Common Core: More Like Common Crap

I’ve been here less than two months and I’m already stirring the pot. Feel free to copy and send this letter to your own newspaper’s editor if your state has adopted Common Core.

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I was dismayed to read in last week’s Herald that our children, at the ripe old age of five, will be subject to the same rigorous hours of any full-time employee. Instead of allowing our children to learn at their own pace they will now be required to learn at the pace of their elders without the benefit of rest and play that are so crucial to growing minds.

It gets worse; the State of Tennessee has effectively said that we don’t know what is good for our children and has adopted the D.C.-devised, one-size-fits-all-across-the-nation program “Common Core”. Unproven, thrown together, and wielded by big government to send (or withhold) education dollars to states, Common Core dictates what will be taught and what will be read by our students.

I have reviewed the Common Core literature requirements: stepping away from the 50% fiction/50% non-fiction ratio, our 12th graders will be reading 70% non-fiction, all of which is dictated in Appendix B of the English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects order sent down from Washington-On-High.

Instead of Tennessee being trusted to choose from a world of compelling, complex literature, D.C. has ordered that such literary gems as the EPA’s Recommended Levels of Insulation and Atul Gawande’s The Cost Conundrum: Health Care Costs in McAllen, Texas will be read.

46 states are adopting Common Core but 10 of those are already having second thoughts including our neighbor, Georgia. These 14 states realize what D.C. does not: that central planning makes gathering people’s real preferences and needs impossible.

By adopting Common Core, Tennessee has effectively said, “Big Brother knows better than we” and will allow our children to become good little statists. But at least they’ll have read the riveting GSA’s Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management.

The Looters Are In Control

Taking this directly off ZeroHedge’s website this morning because it’s just so damn important.

[And now it’s time for Mr. Obama to start paying for all those votes by reaching deep into our pockets. If you intend to avoid paying your “fair share,” however, please take note: There will be  few places to hide. For a gimlet-eyed view of what may lie in store for taxpayers and citizens of all political persuasions during the next four years, ponder the guest commentary below, from Wayne Siggard, a regular in the Rick’s Picks forum. RA]

The election was all about new math:  47 = 51. The foresight and genius of the Founders knew no bounds.  Ben Franklin said, “Once the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”  The trumpets have sounded.  The heralds have announced the awakening of the masses to that reality.  The greatest and most free nation the world has ever known has just sold its birthright for a mess of pottage; or, at least, the promise of an Obama phone. The takers have voted to take control over the producers.

Everyone will now get a fair shot — except that those who work in government and those who take government welfare will get a fairer shot.  Obama knows that you didn’t build that company.  You didn’t live frugally and save more money than your neighbor while they spent theirs on drugs or riotous living.  He knows this because he didn’t get anything without government assistance — affirmative action put him ahead of more qualified people who earned a spot that he took, just like Elizabeth Warren. You couldn’t possibly have gotten anything on your own merit or hard work.

“A claim for material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers.” – Friedrich von Hayek

Von Mises said that full government control of all activities of the individual is virtually the goal of both national parties.  Have you ever tried to drill an oil or gas well?  Have you ever tried to build a house or commercial building?  Have you ever tried to manufacture and sell a product?  The International Building Code (IBC) increases in size, restrictions and requirements every year. Why? Because a bureaucracy needs to expand to justify its existence.

 “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” – Lord Acton

Have you ever experienced the disdain and contempt of a bureaucrat whose permission you sought?  It used to be that their power to grant a license or permit was retribution for their pay being less than that of the private sector.  Now, you get to pay them 50% more than you would get for the same job, and the disdain has not decreased.  Firemen, police officers, and military personnel can retire as young as 38, many making over $100,000 per year if they work until 50, and many can take another job and collect another pension on top of the first.  Meanwhile, according to the Census Bureau, the average middle class family’s income has decreased $4,019 during the Obama years, to $50,964.  More than half of the lifeguards in Newport Beach, CA, make over $150,000 per year and can collect more than $100,000 in pension benefits starting under 50 years of age.

So, What’s Coming?

That paradigm of preternatural  prestidigitation, the Federal Reserve Bank, will continue its policy of zero percent interest.  The big banks will mask their insolvency with free money from the Feds.  Greedy speculators and fools who overspent on housing will have their mistakes paid for by those taxpayers who had the foresight to save and invest wisely.  Obama bundlers and other insiders will continue to get billion dollar investments from the government, sucking valuable capital from the private sector. The official inflation rates will miraculously stay low while you are paying 100% more for gasoline and food.

 “History is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments.” –Friedrich von Hayek

Foreign nations are no longer purchasing U.S. government bonds. The largest purchaser is the Federal Reserve Bank.  In other words, the government is printing money from thin air. In 1970, you could go to Las Vegas and buy a silver dollar for one paper dollar. It now costs around $35. A mansion behind the Beverly Hills Hotel sold for $200,000. It resold in 2004 for $16 million. A house in Flintridge, CA, sold for $115,000.  Its current value is $4.5 million. The base price for a Corvette was $5192.  It is now $49,600, a comparative bargain.  What you could buy for $1 million in 1970 now takes $36 million.  Senator Everett Dirksen in the 1960s is reputed to have remarked,” a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon we’re talking real money.”  You can now add three zeros.  The bottom line is that if you are collecting 0.15% interest on your CD, you are losing real purchasing value of at least 10%, and that rate will be accelerating in the next four years.  Carlo Ponzi was a hopeless naïf compared to our elected officials.

Harry Reid Has a Plan

Harry Reid already has a bill on his desk which requires that all pension plans (except for the unions, of course), 401Ks, and IRAs be converted to annuities from the government.  This pile of cash represents the largest pile of readily available cash in the world right now.  The money will be gone as soon as it hits the government’s account, and you will be left with empty promises.  There is no money, only a printing press.

