The Myth of the Greater Good

This is an excellent piece and possibly one of the most important articles I’ve ever read. I received this from the Laissez Faire Club. Enjoy and please pass on.

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The Myth of the Greater Good
by Wendy McElroy

 

In entry-level philosophy class, a professor will often present the a scenario that seems to challenge the students’ perspective on morality.

The argument runs something as follows: “The entire nation of France will drop dead tomorrow unless you kill your neighbor who has only one day to live. What do you do?”

Or “You could eliminate cancer by pressing a button that also kills one healthy person. Do you do so?”

The purpose is to create a moral dilemma. The questions pit your moral rejection of murder against your moral guilt for not acting to save millions of lives.

In reality, the questions are a sham that cannot be honestly answered. They postulate a parallel world in which the rules of reality, like cause and effect, have been dramatically changed so that pushing a button cures cancer. The postulated world seems to operate more on magic than reality.

 

Because my moral code is based on the reality of the existing world, I don’t know what I would do if those rules no longer operated. I presume my morality would be different, so my actions would be as well.

As absurd as they are, these are considered to be the “tough” moral questions. In grappling with them, some students come to believe that being true to morality requires the violation of morality in a profound manner; after all, there is no greater violation than the deliberate murder of another human being.

But how can the life of one outweigh those of millions in your hands? At this point, morality becomes a numbers game, a matter of cost-benefit analysis, rather than of principle. This is not an expansion of morality, as the professor claims, but the manufacture of a conflict that destroys morality. In its place is left a moral gray zone, a vacuum into which utilitarianism rushes.

Suddenly, it becomes obvious that the good of the many outweighs the murder of the one. The collective outweighs the individual. The majority outranks the minority. Hard “factual” utilitarianism is preferable to gray, inconsistent morality.

The philosophical questions lead directly into politics because murdering a person for the greater good is not merely a moral question, but also one of individual rights. If you accept the morality of doing so, you have also accepted the political propriety of murdering an innocent human being.

Phrased in political terms, nonhypothetical versions of the philosophy question come up often. For example, “Should the rich or businessmen (the few) be heavily taxed to provide national health care (for the many)?” Here, a greater good is pitted against individual rights. But more than this, individual rights of two groups conflict, with the rights of a resisting minority viewed as a barrier to the “rights” or entitlements of “the others.” Businessmen are deemed to have no right to their earnings if it prevents the majority from having health care.

This politically manufactured conflict is as absurd as the philosophically manufactured one.

The 19th-century British individualist Auberon Herbert addressed the issue of the “good of the greatest number.” He stated, “There never was invented a more specious and misleading phrase. The Devil was in his most subtle and ingenious mood when he slipped this phrase into the brains of men. I hold it to be utterly false in essentials.”

Why is it false? Because the phrase assumes as a given that a higher morality requires the violation of individual rights. Or in Herbert’s words, “It assumes that there are two opposed ‘goods,’ and that the one good is to be sacrificed to the other good — but in the first place, this is not true, for liberty is the one good, open to all, and requiring no sacrifice of others, and secondly, this false opposition (where no real opposition exists) of two different goods means perpetual war between men.” [Emphasis added.]

Herbert is relying on two intimately related theories: first, ”the universality of rights”; and, second, ”a natural harmony of interests.” The universality of rights means that every individual has the same natural rights to an equal degree.

Race, gender, religion or other secondary characteristics do not matter; only the primary characteristic of being human is important. A natural harmony of interests means that the peaceful exercise of one person’s individual rights does not harm the similar exercise by any other person.

My freedom of conscience or speech does not negate my neighbor’s. The peaceful jurisdiction I claim over my own body does not diminish anyone else’s claim of self-ownership. Indeed, the more I assert the principle of self-ownership, the stronger and more secure that principle becomes for everyone.

Only in a world where rights are not universal, where people’s peaceful behavior conflicts, does it make sense to accept the need to sacrifice individuals to a greater good. This is not the real world, but one that has been manufactured for political purposes.

Herbert explained a key assumption that underlies this faux world: the acceptance of the “greater good” itself. He asked, “Why are two men to be sacrificed to three men? We all agree that the three men are not to be sacrificed to the two men; but why — as a matter of moral right — are we to do what is almost as bad and immoral and shortsighted — sacrifice the two men to the three men? Why sacrifice any one… when liberty does away with all necessity of sacrifice?”

 

Herbert denied the validity of “this law of numbers, which… is what we really mean when we speak of State authority…under which three men are made absolutely supreme, and two men are made absolutely dependent.” Instead of accepting the law of numbers as an expression of greater good, Herbert viewed it as a convenient social construct, calling it “a purely conventional law, a mere rude, half-savage expedient, which cannot stand the criticism of reason, or be defended… by considerations of universal justice. You can only plead expediency of it.”

To whom was the social construct of conflict convenient? Why would a faux world of inherent conflict be created? By solving the manufactured problems, a great deal of power was transferred from individuals to a ruling class.

 

Herbert wrote, “The tendency of all great complicated machines is to make a ruling class, for they alone understand the machine, and they alone are skilled in the habit of guiding it; and the tendency of a ruling expert class, when once established, is that at critical moments they do pretty nearly what they like with the nation…”

Rather than solve a social problem, the ruling class had a devastating effect on the welfare of common people, who became “a puzzled flock of sheep waiting for the sheepdog to drive us through the gate.” Ironically, by claiming the collective was greater, the few were able to assume control over the many. The “greater good” devolved to whatever served the interests of the ruling class.

But the process can be reversed. It requires “individualizing” the collective and the nation so that “will, conscience and judgment” can return to every person.

