, & let the rule of executive power supercede the rule of Law.
Humans want justice. We want protection from aggressive, violent people. It does not matter if those people are common thieves, or dressed in flowing robes. One of the cornerstone victories for humanity was the concept of due process. You cannot be imprisoned or punished for a crime without it. We have the RIGHT, under due process, to face out accuser, be tried by a jury of our peers, NOT be detained without evidence, & NOT be punished or killed unless convicted for a crime. Justice was made into an orderly system, instead of a whimsical notion by a ruling elite. In america, our governance is based on due process. Even actions of war must have the majority of congress acting as the jury, determining the guilt of the accused, based on the evidence. FDR did not declare war himself, but the congress did, after the japanese attacked pearl harbor.
But now, progressives & statists want to suspend due process so they can bomb whomever they please, kill american citizens without a trial or any due process, & bypass any congressional or constitutional balance. This is a step backward for humanity. We are allowing the grasping delusions of ambitious men to supercede what has taken us centuries to arrive at. Basic human rights have been revoked in favor of executive power.
1. Rule of Law. LAW is the central factor in america. We are a republic.. a nation ruled by law, not the whimsical edicts of an emperor. But now we have had increasing suppression of Law, & increasing statist growth of executive power. Our congress & courts do not seem inclined to force a balance, or chasten the executive branch, so they continue with overreaches, ignoring laws they are bound to uphold, & dictating laws they have no right to enforce. These overreaches have been increasing in extent & impact for the last 100 yrs. If this continues, there will be no resemblance to a nation of separation of powers & limited govt.
2. Due Process. As mentioned above, the most basic rights of the individual are being nullified by executive overreach. American citizens are labeled 'terrorists', without due process. No trial. No jury of peers. No facing their accuser. The executive power acts as judge, jury, & executioner. This is anti american, anti human, & the most basic violation of human rights. All of the executive 'police actions' where the american military is used to intimidate, protect business interests, or prop up some crony dictator is anti american & anti human, too. The american military is used WITHOUT due process.. wars are fought, americans killed, taxpayer resources wasted for the ambitions of men, not anything resembling justice. The congress did not declare war, yet the executive branch makes war.
3. Destruction of the currency. The creation of the federal reserve bank was the beginning of the destruction of the currency. America's hard currency was replaced with fiat.. or 'declared' value. Ever since, the value of our money has slowly & steadily been stripped & diluted by executive power. Law is set aside, & more overreaches made. This is one of the most insidious methods of fleecing the people. They still get money for their labors, it is just diluted secretly, & the value stolen by the money shuffling cronies of politicians, who see Law as an instrument of plunder.
4. Protecting the citizenry. If the borders are not secure, & a flood of illegal immigration is allowed, it is a destructive force on the citizens. It strains the infrastructure, the safety net, encourages lawlessness, depresses wages, & robs the citizens of jobs. It is the duty of the executive branch to enforce immigration laws, & they have reneged on their duty for political reasons.
There are more examples of executive overreaches.. the IRS scandal, spying on the media, benghazi coverup, foreign aid to corrupt dictators, corruption & spoils politics, rewarding campaign donors with cushy govt appointments.. these are all symptoms of a grasping, overreaching, corrupt, statist system that we have struggled for millennia to escape.
What can we do to fix this?
1. Citizen involvement. This is our fault. We have sat idly by & watched as generations of corrupt, self serving individuals have flocked to the public treasury to exploit us for their own personal gain. We now need a vocal, defiant, & angry citizenry to turn it around.
2. Term limits. The current system builds a ruling elite. They rise in the power structure, which has NOTHING to do with the people. We need to limit the time representatives are in power to limit the corrupting influence of power.
3. Balanced budget. Politicians can buy votes or make wars if the people do not feel the pinch in their wallets. If the politicians had to actually PAY for their 'programs', the citizens would revolt for the taxation. But they borrow, instead, from future generations. This should anger the citizens, who see their children & grandchildren being exploited for the ambitions of men.
There is more, but this is a good start. It is up to us to choose the future we want. Do we want to continue in a direction of freedom & individual rights, or do we want to go backward, letting ambitious men of power rule over us, exploiting us for their own agendas?
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. ~Louis D. Brandeis
“Law and arbitrary power are at eternal enmity” ~Edmund Burke
"The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants." ~Albert Camus
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