Capital export controls will be enacted.  You will not be able to get your money out of the country.  Already you can no longer open a bank account in Switzerland unless you have over $30 million because the reporting requirements are too onerous for a smaller account.  All requests to Switzerland for visas from Americans will be suspended. History will be repeated (shocking, I know), and all gold in private hands will be confiscated.  The Republicans will cave, the tax rates will rise, and anyone making more than the insider politicians and government employees will encounter ever-increasing marginal tax rates.

Payoffs for votes will be made.  Affirmative action requirements will be increased in every field of endeavor.  Women’s abortions and contraceptives will be free. Regulations will stop the advent of fracking and the boom in oil and natural gas will come to an abrupt halt.  Payments to environmental groups for lawyer’s fees will expand exponentially.  Government-controlled lands with oil and gas potential will be declared wilderness or national monuments, just like Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah.  I could go on for another ten pages, but , in a nutshell, the message from Mr. Obama is, “You lost.”

And finally, Israel has recognized that Mr. Obama will offer no succor.  Before the end of January, they will raid Iran.  Gasoline will reach $7 per gallon, and voila, solar and wind energy will be competitive.  No matter that your thermostat is set at 40 degrees, if you can get fuel or power.

The looters are in control.  Set your alarms.

A Funny Thing Happened at the Hostess Store

Hostess, once proud producers of Twinkies and Suzy Q’s, is shut down. Some have said it was their choice. If you call having a gun pointed at your head and being told how you’re going to run your business, how much you’re going to pay people, and not being able to produce if those people strike even when you offer them work a choice, then…okay.

Actually, by allowing the union into their business in the first place, they should have seen this coming. But I digress.

When the announcement was made on Friday I told Snarky that we should go down to the local Hostess store and stock up on Twinkies. They’ll be worth gold in the coming days when TSHTF.

image courtesy of @ChrisLoesch

So, as part of our Saturday morning running around, we first went to the Hostess store. The parking lot was full and I commented, “Oh, I guess other people have the same idea.” A nice woman who had just finished shopping offered us her cart; she said they were hard to come by this morning. Thankfully, we took it.

It wasn’t too terribly packed inside and the first thing we spotted were Twinkies! The price was right (7 for $5) so we put 14 in the cart and moved along to Cup Cakes and other baked crap we would never buy. As we made our way around the store, two little old ladies were filling two carts to overflowing; they couldn’t grab enough jams and condiments and at least two of everything they were selling. It was THEN we found out that yes, the store was going out of business; this was it’s closing day and everything was 50% off.

Needless to say, our cart started filling up, too. We even gave #BabyQ free rein to put things in the cart.

But here’s the funny part…

There were obviously “progressives” in the store, so I, having a big mouth, kept talking to Snarky about how we could thank the unions for this, and look at all the people who will be out of work, and all the businesses that will be shutting down. Yes, I was trying to rub it in.

Then, as we were in line with our cart too full to hold anymore, a woman two people behind us asked if she could cut in front of us. She only had a few things and was late for an appointment. She looked like a Democrat, so I asked her, “How did you vote?” Yes, right there in front of everyone, I shot off my mouth.

“That’s very personal.”

“Well, did you vote pro-union?” I asked.

“No, I’m against unions!” she answered.

We allowed her to get ahead of us. However, I suffer from esprit d’escalier, the name the French give to that damnable moment when, as you’re walking away from a moment, you think of all the things you SHOULD have said.

I should have come right out and asked, “Did you vote for Obama?”

I should have come right out and asked the employee behind the counter if she was union before I told her, “I’m sorry you’re losing your job.” (She probably wasn’t union in that small store, but I didn’t check.)

And maybe, just maybe, we should have bought more Twinkies. We’ll be exchanging them for silver or gold, if you’re interested.

The Liberty Speech You Probably Didn’t Hear

November 14, 2012

This may well be the last time I speak on the House Floor. At the end of the year I’ll leave Congress after 23 years in office over a 36-year period. My goals in 1976 were the same as they are today: promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty.

It was my opinion, that the course the U.S. embarked on in the latter part of the 20^th Century would bring us a major financial crisis and engulf us in a foreign policy that would overextend us and undermine our national security.

The problems seemed to be overwhelming and impossible to solve, yet from my view point, just following the constraints placed on the federal government by the Constitution would have been a good place to start.To achieve the goals I sought, government would have had to shrink in size and scope, reduce spending, change the monetary system, and reject the unsustainable costs of policing the world and expanding the American Empire.

How Much Did I Accomplish?

In many ways, according to conventional wisdom, my off-and-on career in Congress, from 1976 to 2012, accomplished very little. No named legislation, no named federal buildings or highways – thank goodness. In spite of my efforts, the government has grown exponentially, taxes remain excessive, and the prolific increase of incomprehensible regulations continues. Wars are constant and pursued without Congressional declaration, deficits rise to the sky, poverty is rampant and dependency on the federal government is now worse than any time in our history.

All this with minimal concerns for the deficits and unfunded liabilities that common sense tells us cannot go on much longer. A grand, but never mentioned, bipartisan agreement allows for the well-kept secret that keeps the spending going. One side doesn’t give up one penny on military spending, the other side doesn’t give up one penny on welfare spending, while both sides support the bailouts and subsidies for the banking and corporate elite. And the spending continues as the economy weakens and the downward spiral continues. As the government continues fiddling around, our liberties and our wealth burn in the flames of a foreign policy that makes us less safe.

The major stumbling block to real change in Washington is the total resistance to admitting that the country is broke. This has made compromising, just to agree to increase spending, inevitable since neither side has any intention of cutting spending.

The country and the Congress will remain divisive since there’s no “loot left to divvy up.”

Without this recognition the spenders in Washington will continue the march toward a fiscal cliff much bigger than the one anticipated this coming January.

Authoritarianism vs. Liberty

I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits. If liberty is what we claim it is- the principle that protects all personal, social and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and the best chance for peace- it should be an easy sell. Yet, history has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are rarely if ever fulfilled.

If authoritarianism leads to poverty and war and less freedom for all individuals and is controlled by rich special interests, the people should be begging for liberty. There certainly was a strong enough sentiment for more freedom at the time of our founding that motivated those who were willing to fight in the revolution against the powerful British government.