At that point, society offers people “the noblest present” and the greatest benefit possible — “their own personal responsibility.”
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Wendy McElroy is an author, lecturer and freelance writer, and a senior associate of the Laissez Faire Club.

Obamacare Repeal Vote Petition

Tags

ACLJ petition, obamacare petition, obamacare repeal vote, senate vote on obamacare

As we all know, the House of Representatives voted 244-188 to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, yesterday. Although this is good news, the fight is not over. The measure must be passed in the Democratically controlled Senate, as well. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has vowed to block any attempt to even vote on the bill in the Senate. This is a blatant disregard for the law and the voice of the American people, once again, by those in Washington. The latest Rasmussen poll shows now 53% of American citizens want Obamacare to be repealed. One Fox News commentator said, “I have to wonder what representative democracy means when elected representatives refuse to even consider what their constituents want.”

Although it may be futile at this point to make our voices heard in this matter, I still want to do what I can to do my part. The following petition comes from the ACLJ and has 29,200 people who have signed as of this post. Click the link below to sign. http://aclj.org/obamacare/obamacare-repeal-vote-senate

Here is another site that offer a petition that will be given to the Senate to demand a repeal vote be taken. http://www.foramerica.org/

I express my thanks to any and all who take the time to sign the petition. God bless.

 

American Medical Care: It’s Terminal

Tags

american medical care, health care, medicare, Obamacare, patient protection and affordable care act, whiskey and gunpowder

The following is a very good article on the effects Obamacare will have on us all. The article was taken from Whiskey and Gunpowder and can be read here.

One quick fact I came across today that I find relevant was in a Daily Caller article in which a recent report has revealed that 83% of American doctors have, “considered leaving their practices over President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, according to a survey released by the Doctor Patient Medical Association.” Obamacare’s effects on the economy, the deficit, and the American people is hard to fathom; however, the following article offers great insight into this disaster of a bill.

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Whiskey & Gunpowder
by Jim Karger
July 5, 2012

American Medical Care: It’s Terminal

The final nail has been driven into the coffin of America’s medical care system (note it’s not healthcare because the system has nothing to do with health).

With the Supreme Court decision last week on ObamaCare, the US has taken its failed venture into socialized medicine, i.e., Medicare, and foisted it upon the general public, most of whom really believe they are going to get something for nothing.

It is as if the U.S. government doesn’t understand that doubling down on a losing bet doesn’t make it a winner. And let’s not forget that Medicare, which came to America as part of Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society,” has been a tragic, unmitigated failure.

US medical care is the most expensive care in the world. Some say that is because it is the best. Nonsense.

The overall health of the average American is nothing to write home about. The average life expectancy for a person born in the U.S. today is 78.49 – significantly lower than for people born in Monaco, Macau and Japan, for example, which have the three highest life expectancies at 89.7, 84.4 and 83.9 years, respectively.

American medical care is the most expensive because too many Americans are stressed-out, overweight pigs at the trough and the free market is not allowed to act as a not-so-gentle reminder that health is our individual responsibility. If insurance companies were allowed to fully underwrite risk on an individual basis, a 300 pound smoker probably couldn’t get insurance which might act as an incentive to stop smoking and lose weight.

To add fuel to the fire, Medicare has resulted in an artificial demand for medical services since they appear to be free (or nearly free) for those over 65. Have a hangnail? Go to the doctor. Cold? Go the doctor. Just need someone to talk to? Go to the doctor. Dying and want to squeeze out another month or two of lying in a bed connected to machinery at a cost of a million dollars or more? No worries. Government is going to pay the tab.

In still another affront to the market, Medicare utilizes price-fixing, the same kind of conduct that would result in you or me being imprisoned. The government decides what it will pay and the medical providers have to accept it. The net-net has been to transfer costs from the public sector to the private sector which has increased the cost of private health insurance while disguising the real cost to the taxpayer.

Three health insurance programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)—together account for 21 percent of the entire US budget (or did in 2011), to the tune of $769 billion. Nearly two-thirds of this amount, or $486 billion, went to Medicare. Even using the government’s numbers, it is estimated Medicare will be bankrupt and unable to pay benefits in just eight years, or, if you listen to Medicare’s own actuary, it will fail 4 years from now, in 2016.

The socialists don’t care. Their goal remains the same: to squeeze blood out of a turnip and to spend as if there is no tomorrow until there is no tomorrow. They don’t understand because they don’t want to understand.

However, it is not the socialists, but the so-called conservatives, who are the most disingenuous in criticizing American medical care. On the one hand, the neo-cons are up in arms over the Supreme Court’s decision in finding ObamaCare constitutional pursuant to the government’s power to steal (aka “tax”) but are silent when the subject is their own version of ObamaCare, or Medicare. Even the Republican Romney has made it clear that while he will try and repeal ObamaCare (in and of itself an ironic contention considering he invented it), he won’t touch Medicare. And, when he utters that wholly dishonest promise, you can hear a pin drop.

Even more pathetic than the politicians — none of whom have the guts to pronounce Medicare DOA — are those who are sucking the hind tit of socialized medicine today while raising hell over, well, socialized medicine.

How can Americans justify lining up for Medicare while being against ObamaCare? The most common response to this question? “I paid for it. I deserve it.”