During my time in Congress the appetite for liberty has been quite weak; the understanding of its significance negligible. Yet the good news is that compared to 1976 when I first came to Congress, the desire for more freedom and less government in 2012 is much greater and growing, especially in grassroots America. Tens of thousands of teenagers and college age students are, with great enthusiasm, welcoming the message of liberty.

I have a few thoughts as to why the people of a country like ours, once the freest and most prosperous, allowed the conditions to deteriorate to the degree that they have.

Freedom, private property, and enforceable voluntary contracts, generate wealth. In our early history we were very much aware of this. But in the early part of the 20^th century our politicians promoted the notion that the tax and monetary systems had to change if we were to involve ourselves in excessive domestic and military spending. That is why Congress gave us the Federal Reserve and the income tax. The majority of Americans and many government officials agreed that sacrificing some liberty was necessary to carry out what some claimed to be “progressive” ideas. Pure democracy became acceptable.

They failed to recognized that what they were doing was exactly opposite of what the colonists were seeking when they broke away from the British.

Some complain that my arguments makes no sense, since great wealth and the standard of living improved for many Americans over the last 100 years, even with these new policies.

The wealth that we enjoyed and seemed to be endless, allowed concern for the principle of a free society to be neglected. As long as most people believed the material abundance would last forever, worrying about protecting a competitive productive economy and individual liberty seemed unnecessary.But the damage to the market economy, and the currency, has been insidious and steady. It took a long time to consume our wealth, destroy the currency and undermine productivity and get our financial obligations to a point of no return. Confidence sometimes lasts longer than deserved. Most of our wealth today depends on debt.

The Age of Redistribution

This neglect ushered in an age of redistribution of wealth by government kowtowing to any and all special interests, except for those who just wanted to left alone. That is why today money in politics far surpasses money currently going into research and development and productive entrepreneurial efforts.

The material benefits became more important than the understanding and promoting the principles of liberty and a free market. It is good that material abundance is a result of liberty but if materialism is all that we care about, problems are guaranteed.

The crisis arrived because the illusion that wealth and prosperity would last forever has ended. Since it was based on debt and a pretense that debt can be papered over by an out-of-control fiat monetary system, it was doomed to fail. We have ended up with a system that doesn’t produce enough even to finance the debt and no fundamental understanding of why a free society is crucial to reversing these trends.

If this is not recognized, the recovery will linger for a long time. Bigger government, more spending, more debt, more poverty for the middle class, and a more intense scramble by the elite special interests will continue.

We Need an Intellectual Awakening

Without an intellectual awakening, the turning point will be driven by economic law. A dollar crisis will bring the current out-of-control system to its knees.

If it’s not accepted that big government, fiat money, ignoring liberty, central economic planning, welfarism, and warfarism caused our crisis we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties. Prosperity for a large middle class though will become an abstract dream.

This continuous move is no different than what we have seen in how our financial crisis of 2008 was handled. Congress first directed, with bipartisan support, bailouts for the wealthy. Then it was the Federal Reserve with its endless quantitative easing. If at first it doesn’t succeed try again; QE1, QE2, and QE3 and with no results we try QE indefinitely – that is until it too fails. There’s a cost to all of this and let me assure you delaying the payment is no longer an option. The rules of the market will extract its pound of flesh and it won’t be pretty.

If the underlying cause of the crisis is not understood we cannot solve our problems. The issues of warfare, welfare, deficits, inflationism, corporatism, bailouts and authoritarianism cannot be ignored. By only expanding these policies we cannot expect good results.The current crisis elicits a lot of pessimism. And the pessimism adds to less confidence in the future. The two feed on themselves, making our situation worse.

Everyone claims support for freedom. But too often it’s for one’s own freedom and not for others. Too many believe that there must be limits on freedom. They argue that freedom must be directed and managed to achieve fairness and equality thus making it acceptable to curtail, through force, certain liberties.

Some decide what and whose freedoms are to be limited. These are the politicians whose goal in life is power. Their success depends on gaining support from special interests.

No More ‘isms’

The great news is the answer is not to be found in more “isms.” The answers are to be found in more liberty which cost so much less. Under these circumstances spending goes down, wealth production goes up, and the quality of life improves.

Just this recognition – especially if we move in this direction – increases optimism which in itself is beneficial. The follow through with sound policies are required which must be understood and supported by the people.

But there is good evidence that the generation coming of age at the present time is supportive of moving in the direction of more liberty and self-reliance. The more this change in direction and the solutions become known, the quicker will be the return of optimism.

Our job, for those of us who believe that a different system than the one that we have had for the last 100 years, has driven us to this unsustainable crisis, is to be more convincing that there is a wonderful, uncomplicated, and moral system that provides the answers. We had a taste of it in our early history. We need not give up on the notion of advancing this cause.

It worked, but we allowed our leaders to concentrate on the material abundance that freedom generates, while ignoring freedom itself. Now we have neither, but the door is open, out of necessity, for an answer. The answer available is based on the Constitution, individual liberty and prohibiting the use of government force to provide privileges and benefits to all special interests.

After over 100 years we face a society quite different from the one that was intended by the Founders. In many ways their efforts to protect future generations with the Constitution from this danger has failed. Skeptics, at the time the Constitution was written in 1787, warned us of today’s possible outcome. The insidious nature of the erosion of our liberties and the reassurance our great abundance gave us, allowed the process to evolve into the dangerous period in which we now live.

Dependency on Government Largess

Today we face a dependency on government largesse for almost every need. Our liberties are restricted and government operates outside the rule of law, protecting and rewarding those who buy or coerce government into satisfying their demands. Here are a few examples:

• Undeclared wars are commonplace.
• Welfare for the rich and poor is considered an entitlement.
• The economy is overregulated, overtaxed and grossly distorted by a deeply flawed monetary system.
• Debt is growing exponentially.
• The Patriot Act and FISA legislation passed without much debate have resulted in a steady erosion of our 4^th Amendment rights.
• Tragically our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people.
• The drone warfare we are pursuing worldwide is destined to end badly for us as the hatred builds for innocent lives lost and the international laws flaunted. Once we are financially weakened and militarily challenged, there will be a lot resentment thrown our way.
• It’s now the law of the land that the military can arrest American citizens, hold them indefinitely, without charges or a trial.
• Rampant hostility toward free trade is supported by a large number in Washington.
• Supporters of sanctions, currency manipulation and WTO trade retaliation, call the true free traders “isolationists.”
• Sanctions are used to punish countries that don’t follow our orders.
• Bailouts and guarantees for all kinds of misbehavior are routine.
• Central economic planning through monetary policy, regulations and legislative mandates has been an acceptable policy.

Excessive government has created such a mess it prompts many questions:Questions

• Why are sick people who use medical marijuana put in prison?
• Why does the federal government restrict the drinking of raw milk?
• Why can’t Americans manufacturer rope and other products from hemp?
• Why are Americans not allowed to use gold and silver as legal tender as mandated by the Constitution?
• Why is Germany concerned enough to consider repatriating their gold held by the FED for her in New York? Is it that the trust in the U.S. and dollar supremacy beginning to wane?
• Why do our political leaders believe it’s unnecessary to thoroughly audit our own gold?
• Why can’t Americans decide which type of light bulbs they can buy?
• Why is the TSA permitted to abuse the rights of any American traveling by air?
• Why should there be mandatory sentences – even up to life for crimes without victims – as our drug laws require?
• Why have we allowed the federal government to regulate commodes in our homes?
• Why is it political suicide for anyone to criticize AIPAC ?
• Why haven’t we given up on the drug war since it’s an obvious failure and violates the people’s rights? Has nobody noticed that the authorities can’t even keep drugs out of the prisons? How can making our entire society a prison solve the problem?
• Why do we sacrifice so much getting needlessly involved in border disputes and civil strife around the world and ignore the root cause of the most deadly border in the world-the one between Mexico and the US?
• Why does Congress willingly give up its prerogatives to the Executive Branch?
• Why does changing the party in power never change policy? Could it be that the views of both parties are essentially the same?
• Why did the big banks, the large corporations, and foreign banks and foreign central banks get bailed out in 2008 and the middle class lost their jobs and their homes?
• Why do so many in the government and the federal officials believe that creating money out of thin air creates wealth?
• Why do so many accept the deeply flawed principle that government bureaucrats and politicians can protect us from ourselves without totally destroying the principle of liberty?
• Why can’t people understand that war always destroys wealth and liberty?
• Why is there so little concern for the Executive Order that gives the President authority to establish a “kill list,” including American citizens, of those targeted for assassination?
• Why is patriotism thought to be blind loyalty to the government and the politicians who run it, rather than loyalty to the principles of liberty and support for the people? Real patriotism is a willingness to challenge the government when it’s wrong.
• Why is it is claimed that if people won’t or can’t take care of their own needs, that people in government can do it for them?
• Why did we ever give the government a safe haven for initiating violence against the people?
• Why do some members defend free markets, but not civil liberties?
• Why do some members defend civil liberties but not free markets? Aren’t they the same?
• Why don’t more defend both economic liberty and personal liberty?
• Why are there not more individuals who seek to intellectually influence others to bring about positive changes than those who seek power to force others to obey their commands?
• Why does the use of religion to support a social gospel and preemptive wars, both of which requires authoritarians to use violence, or the threat of violence, go unchallenged? Aggression and forced redistribution of wealth has nothing to do with the teachings of the world great religions.
• Why do we allow the government and the Federal Reserve to disseminate false information dealing with both economic and foreign policy?
• Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority?
• Why should anyone be surprised that Congress has no credibility, since there’s such a disconnect between what politicians say and what they do?
• Is there any explanation for all the deception, the unhappiness, the fear of the future, the loss of confidence in our leaders, the distrust, the anger and frustration? Yes there is, and there’s a way to reverse these attitudes. The negative perceptions are logical and a consequence of bad policies bringing about our problems. Identification of the problems and recognizing the cause allow the proper changes to come easy.

Trust Yourself, Not the Government

Seeking the truth and finding the answers in liberty and self-reliance promotes the optimism necessary for restoring prosperity. The task is not that difficult if politics doesn’t get in the way.Too many people have for too long placed too much confidence and trust in government and not enough in themselves. Fortunately, many are now becoming aware of the seriousness of the gross mistakes of the past several decades. The blame is shared by both political parties. Many Americans now are demanding to hear the plain truth of things and want the demagoguing to stop. Without this first step, solutions are impossible.

We have allowed ourselves to get into such a mess for various reasons.

Politicians deceive themselves as to how wealth is produced. Excessive confidence is placed in the judgment of politicians and bureaucrats. This replaces the confidence in a free society. Too many in high places of authority became convinced that only they, armed with arbitrary government power, can bring about fairness, while facilitating wealth production. This always proves to be a utopian dream and destroys wealth and liberty. It impoverishes the people and rewards the special interests who end up controlling both political parties.

It’s no surprise then that much of what goes on in Washington is driven by aggressive partisanship and power seeking, with philosophic differences being minor.

Economic Ignorance

Economic ignorance is commonplace. Keynesianism continues to thrive, although today it is facing healthy and enthusiastic rebuttals. Believers in military Keynesianism and domestic Keynesianism continue to desperately promote their failed policies, as the economy languishes in a deep slumber.

Supporters of all government edicts use humanitarian arguments to justify them.

Humanitarian arguments are always used to justify government mandates related to the economy, monetary policy, foreign policy, and personal liberty. This is on purpose to make it more difficult to challenge. But, initiating violence for humanitarian reasons is still violence. Good intentions are no excuse and are just as harmful as when people use force with bad intentions. The results are always negative.

The immoral use of force is the source of man’s political problems. Sadly, many religious groups, secular organizations, and psychopathic authoritarians endorse government initiated force to change the world. Even when the desired goals are well-intentioned – or especially when well-intentioned – the results are dismal. The good results sought never materialize. The new problems created require even more government force as a solution. The net result is institutionalizing government initiated violence and morally justifying it on humanitarian grounds.