The problem with that response? It is wrong. Charles Hugh Smith summarized the numbers as follows:

“Medicare tax is 2.9% of wages, 1.45% each for employer and employee. If the typical worker makes $30,000 a year for 35 years, then lifetime earnings are about $1 million. If we take the $40,000/year average, then that rises to around $1.4 million in lifetime earnings. The 2.9% Medicare tax thus totals about $30,000 to $40,000 in lifetime contributions for the average worker. The average benefits extracted from the system run from $393,000 to $525,000 (due to the benefits extended to non-working spouses, benefits for never-married people may be somewhat lower). Average annual costs per beneficiary run as high as $18,000, though expenses typically rise significantly in the last year of life.”

Medicare isn’t insurance. It is not something you fund with a willing counterpart taking the risk for a negotiated premium based on individual underwriting. Medicare is welfare, plain and simple. It is a government transfer program. Few receiving Medicare today paid enough to justify the government largess they are now receiving (or are hoping to receive).

Medicare is nothing more or less than a contemporary bread line for the sick and is destined to hasten the bankruptcy, and ultimate default by the United States.

ObamaCare isn’t different. It is just piling on. While the mechanism may be private insurance, there will be nothing free or free market about it. Government will use its heavy hand to influence, and ultimately decide both premiums and prices. The final tab for the assured deficit will make its way to the taxpayer.

Those who are pounding the drum, denouncing ObamaCare as if it was something new and hideous, are unimpressive. Where have they been the last 47 years? They have been enjoying it, knowing that someone else will ultimately have to pay their tab.

The frequently heard admonition that “we shouldn’t be passing this debt to our children,” sounds good, but means nothing. They are more than happy to pass the cost of their freebies to their children and grandchildren while crying crocodile tears and cursing big government.

Which brings me to the end, literally. One reason America is going to fail economically is simple and straightforward: No one is willing to take the pain for the profligate spending. The battle cry may be “Balance the budget!” But listen carefully. After the echo subsides, there is an almost imperceptible, but very real whisper, “. . . just don’t take away any of my entitlements.”

The patient has expired.

Regards,

Jim Karger

MUST READ – Obamacare Explained

Tags

businesses and obamacare, employer health insurance, health insurance, obamacare ruling, obamacare tax, PPACA

This is a VERY important article laying out what the Obamacare ruling really means. It can be read here, but I will post it below for convenience. Please pass this on. I have yet to read a better explanation of Obamacare.

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Go watch this segment again:

Now consider this — the PPACA sets forth a “fine” (tax) of $2,000 per employee for a business that has 50 or more and does not provide “at least” the minimum “insurance” to all.

There is no health care plan I’m aware of that a business can buy today that costs less than $2,000 per employee per year, and which also meets the requirements in the law.  None.  That was almost impossible to meet back in 1995 for a healthy, 18 year old insured single male.  It’s flatly impossible now and it’s doubly-so if your workforce has other than 18-year old single, healthy males in it.  I know this to be factual because I was responsible for buying it for our employees as a CEO of a company.

Therefore the incentive is for all businesses to drop health care.

Period.

Second, your choice is to either (1) buy and have said plan (whether through employment or individually) or pay a “fine” (tax) of 1% of income (increasing to 2.5% of AGI in 2016.)  The minimum “fine” is $95 starting in 2013, rising to $695 in 2016.  The average family income is about $50,000/year, which means that the fine (tax) will be $1,250 in 2016.  It’s less now.

You cannot buy health insurance at their “minimum level” for anything approaching $1,250 a year no matter how healthy you are at any age. 

The law prohibits insurance companies from charging you more if you’re sick, or refusing to cover you at all.  They must accept everyone on equal terms.

Therefore:

• Businesses will drop coverage; it’s cheaper (by far) for them to pay the fine and, for those under 133% of the federal poverty level, those employees can go onto Medicaid.  This is a “family of four” income of $31,900 (as of today; it will go up of course.)  That’s roughly the second quintile.
• Individuals will drop coverage and pay the fine, since it’s far cheaper than to buy the “insurance.”

Both will buy the “insurance” only when they get sick, since they cannot be upcharged.

The cost of “insurance” will thus skyrocket to 10x or more what it costs now, just as it would if you bought auto insurance only after you wrecked or homeowners insurance only after you had a fire.

At the higher price nobody will be able to afford to buy the insurance at all, since that will be indistinguishable from just paying for whatever is wrong with you, plus the insurance company markup.

In very short order the entire medical system and health insurance scheme will collapse, leaving only two choices — either a return to free market principles (including all I’ve argued for since this debate began) or a single-payer, fully-socialized system ala Canada.

You can bet the government will continue to try to change the terms of the deal — including ramping up the tax/fine and other games, to prevent this outcome, but they will fail.

Now the question becomes this:

Which Presidential political candidates have told you the above, and what are their answers to this dilemma?

Let’s go down the list.

• We know what Obama’s is — he passed it.  You will lose your private health care under Obama.  Period.  We are headed for a fully-socialized medical system and a collapse of the current medical paradigm under Obama.
• We know what Gary Johnson’s position is — he wants to “block grant” all Medicare and Medicaid to the states, cut the amount of money in the budget (all line items) 43% and repeal Obamacare (including the mandate.)  But he refuses to demand an end to the cost-shifting where Juanita the illegal Mexican immigrant who is 7-1/2 months pregnant while drug and alcohol dependent shows up in the hospital, in labor, and foists off a $2.5 million NICU and birth expense bill on you!  He also refuses to stop the drug companies from effectively forcing Americans to bear the cost of all drug and device development and he has refused to put a stop to differential billing.  The latter two only exist because of explicit federal laws that make lawful in the health industry market behaviors that are illegal in virtually every other line of work (see The Sherman Act, The Clayton Act, and Robinson-Patman for starters.)  All of these facts are why the costs are ramping in the first place, which means his plan will simply force the States into bankruptcy and continue screwing you at the same time.
• We don’t know what Romney’s plan is in detail.  He’s been oddly silent in that regard.  He says “Obamacare is not the answer” but he passed it as Governor on a state basis!  He too advocates nothing to put a stop to the cost-shifting and anti-competitive acts of drug and device makers nor hospitals and other medical providers.  He too wants to block grant Medicaid but that does nothing to address the problem and will simply bankrupt the state budgets (as noted for Johnson.)   Conspicuously absent from Romney’s plan (as is true for Johnson) is (1) a repeal of EMTALA, (2) a demand for level, consistent pricing irrespective of how one pays for a service (3) and a demand to remove anti-competitive laws protecting differential billing across state and national boundaries (e.g. Viagra for $2 in Canada .vs. $20 here) so that Americans are not forced to subsdize everyone else in the world and you pay the same price as the guy next to you in the hospital for the same product or service, instead of 2x, 3x, 5x, or even 100x as much.