It is rather strange, that unless one has a criminal mind and no respect for other people and their property, no one claims it’s permissible to go into one’s neighbor’s house and tell them how to behave, what they can eat, smoke and drink or how to spend their money.This is the same fundamental reason our government uses force for invading other countries at will, central economic planning at home, and the regulation of personal liberty and habits of our citizens.

Yet, rarely is it asked why it is morally acceptable that a stranger with a badge and a gun can do the same thing in the name of law and order. Any resistance is met with brute force, fines, taxes, arrests, and even imprisonment. This is done more frequently every day without a proper search warrant.

No Government Monopoly over Initiating Violence

Restraining aggressive behavior is one thing, but legalizing a government monopoly for initiating aggression can only lead to exhausting liberty associated with chaos, anger and the breakdown of civil society. Permitting such authority and expecting saintly behavior from the bureaucrats and the politicians is a pipe dream. We now have a standing army of armed bureaucrats in the TSA, CIA, FBI, Fish and Wildlife, FEMA, IRS, Corp of Engineers, etc. numbering over 100,000. Citizens are guilty until proven innocent in the unconstitutional administrative courts.

Government in a free society should have no authority to meddle in social activities or the economic transactions of individuals. Nor should government meddle in the affairs of other nations. All things peaceful, even when controversial, should be permitted.

We must reject the notion of prior restraint in economic activity just we do in the area of free speech and religious liberty. But even in these areas government is starting to use a backdoor approach of political correctness to regulate speech-a dangerous trend. Since 9/11 monitoring speech on the internet is now a problem since warrants are no longer required.

The Proliferation of Federal Crimes

The Constitution established four federal crimes. Today the experts can’t even agree on how many federal crimes are now on the books – they number into the thousands. No one person can comprehend the enormity of the legal system – especially the tax code. Due to the ill-advised drug war and the endless federal expansion of the criminal code we have over 6 million people under correctional suspension, more than the Soviets ever had, and more than any other nation today, including China. I don’t understand the complacency of the Congress and the willingness to continue their obsession with passing more Federal laws. Mandatory sentencing laws associated with drug laws have compounded our prison problems.

The federal register is now 75,000 pages long and the tax code has 72,000 pages, and expands every year. When will the people start shouting, “enough is enough,” and demand Congress cease and desist.

Achieving Liberty

Liberty can only be achieved when government is denied the aggressive use of force. If one seeks liberty, a precise type of government is needed. To achieve it, more than lip service is required.

Two choices are available.

1. A government designed to protect liberty – a natural right – as its sole objective. The people are expected to care for themselves and reject the use of any force for interfering with another person’s liberty. Government is given a strictly limited authority to enforce contracts, property ownership, settle disputes, and defend against foreign aggression.
2. A government that pretends to protect liberty but is granted power to arbitrarily use force over the people and foreign nations. Though the grant of power many times is meant to be small and limited, it inevitably metastasizes into an omnipotent political cancer. This is the problem for which the world has suffered throughout the ages. Though meant to be limited it nevertheless is a 100% sacrifice of a principle that would-be-tyrants find irresistible. It is used vigorously – though incrementally and insidiously. Granting power to government officials always proves the adage that: “power corrupts.”

Once government gets a limited concession for the use of force to mold people habits and plan the economy, it causes a steady move toward tyrannical government. Only a revolutionary spirit can reverse the process and deny to the government this arbitrary use of aggression. There’s no in-between. Sacrificing a little liberty for imaginary safety always ends badly.

Today’s mess is a result of Americans accepting option #2, even though the Founders attempted to give us Option #1.

The results are not good. As our liberties have been eroded our wealth has been consumed. The wealth we see today is based on debt and a foolish willingness on the part of foreigners to take our dollars for goods and services. They then loan them back to us to perpetuate our debt system. It’s amazing that it has worked for this long but the impasse in Washington, in solving our problems indicate that many are starting to understand the seriousness of the world -wide debt crisis and the dangers we face. The longer this process continues the harsher the outcome will be.

The Financial Crisis Is a Moral Crisis

Many are now acknowledging that a financial crisis looms but few understand it’s, in reality, a moral crisis. It’s the moral crisis that has allowed our liberties to be undermined and permits the exponential growth of illegal government power. Without a clear understanding of the nature of the crisis it will be difficult to prevent a steady march toward tyranny and the poverty that will accompany it.

Ultimately, the people have to decide which form of government they want; option #1 or option #2. There is no other choice. Claiming there is a choice of a “little” tyranny is like describing pregnancy as a “touch of pregnancy.” It is a myth to believe that a mixture of free markets and government central economic planning is a worthy compromise. What we see today is a result of that type of thinking. And the results speak for themselves.

A Culture of Violence

American now suffers from a culture of violence. It’s easy to reject the initiation of violence against one’s neighbor but it’s ironic that the people arbitrarily and freely anoint government officials with monopoly power to initiate violence against the American people – practically at will.

Because it’s the government that initiates force, most people accept it as being legitimate. Those who exert the force have no sense of guilt. It is believed by too many that governments are morally justified in initiating force supposedly to “do good.” They incorrectly believe that this authority has come from the “consent of the people.” The minority, or victims of government violence never consented to suffer the abuse of government mandates, even when dictated by the majority. Victims of TSA excesses never consented to this abuse.

This attitude has given us a policy of initiating war to “do good,” as well. It is claimed that war, to prevent war for noble purposes, is justified. This is similar to what we were once told that: “destroying a village to save a village” was justified. It was said by a US Secretary of State that the loss of 500,000 Iraqis, mostly children, in the 1990s, as a result of American bombs and sanctions, was “worth it” to achieve the “good” we brought to the Iraqi people. And look at the mess that Iraq is in today.

Government use of force to mold social and economic behavior at home and abroad has justified individuals using force on their own terms. The fact that violence by government is seen as morally justified, is the reason why violence will increase when the big financial crisis hits and becomes a political crisis as well.

First, we recognize that individuals shouldn’t initiate violence, then we give the authority to government. Eventually, the immoral use of government violence, when things goes badly, will be used to justify an individual’s “right” to do the same thing. Neither the government nor individuals have the moral right to initiate violence against another yet we are moving toward the day when both will claim this authority. If this cycle is not reversed society will break down.

When needs are pressing, conditions deteriorate and rights become relative to the demands and the whims of the majority. It’s then not a great leap for individuals to take it upon themselves to use violence to get what they claim is theirs. As the economy deteriorates and the wealth discrepancies increase – as are already occurring – violence increases as those in need take it in their own hands to get what they believe is theirs. They will not wait for a government rescue program.

When government officials wield power over others to bail out the special interests, even with disastrous results to the average citizen, they feel no guilt for the harm they do. Those who take us into undeclared wars with many casualties resulting, never lose sleep over the death and destruction their bad decisions caused. They are convinced that what they do is morally justified, and the fact that many suffer just can’t be helped.

When the street criminals do the same thing, they too have no remorse, believing they are only taking what is rightfully theirs. All moral standards become relative. Whether it’s bailouts, privileges, government subsidies or benefits for some from inflating a currency, it’s all part of a process justified by a philosophy of forced redistribution of wealth. Violence, or a threat of such, is the instrument required and unfortunately is of little concern of most members of Congress.

Some argue it’s only a matter of “fairness” that those in need are cared for. There are two problems with this. First, the principle is used to provide a greater amount of benefits to the rich than the poor. Second, no one seems to be concerned about whether or not it’s fair to those who end up paying for the benefits. The costs are usually placed on the backs of the middle class and are hidden from the public eye. Too many people believe government handouts are free, like printing money out of thin air, and there is no cost. That deception is coming to an end. The bills are coming due and that’s what the economic slowdown is all about.

Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. It is the tool for telling the people how to live, what to eat and drink, what to read and how to spend their money.

To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. Granting to government even a small amount of force is a dangerous concession.

Limiting Government Excesses vs. a Virtuous Moral People

Our Constitution, which was intended to limit government power and abuse, has failed. The Founders warned that a free society depends on a virtuous and moral people. The current crisis reflects that their concerns were justified.

Most politicians and pundits are aware of the problems we face but spend all their time in trying to reform government. The sad part is that the suggested reforms almost always lead to less freedom and the importance of a virtuous and moral people is either ignored, or not understood. The new reforms serve only to further undermine liberty. The compounding effect has given us this steady erosion of liberty and the massive expansion of debt. The real question is: if it is liberty we seek, should most of the emphasis be placed on government reform or trying to understand what “a virtuous and moral people” means and how to promote it. The Constitution has not prevented the people from demanding handouts for both rich and poor in their efforts to reform the government, while ignoring the principles of a free society. All branches of our government today are controlled by individuals who use their power to undermine liberty and enhance the welfare/warfare state-and frequently their own wealth and power.

If the people are unhappy with the government performance it must be recognized that government is merely a reflection of an immoral society that rejected a moral government of constitutional limitations of power and love of freedom.

If this is the problem all the tinkering with thousands of pages of new laws and regulations will do nothing to solve the problem.

It is self-evident that our freedoms have been severely limited and the apparent prosperity we still have, is nothing more than leftover wealth from a previous time. This fictitious wealth based on debt and benefits from a false trust in our currency and credit, will play havoc with our society when the bills come due. This means that the full consequence of our lost liberties is yet to be felt.

But that illusion is now ending. Reversing a downward spiral depends on accepting a new approach.

Expect the rapidly expanding homeschooling movement to play a significant role in the revolutionary reforms needed to build a free society with Constitutional protections. We cannot expect a Federal government controlled school system to provide the intellectual ammunition to combat the dangerous growth of government that threatens our liberties.

The internet will provide the alternative to the government/media complex that controls the news and most political propaganda. This is why it’s essential that the internet remains free of government regulation.

Many of our religious institutions and secular organizations support greater dependency on the state by supporting war, welfare and corporatism and ignore the need for a virtuous people.

I never believed that the world or our country could be made more free by politicians, if the people had no desire for freedom.

Under the current circumstances the most we can hope to achieve in the political process is to use it as a podium to reach the people to alert them of the nature of the crisis and the importance of their need to assume responsibility for themselves, if it is liberty that they truly seek. Without this, a constitutionally protected free society is impossible.

If this is true, our individual goal in life ought to be for us to seek virtue and excellence and recognize that self-esteem and happiness only comes from using one’s natural ability, in the most productive manner possible, according to one’s own talents.

Productivity and creativity are the true source of personal satisfaction. Freedom, and not dependency, provides the environment needed to achieve these goals. Government cannot do this for us; it only gets in the way. When the government gets involved, the goal becomes a bailout or a subsidy and these cannot provide a sense of personal achievement.

Achieving legislative power and political influence should not be our goal. Most of the change, if it is to come, will not come from the politicians, but rather from individuals, family, friends, intellectual leaders and our religious institutions. The solution can only come from rejecting the use of coercion, compulsion, government commands, and aggressive force, to mold social and economic behavior. Without accepting these restraints, inevitably the consensus will be to allow the government to mandate economic equality and obedience to the politicians who gain power and promote an environment that smothers the freedoms of everyone. It is then that the responsible individuals who seek excellence and self-esteem by being self-reliance and productive, become the true victims.

Conclusion

What are the greatest dangers that the American people face today and impede the goal of a free society? There are five.

1. The continuous attack on our civil liberties which threatens the rule of law and our ability to resist the onrush of tyranny.

2. Violent anti-Americanism that has engulfed the world. Because the phenomenon of “blow-back” is not understood or denied, our foreign policy is destined to keep us involved in many wars that we have no business being in. National bankruptcy and a greater threat to our national security will result.

3. The ease in which we go to war, without a declaration by Congress, but accepting international authority from the UN or NATO even for preemptive wars, otherwise known as aggression.