So we have three Presidential candidates, none of which will do a damn thing to fix what’s wrong with health care.  All three are promoting a path that will bankrupt the States, bankrupt the Federal Government, bankrupt you or all three.

All three are promoting mathematical impossibilities.  All three are protecting monopolistic behavior and refusing to address specific laws that were passed to protect that behavior and special government-granted privilege; without those protections that monopolistic behavior would immediately collapse.

And worse, none of them has proposed a damn thing to deal with what the Supreme Court just did, which is grant a permanent ability to the Federal Government to compel any behavior by linking it to a tax.  Some examples of where this can (and might in the near future!) go include:

• You make cars.  You’re told to sell a car to anyone who makes under $25,000 a year for $5,000.  This is of course under your cost of production.  If you refuse, every car you make is subject to a $5,000 tax.  This is now Constitutional, as of this last week.
• You would like to have three kids.  The government decides that you may have only two.  If you have get pregnant with a third and refuse to have an abortion you must pay $10,000 a year in additional tax forever.  This is now Constitutional, as of last week.
• You may have all the abortions you want, but each costs $10,000 in tax.  This is Constitutional, as of last week.
• You must eat Broccoli and submit receipts with your 1040 proving you bought 1lb of Broccoli per person in your household per week.  If you do not, you must pay $5,000 in additional tax.  This is Constitutional, as of last week.
• If you are more than 10lbs overweight you must pay $2,000 of additional tax for every 10lbs overweight you are, with no cap.  This is Constitutional, as of last week.

You probably think I’m kidding on this.  I’m not.  This is what the Roberts Court held.  There is literally nothing that Congress cannot mandate that you do, or not do, under penalty of paying a tax.  All that was unconstitutional before the ruling now is explicitly constitutional if the only “compulsion” to do (or not do) a given thing is that you will be taxed if you refuse.  The court promised to review “reasonableness” of any such taxes in the future, but note that at the same time the court ignored two other problems with the Health Care law, making a lie of their claim of “future reasonableness” tests right up front:

• Direct taxes are unconstitutional without being apportioned.  This is clearly a direct tax and it is not apportioned.  It is therefore unconstitutional, but the USSC simply ignored this. (The 16th Amendment was required to make income taxes constitutional for this reason.)
• The Anti-Injunction Act prohibits suing the government over a tax until you have actually paid it.  This means that if the PPACA “penalty” is a tax then the entire lawsuit that went to the USSC is moot as it’s not yet “ripe” (since nobody has yet paid the tax.)  If they were going to find that this was a tax they were thus bound to dismiss the entire complaint as unripe.  They ignored that too.

In short the USSC has become no more legitimate than the North Korean government and is unworthy of your respect.

Unfortunately, as things stand right now on Health Care, none of the Presidential Candidates is worthy of your vote as none of them have put forward any of the above facts, or solutions to these problems, in their campaign positions.

I’m waiting for one — just one — to put forward a platform plank with regard to health care that I can actually support.

Posted 2012-07-01 15:04
by Karl Denninger

http://market-ticker.org/post=208016

Utter Disappointment

Tags

4th of July, america, american liberty, Declaration of Independence, Independence Day, patriotism

I was exceedingly disappointed to find that only ten of my two hundred and two Facebook friends mentioned Independence Day yesterday. Three of those individuals were currently serving in the military. I didn’t expect to see everyone write a page long status about our country’s founding, but a short sentence wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July would have sufficed.

Has America completely taken for granted what we have here? We are the longest lasting Constitution in the world for a reason. We are blessed beyond measure; yet, when one finds themselves logging into Facebook on Independence Day, they can’t offer up a small, “Happy 4th of July! Thanks to all the troops fighting for our freedom!”? Is it really too much to expect? Do I stand alone in finding this not only disappointing or embarrassing, but offensive?

In all honesty, I am terribly embarrassed by my list of Facebook “friends” who cannot take ten seconds of their time to comment on the holiday. The moment Justin Bieber smacks one of the paparazzi, the world of Facebook lights up with statuses and comments. The moment someone finds a comical picture, the status is written and the comments begin rolling in. But the one day of the year when we have the opportunity to celebrate the founding of our country, it is Facebook as usual?

Again, I do not expect some lengthy speech with quotes from the Founding Fathers or pictures of the Declaration of Independence as their profile picture; however, if we truly find something to be special, significant, or important, don’t we take note? Do we not comment on our love for someone on their birthday? Do we not reflect on how thankful we are to know that someone on their birthday? Do we not tell them, “happy birthday! I love you!”? Why should it be any different for our country? It is not because of her that we celebrated with grilling, fireworks, beer, entertainment, boating, food, sports, and people yesterday? Is it not because of the brave men and women serving in our military that we were able to freely celebrate? Yet, only ten (seven if you subtract those who are currently serving) of my peers could offer up a remark about Independence Day?

Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset telling our children and our children’s children what is was once like in the United States where men were free.”

The lack of respect, consideration, and regard for Independence Day made me very sad. I fear Americans will end up securing their own fate with this kind of attitude towards our country, its service-members, and our liberties. And you know what? Those who hold this neglectful, uncaring, forgetful, ungrateful attitude, deserve what is coming to them.

There is a plethora of information available to those who desire to know more about current events, elected officials, history, legislation, candidates for office, government procedures, etc. It is not that difficult to get informed. Unfortunately, Americans don’t seem to care. They just won’t give a dang if it isn’t exciting, easy, amusing, scandalous, dramatic, cheerful, or entertaining. “Figuring out who to vote for is just too confusing.” “Politics is boring.” “Talking about it just creates arguments and it’s just annoying.” “I just don’t have the time.” “Oh…that’s why everyone was wearing the ‘I Just Voted’ stickers…” “F*** America!” ‘I hate politics.” ”There’s too much information. I can’t decide.” “I don’t care, it’s not like it actually affects me.” “Politics just gets everyone mad.” “I don’t know, I’ll vote for the best candidate.” “Well, I’ll probably just end up voting for whoever my parents tell me to vote for.”  ”Ya, I guess I’ve never really gotten into politics.” ”Anarchy!” “Wait, we’re still in that war?” “Isn’t George Bush still President?” “Elections are when?!” “Ya I like him, I’ll probably end up voting for him!”

I remain confident anyone who is reading this has heard at least one of these excuses. It is unfortunate that Americans are not more interested in who is supposed to be securing our freedoms. That mistake will cost them dearly in the coming months and years.

I end with some relevant quotes:

“[The Declaration] ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this Continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” – Thomas Paine

“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them.” – Thomas Jefferson

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” – John Adams

“Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.” – John Adams

“Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.” –John Adams

“The Declaration of Independence [is the] declaratory charter of our rights, and the rights of man.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry

“I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.” –John Adams

Independence Day 2012

Tags

4th of July, Alexander Hamilton quote, american liberty, Declaration of Independence, Independence Day, John Adams quote, patriot post, patriotism

The following letter was taken from the Patriot Post’s Special Edition for Independence Day. The author is a patriot currently serving in Afghanistan. Please give his remarks a few moments of your time as we celebrate our independence and liberty today. I would also encourage my readers to lift up a prayer for America’s brave men and women currently serving in our military to protect our beloved Republic. May we never take our freedom for granted. God bless!

“All that I have, and all that I am and all that I hope to be in life I am now ready to stake upon it; and I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the declaration.” – John Adams at the signing of the Declaration of Independence
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Wisdom from the Warfront — Enemies Foreign and Domestic

“As an officer who faces combat challenges daily, and who has experienced my share of heartache in defense of our great nation in accordance with my oath, it pains me to see our elected ‘leaders’ so willfully defy their oaths to support our Constitution. But, war has taught me that we just take today at our best, because we never know what tomorrow will bring.

The seemingly insurmountable battle to salvage what is left of American Liberty simply means God will provide a great movement and great leaders to get the job done in His timing. While we may see no solution, it’s undoubtedly already in the making and I can only pray that He continues to use me in His service, along with all the other great Americans Patriots across our country.

Battles would not be great and triumphant if they were easy. The more the Left undermines Rule of Law, the more glorious the reconstitution and restoration will be, the mightier the battle, and the mightier the men who will fight it. I simply pray that I continue to grow to fight that war, just as I am fighting this one, and that God preserves me to do so. God provided us with the means and the personal example to triumph over the greatest of evils, He has provided us with the solutions to our own problems, we simply must trust it is within His plan.

Keep fighting the good fight, do not despair on the 4th of July, but celebrate that Providence provided us with the greatest blueprint for governments among men in 1789, with the spirit of 1776. As Alexander Hamilton said, ‘The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.’ Our rights are only referenced by the Declaration, but endowed by our Creator, and as such, are self-evident. Obama cannot erase them and long after we are dead and gone, the rights of man will be preserved in the essence of God’s creation available only through reflection in His gift of reason. Evil ultimately will not prevail — we are blueprinted with Victory.”

Really?

Tags

benefits of debate, benefits of discussion, controversial topics, dissent, freedom of speech

I have observed the constant appeal to quash dissent for some time now. It is not limited to my generation, as it affects all age groups. It is this mindset that infers that having any sort of passionate discussion, political, social, or otherwise, is something to be avoided at all costs. It is the idea that any dialogue involving the sharing, defense, or explanation of opinions is reprehensible. It is as if sharing one’s position or outlook is something to be suppressed. It is a curious concern, for diversity in opinions is important and, we are given the right to express ourselves freely in speech in the First Amendment. As Americans, we pride ourselves on our freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, and power to elect those we deem fit.

Common explanations as to why debate or discourse should be silenced or reduced is that someone might feel irritated, uncomfortable, or offended. Other rationals as to why dialogue pertaining to any subject (social, politics, relational, philosophical, economics, etc) should end, is that there might be tension, friction, or potentially hostility. ‘Political Correctness’ trumps any further discourse.

These is no reason to evade discussions, especially pertaining to serious matters such as whether to go to war or to remain neutral, whether someone broke the law or is innocent, or whether an act is sinful or not. These are all important issues in which many people will naturally have differing views. This is okay! It is not wrong to get enthusiastic or passionate about one’s convictions. Nor is it sinful to become angry or frustrated with those who do not accept, understand, or respect your beliefs.

Jesus became angry and expressed great emotion in Matthew 21:12-13 when he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and animal-sellers. The Word also says Jesus became angry with the Pharisees who refused to answer His questions and “He looked around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts” (Mark 3:5, NKJV). Anger itself is amoral, it is still an emotion until acted upon. It is not sinful until one takes their anger and sins by physically or verbally assaulting someone. This is not to say anger should be sought after or encouraged. We should all seek to be slow to anger, but if we do it is not a sin and is a naturally occurring emotion. The potential for anger or passion to occur in a discussion is no reason to not have discussion at all.

Oral arguments are not limited to the court room, nor should they be. For ”It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it” (Joseph Joubert). How can one protest an injustice if the very thought of getting into a discussion is shunned or feared? As Polish-born British mathematician Jacob Bronowski once said, “Has there ever been a society which has died of dissent? Several have died of conformity in our lifetime.” Should those who heard and saw the genocide of the Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals in the Holocaust refrained from expressing their disgust and outrage, because it might have caused people to become uncomfortable or the discussion heated? Should an exchange of views not take place over whether abortion is moral or not, merely because people have passionate convictions? Should a conversation regarding political matters be concealed, solely because people have differing opinions?

One can hold lengthy and even intense debates on the Xbox versus Playstation rivalry, whether the Whopper is superior to the Big Mac, or who would win in a face-off between Spiderman and Batman, but debates on important issues such as the church’s role in politics, the extent of executive privilege, and the effects of potentially harmful legislation, are shunned? It is mind boggling what people are more interested in talking about. It is also saddening that the American public more than likely can name at least three members of the TV show Jersey Shore than who holds the positions of Secretary of State or the Speaker of the House. Or the release date for Call of Duty: Black Ops II rather than when the elections take place this year.

Democratic hero Hubert Humphrey once said, “Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent and debate.” These types of issues need to be talked about. Debate is nothing to be feared, but something to be encouraged. It creates, if done correctly, an atmosphere of learning, solutions, and understanding. Could it simultaneously create an atmosphere of discord? Potentially, yes; however, as Abraham Lincoln once said, “To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards of men.” It is cowardly to avoid a discussion just because it is centered on a potentially divisive or emotional subject in which people hold strong positions. We must be bold and speak out against injustices. Liberal radio commentator Jim Hightower spoke similar truth when he said, “So now is the time, more than ever, for those who truly value all the principles of democracy, especially including dissent, to be the most forceful in speaking up, standing up and speaking out.” If we want to be free, we must be bold. If we want to make a difference, we must speak out.

If we suppress history, we are bound to repeat it. Likewise, if we suppress those who fear repetition of history, we are destined to repeat it. In a recent poll conducted in January 2012 showed that, “more than a fifth of young Germans [did] not know the name of Auschwitz or what happened there. Twenty one per cent of people aged between 18 and 30 quizzed about the most notorious Nazi extermination camp [did] not heard of it.” Similarly, in a Marist poll conducted in 2010 showed that 26% of Americans (1 in 4) did not know which country America declared independence from. A few months ago, a prominent Japanese mayor denied the 1937 Nanjing Massacre where 300,000 people were murdered.

Should these important pieces of history be hidden or not talked about because of their controversial nature? Should illegal immigration, same-sex marriage, abortion, drug usage, or Islamic terrorism, not be discussed because they too are controversial? No. Author Fay Foshell spoke to this very thing when he said,
“Conservative timidity amounts to an acceptance of the premise that ‘fair and balanced’ discussion includes giving the legitimacy of debate to moral outrages that should be repudiated outright.  Why accede to a ‘fair and balanced’ debate about partial-birth abortion or sex-select abortion?  Tell the supporters of such barbarities that they are moral monsters.  Why politely discuss the right to infanticide or the sexual exploitation and/or enslavement of children?  Call the persons what they are: murderers and perverts.  Why talk over the right or wrong of sucking out the brains of unborn babies during so-called ‘partial birth’ abortions?  Tell the doctors performing such ‘operations’ and their supporters that they are the equivalent of Joseph Mengele.
Moral monstrosities are not matters deserving polite talk, but evidence of societal pathologies and deformation of moral character so horrific that they deserve to be scorned, repudiated, and outlawed outright.  Why encourage so-called “civil” debate on such issues and thus give some credence to pure evil?”

Be bold. Speak frankly. Always cite your sources.

Veritas vos Liberabit
The Truth Will Set You Free

R.I.P: Rule of Law

Tags

individual mandate, individual mandate a tax, justice roberts, obamacare ruling

Most Americans know by now that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act otherwise known as Obamacare was upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28, 2012. The individual mandate states a private citizen must engage in commerce by purchasing a product the government has decided you require. Besides the loss of individual liberty, other consequences from the ACA include: imposing eighteen separate taxes on citizens (costing $503 billion), the potential for up to 46% of doctors to leave their practice, 20 million private sector employees to lose their health care coverage, 75% of Obamcare costs will fall on those making under $120,000 a year, increase the costs of college health care plans by as much as 1,112%, and will end up costing taxpayers $1.76 trillion over a decade according to the CBO.