4. A financial political crisis as a consequence of excessive debt, unfunded liabilities, spending, bailouts, and gross discrepancy in wealth distribution going from the middle class to the rich. The danger of central economic planning, by the Federal Reserve must be understood.

5. World government taking over local and US sovereignty by getting involved in the issues of war, welfare, trade, banking, a world currency, taxes, property ownership, and private ownership of guns.
Happily, there is an answer for these very dangerous trends.

What a wonderful world it would be if everyone accepted the simple moral premise of rejecting all acts of aggression. The retort to such a suggestion is always: it’s too simplistic, too idealistic, impractical, naïve, utopian, dangerous, and unrealistic to strive for such an ideal.

The answer to that is that for thousands of years the acceptance of government force, to rule over the people, at the sacrifice of liberty, was considered moral and the only available option for achieving peace and prosperity.

What could be more Utopian than that myth – considering the results especially looking at the state sponsored killing, by nearly every government during the 20^th Century, estimated to be in the hundreds of millions. It’s time to reconsider this grant of authority to the state.

No good has ever come from granting monopoly power to the state to use aggression against the people to arbitrarily mold human behavior. Such power, when left unchecked, becomes the seed of an ugly tyranny. This method of governance has been adequately tested, and the results are in: reality dictates we try liberty.

The idealism of non-aggression and rejecting all offensive use of force should be tried. The idealism of government sanctioned violence has been abused throughout history and is the primary source of poverty and war. The theory of a society being based on individual freedom has been around for a long time. It’s time to take a bold step and actually permit it by advancing this cause, rather than taking a step backwards as some would like us to do.

Today the principle of habeas corpus, established when King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215, is under attack. There’s every reason to believe that a renewed effort with the use of the internet that we can instead advance the cause of liberty by spreading an uncensored message that will serve to rein in government authority and challenge the obsession with war and welfare.

What I’m talking about is a system of government guided by the moral principles of peace and tolerance.

The Founders were convinced that a free society could not exist without a moral people. Just writing rules won’t work if the people choose to ignore them. Today the rule of law written in the Constitution has little meaning for most Americans, especially those who work in Washington DC.

Benjamin Franklin claimed “only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” John Adams concurred: “Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

A moral people must reject all violence in an effort to mold people’s beliefs or habits.

A society that boos or ridicules the Golden Rule is not a moral society. All great religions endorse the Golden Rule. The same moral standards that individuals are required to follow should apply to all government officials. They cannot be exempt.

The ultimate solution is not in the hands of the government.

The solution falls on each and every individual, with guidance from family, friends and community.

The #1 responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves with hope that others will follow. This is of greater importance than working on changing the government; that is secondary to promoting a virtuous society. If we can achieve this, then the government will change.

It doesn’t mean that political action or holding office has no value. At times it does nudge policy in the right direction. But what is true is that when seeking office is done for personal aggrandizement, money or power, it becomes useless if not harmful. When political action is taken for the right reasons it’s easy to understand why compromise should be avoided. It also becomes clear why progress is best achieved by working with coalitions, which bring people together, without anyone sacrificing his principles.

Political action, to be truly beneficial, must be directed toward changing the hearts and minds of the people, recognizing that it’s the virtue and morality of the people that allow liberty to flourish.

The Constitution or more laws per se, have no value if the people’s attitudes aren’t changed.

To achieve liberty and peace, two powerful human emotions have to be overcome. Number one is “envy” which leads to hate and class warfare. Number two is “intolerance” which leads to bigoted and judgmental policies. These emotions must be replaced with a much better understanding of love, compassion, tolerance and free market economics. Freedom, when understood, brings people together. When tried, freedom is popular.

The problem we have faced over the years has been that economic interventionists are swayed by envy, whereas social interventionists are swayed by intolerance of habits and lifestyles. The misunderstanding that tolerance is an endorsement of certain activities, motivates many to legislate moral standards which should only be set by individuals making their own choices. Both sides use force to deal with these misplaced emotions. Both are authoritarians. Neither endorses voluntarism. Both views ought to be rejected.

I have come to one firm conviction after these many years of trying to figure out “the plain truth of things.” The best chance for achieving peace and prosperity, for the maximum number of people world-wide, is to pursue the cause of LIBERTY.

If you find this to be a worthwhile message, spread it throughout the land.

What Won’t Work

Mankind has always sought to substitute energy for reason, as if running faster will give one a better sense of direction. Periodically, we should stop and ask ourselves if our efforts are focused upon the crux of the problem – the things that must be settled if there is to be a manageable solution – or if we are expending our energies on side issues which cannot yield a decision, no matter what their outcome.

-Bernard Baruch

To continue the topic of Taking Back America, the following list outlines those things that won’t work:

• Either listening to, or dishing out, meaningless “patriotic” rhetoric, whether in the form of slogans, admonishing statements, or appeals to custom and tradition. None of this “patriotic” gibberish will do one thing to change the realities of where we now stand.
  You are not indebted to government (politicians) for allowing you to exercise some of your remaining natural rights. You were born with these rights, and government can take them away from you only through the use of force.
  Self-proclaimed patriots profess a love of “country”; libertarians profess a love of human freedom.
• Continuing to listen to half-cocked, short-term solutions served up by vote-conscious politicians. We’ve had our fill of them, even though our nature is to emotionally follow a charismatic leader who offers easy solutions.
  It is time to start ignoring the political “solutions” that have actually been the cause of our problems. They have been ignoring you for years.
  To paraphrase Voltaire, men will stop committing atrocities when men stop believing absurdities.
• Looking to the government for solutions to your problems. Government cannot solve your problems because government is the problem. When people proclaim that “there ought to be a law” to correct what they deem to be a “social injustice,” they are advocating the use of government force to make others conform to their desires or moral beliefs.
  Compassion is a good thing; charity is a good thing; concern is a good thing. Force is not a good thing. The question is not whether man loves his fellowman enough to insist on “helping” him. The survival question for mankind is whether man loves his fellowman enough to leave him alone! Your neighbor has the right to be left alone to live his life as he pleases.
• Getting hung up on the question of equality. Guaranteed security and equality conflict with freedom. Forcible equality conflicts with freedom. The American Dream gives all men equal rights; it does not call for making all men equal.
• Wasting your time arguing with irrational people – people who believe that something for nothing is possible, that theft is justified by a “worthwhile” end, or that government is a living, omnipotent, omni-benevolent entity that can solve everyone’s problems. You do not have enough time to improve your well-being, enhance the cause of liberty, and also function as a flyswatter. 