Along with this ruling, a new definition of the word “tax” has emerged. Now, according the SCOTUS, if one does not engage in an activity (purchasing health insurance) the government can penalize you and that fine is a labeled as a “tax.” The government now has the ability to “tax” inactivity or the absence of a behavior (purchasing a product). In other words, the almighty United States government has decided, by passing and enforcing Obamacare, that the Americans can now be “taxed” for merely existing. It is a “tax” on your body. Evidently, choice only applies to abortion . . . as we have no choice in this. It’s mandatory. It’s whatever the hell they say it is. The perversion and distortion of words in this horrible act of lawlessness is obscene. However, everyone should be aware Obama during the 2008 elections told people he was against an individual mandate. He said by forcing the uninsured to purchase health insurance in an effort to get everyone insured equated to forcing the homeless to purchase a home in an effort to solve homelessness. He is correct of course, but he has once again lied to the American public.

The individual mandate was introduced to SCOTUS and the word “penalty” was used to describe the consequences for failing to meet the “requirement” of purchasing health insurance. Now, the Supreme Court has, instead of interpreting the law (their job), they have decided to re-write (create something more to their liking) the law and rename the “penalty” a “tax.” Currently, we have not been informed as to what exactly is being taxed.

On a brief side note, Barack Obama’s health care reform bill was passed in the Senate on December 24, 2012. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states, “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.” Therefore, because the Supreme Court ruled that not purchasing health care is a tax, the bill had to have originated in the House of Representatives. Those pesky Constitutional statues!

People are ticked off. They are sick to death of waking up in the morning, turning on the news, and learning of a new government intrusion, scandal, lie, or regulation. I would like to think the American people have woken up to find the chains of slavery on their wrists and ankles; however, I remain unconvinced.

The question, “where does it end?” has been answered: it doesn’t. The overreaching of power remains unbroken. The constant lying from politicians running for office has continued. The rules, regulations, orders, and mandates are incessant. The hand of a TSA agent is continually being thrust up our asses for our own “good.” The effort to dictate every detail of our lives (from what food we eat, what car we drive, where we sit, what we say, how much water pressure is in our shower-heads, what we drink, etc), is relentless. The attempts to remove God from our schools, our homes, and our government is unwavering. It does not end.

This author believes that God has weighed this country in the balances and found its wanting. There is a great justice to be done by the Lord if we do not turn from our evil ways, repent, and return to Him. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Developing . . . More to come. 

More on this:

• http://blog.heritage.org/2012/06/28/a-clarion-call-for-the-american-people/
• http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/it-now-falls-congress
• http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/09/obama-mandate-is-not-a-tax/
• http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2012/06/cantor-house-will-vote-on-repeal-week-of-july-127555.html
• http://aclj.org/obamacare/jay-sekulow-one-vote-short-overturning-obamacare
• http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/taxing-decision
• http://atr.org/full-list-obamacare-tax-hikes-a6996
• http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/12/obama-admin-finalizes-rules-1-abortions-in-obamacare/
• http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-degeneres-why-he-opposed-individual-mandate-forcing-uninsured-buy-insurance
• http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/304386/obamacare-not-constitutional-sen-rand-paul

Stupid, Stupid, Jackasses

Tags

ann barnhardt, obamacare ruling

I will be posting more on the recent developments in our nation soon. I apologize for my lack in posts this week. The following is written by Ann Barnhardtand it outlines exactly my current sentiments. Please read it all the way through. The video of Patrick Henry’s Speech is extremely relevant. This is it folks. Please pass this on.

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It isn’t just Lindsey Graham that is a stupid, stupid jackass. If you’re buying any of this, “Everything’s fine! We actually WON on ObamaCare, and Roberts is a genius!” jackassery, then go look in the mirror and behold the Sombrero of all Asshats.Are you detecting ire? Are you getting the sense that I’m just a LITTLE pissed off? It’s one thing to watch a bunch of godless, drug-addled, moloch-worshiping Marxist dumbasses spew mental diarrhea, but to have to sit and watch pretty much everyone on the right do the same thing is just too much. Do you people not have functioning brains? Is there truly no capacity for any intelligent thought or the ability to recall and parse objective facts and evidence? Really?

Let’s start with an analogy. Defending this week’s SCOTUS decision is directly analogous to the following:

Ann’s Omelet Recipe:

1. Gather every egg in your kitchen. Throw them all down the garbage disposal. (This omelet is going to be so good. Trust me.)

2. Go out to your breaker box and turn off the electricity to your entire home. (No, really. It’s going to cook up better than anything you’ve ever had before.)

3. Burn your house down. (This omelet is going to be delicious. You’ll see.)

4. Find a handgun. Load it, cock it, put it in your mouth, pull the trigger and blow your brainstem to kingdom come. (Can’t you almost smell how delicious this omelet is going to be?)

Roberts is not a “Machiavellian genius.” Roberts is a moral degenerate lifetime Washington D.C. politico, who is well known in the beltway to be borderline obsessed with his image. In other words, Chief Justice John Roberts emotionally operates on the same level as the average twelve year old girl, and just sold out not just the Republic, the Constitution and the entire American populace, but really the entire planet, because now that the United States is no more, the forces of evil will run absolutely rampant over the rest of the planet. And Roberts did it so that a bunch of coke-snorting sodomites and psychopaths in Georgetown will pretend to like him – for about five minutes.

Roberts just ratified the “right” for the government to tax people on their existence. Either you purchase a service commodity, thus paying a tax which is collected by the insurance company itself, or you will pay a tax to the IRS directly. Insurance is, for all intents and purposes, an innovation of the last fifty years, meaning that almost no one carried any insurance of any kind, and insurance was itself in some places ILLEGAL (and now we know why, because if allowed to cover anything other than large disasters, insurance will, by mathematical definition, destroy any market that it comes into contract with and end in fascism.)