This post is based on Robert Ringer’s Restoring the American Dream.

Give Them What They Want

Just found this over at townhall.com and thought I’d share. And, for the record, I completely agree.

Dear Republican Congress,

As a conservative Republican I am begging you to give president Obama and those who voted for him everything they want.

They want higher taxes on the rich and companies. Give it to them.

They want higher capital gains taxes that will hurt their investments. Give it to them.

They want a system that will make Medicare insolvent by 2024 and Social Security insolvent soon after that. Give it to them.

They want policies that will lead to constant double-digit unemployment rates for minorities and young people. Give it to them.

They want an educational system that entraps the poor in failing schools. Give it to them. 

They want higher energy prices. Give it to them.

They want to spend trillions of dollars fighting global warming while China and India continue to tap oil and coal. Give it to them.

They want 20 trillion dollars plus in debt. Give it to them.

They want the Obamacare penalties to kick in next year. Give it to them.

They want a larger, more powerful Washington DC. Give it to them.

They want a more secular society that is increasingly hostile toward religion. Give it to them.

They want a more “fair” society run by bureaucrats. Give it to them.

They want socialist cronyism. Give it to them.

They want to go down the road of Europe. Give it to them.

In addition to the aforementioned, I say that we legalize weed from sea to shining sea. Wait … not just weed but acid. Think of how creative everyone could be and how it would distort the Obama voters’ reality from the truly sucky conditions his policies have created. That’s what you call a bona fide two-fer, folks. You’re welcome.

Oh, and we mustn’t forget cocaine and heroin legalization. And bath salts! How could I forget bath salts? Bath salts help spice things up during an unemployed weekend! Calgon’s calling. Nothing like dumping drugs into a culture of entitlement. I can’t imagine that going south.

Yes, I join with my friend Irwin and say that we give it to them and find out once and for all who is right. If we are right, they will have no one to blame but themselves, and maybe we will finally get true change in this country and in the Republican party so that we have a real choice in the years to come.

If we are wrong, then so be it. I will gladly repent of my evil conservative ways and become a socialist … I mean Democrat.

The 2012 Election Outcome Was Predicted in 1857

As early as 1857, Thomas Macaulay, the British historian, predicted what the inevitable results of “the system” would be:

The day will come when (in the United States) a multitude of people will choose the legislature. Is it possible to doubt what sort of a legislature will be chosen? On the one side is a statesman preaching patience, respect for rights, strict observance of public faith. On the other is a demagogue ranting about the tyranny of capitalism and usurers and asking why anybody should be permitted to drink champagne and to ride in a carriage while thousands of honest people are in want of necessaries. Which of the candidates is likely to be preferred by a workman?

When Society has entered on this downward progress, either civilization or liberty must perish. Either some Caesar or Napoleon will seize the reins of government with a strong hand, or your Republic will be as fearfully plundered and laid waste by barbarians in the twentieth century as the Roman Empire in the fifth; with this difference, that the Huns and vandals who ravaged the Roman Empire came from without, and that your Huns and vandals will have been engendered within your country, by your own institutions.

Taking Back America

The time has come. The citizens of this country either must draw the line and take America back from the politicians and entitlement-hungry looters who now control it or we must be prepared to relinquish forever their remaining claims on liberty.

I’m talking about restoring the American Dream. This means each individual regaining his right to his life, his liberty, and his pursuit of happiness. It is time for Big Brother to get out of our lives – to let go of the reins and allow us to control our own destinies.

The fundamental concept of our founding fathers was that people have a natural right to sovereignty over their own lives and that governments have no right to interfere with that sovereignty. In that respect, the Declaration of Independence, as a document, was unique in human history. For the first time, men were saying that they were above government, that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Government has nothing to do with the American Dream. It is government that has succeeded in destroying that dream. The American Dream is a way of life that can be experienced only by free individuals.

Please understand that the American Dream has nothing to do with a country. The American Dream has to do with the freedom of people to pursue their own happiness without the interference from others. It could have originated anywhere, but luckily its birth occurred in a geographical area called the United States of America.

What loving America really means is loving the American Dream. It means loving freedom and individualism. It means admiring all the people who have contributed both to the birth of that dream and to its furtherance. These people cannot be distinguished by race, religious belief, nationality, occupation, or sex. They can be distinguished only by their common belief that liberty must be accorded the highest of all values.

Another concept is destroying the American Dream, however. The proponents of the welfare state (the collectivists) have succeeded in making millions of people believe that the America Dream is outdated. But how can an idea as basic as freedom ever be outdated?

In truth, it is the firmly controlled society that is outdated; it has been around since the beginning of recorded time. Indeed, it is rare to find a government at any time in history that was not a monarchy or other kind of dictatorship; the attempt to make men free was almost unheard of until 1776.

The American Dream means the freedom to pursue a better life and it was that freedom which inspired millions of people to cross oceans to get to America. Those millions of immigrants were not looking for government handouts; they were looking for opportunity. The American Dream gave them that opportunity. Unfortunately, with the nanny state we have built and with unbelievably porous borders and no upholding of our laws, illegal immigrants flood here and receive instant handouts at the expense of honest producers.

We do live in the greatest and freest country on earth. But it is much less great and much less free that it once was. The question is, do we love living here enough to do something about preserving what is left of that greatness and freedom, enough to restore them to their original state?

(Further posts and steps you can take right now are forthcoming. A start of some steps is here.)

This post is based on Robert Ringer’s Restoring the American Dream.