All of this ObamaCare mandate is a pure function of being a living human being. My required car insurance is a corollary to my totally optional decision to own and drive a car. The requirement that I carry “full coverage” insurance instead of the minimum liability-only insurance is a corollary to the fact that I freely choose to lease my car, and thus there are additional conditions that I must meet. Income tax was tied to the fact that I chose to work and generate income – not on my existence itself. Property tax is a corollary to my decision to buy real estate. The gasoline tax is a corollary to my free decision to drive a car, and a car that runs on gasoline. Yes, I think that income and property taxes in particular are intrinsically morally dubious, but that is not the debate before us. The debate before us is whether the Federal government, or ANY government can ever, ever licitly tax human beings on the very fact that they EXIST.

The obvious answer is NO. We do not choose to bring ourselves into existence. Human life is the property of God Almighty, who has of His own goodness, charity and perfect will deigned to gift us with free will so that we might exist in His image – sovereign, reasoning and thus capable of authentic love, the freely chosen gift of self to some “other”. And even at this, God only asks that in return we worship Him at His Mass on Sunday, and that we *voluntarily* tithe ten percent of our income, or whatever we can manage. But the tithe is *voluntary*, not coerced.

The state, fully ratified by the emotional schoolgirl John Roberts, has now elevated itself above God, and has done nothing less than declare itself god. The state now sees itself as the source and arbiter of human life, demanding and coercing tribute in exchange for permitting human life to continue. Fail to pay tribute to Moloch for your very existence, and your property, your liberty and eventually your life will be forcibly confiscated.

Oh, but all of the dumbasses out there swear up and down that this step in the battle for the Republic had to be lost so that we could later, in some grand strategy, win the war.

Listen dumbasses, the war is already lost. YOU JUST LOST IT. You didn’t just sac your queen in order to set up a checkmate. Your ass just got checkmated and Barry Obama is sitting on the couch lighting up a joint, and texting Reggie Love to come over for a little celebratory sodomy.

Which brings us to Barry Obama. One of the big arguments I see is that Roberts’ decision “catches Obama in a lie, so we’ve got him now!”

I don’t even know what to say to this. It is so stupid it just makes me want to give up on the entire deal.

Listen Jackasses, everything Obama has said and done for his entire adult life, his entire political career, his entire campaign, and in his entire regime is a lie. For the love of God, EVEN HIS NAME IS A LIE. He passed an obviously forged birth certificate last April. Every single thing he has said, promised and done has been total, complete, objectively proven lie after lie. And you think you’re going to checkmate him with THIS? You think that a point of semantics between “penalty” and “tax” is going to bring him down in this nation of Snooki-watching imbeciles? Are you on drugs, or just merely stupid?

And now the argument that if we just get a few more “republicans” into Washington D.C., we can stop him!This plane of stupidity makes me the most irate. What in the hell is wrong with you people? Do you not have any recollection of anything that has happened? How did those 2010 elections work out for you? Boy, that really put the brakes on the Obama regime, huh? Wake the hell up. Obama has not been slowed down in any way. His tyranny and destruction has not been held up or checked in any way. It has only accelerated since the day he usurped the White House.Remember the Debt Ceiling fiasco? Remember how Obama utterly rolled everyone, and I had to explain that we didn’t win, but instead got prison raped while everyone on the right was celebrating the great victory over Obama? Remember that clusterbungle? You know what the Congress managed to do with regards to the debt ceiling? Um, yeah, they gave Obama EVERYTHING he wanted, plus some. Obama said, “Raise the ceiling.” They raised it. Obama said, “Increase taxes.” January 2013 will mark massive tax hikes kicking in. Obama said, “Increase spending.” Done. Obama said, “Give me carte blanche spending authority with no Congressional oversight so I can loot the Treasury and embezzle and write billion-dollar checks to my oligarch cronies.” Done. Automatic spending cuts, called “sequestration” were written into the debt ceiling negotiations. Obama has just said, “Blow the sequestration cuts off.” Done. In September, Obama will say, “Just eliminate the ceiling altogether.” Nancy Pelosi has already said that is what is coming. Guess what will happen?

Obama just declared by executive fiat de facto amnesty. What have your precious little Tea Party freshmen done to counter that? Nothing.

Obama has by executive fiat declared same-sex marriage the “law of the land.” What have your precious little pants-pissing Tea Party congressmen done to counter that? Nothing.

Obama has started wars and entered the United States military into new combat theaters with ZERO congressional approval, and has told the congress through Leon Panetta that congress will no longer even be CONSULTED OR INFORMED of new wars. No. Obama MIGHT notify them, after he has consulted the U.N., if he has the time and feels like it. What have your mighty, mighty Tea Party freshmen done to counter that? Exactly nothing.

Obama has intentionally armed narco-terror armies in Mexico with the expressly stated intention of using firearms found at scenes of mass murder in Mexico to engage in sedition against the Second Amendment and thus disarm the American people. I count at least THREE capital offenses in that: mass murder, shadow war against a sovereign nation, and sedition against the United States. What have your precious little Tea Partiers done? Written a few letters with some mildly strong language? Sat and watched while the Attorney General LAUGHS at them? Take a purely symbolic vote to “shame” people who are murderous psychopaths and have no shame?

Arrest Holder, Hillary Clinton, and Obama, try them for mass murder, making war against Mexico and sedition against the United States, convict them with due process, put them against a wall and shoot them until they are dead, and then you come back and give me your little rah-rah speech about how “everything’s gonna be fine.” But not one second before.

And for the last time, spare me any of your truly, truly demented and psychotic fantasy-weaving about Mitt Romney, the father of ObamaCare and vociferous defender of the mandate, riding to the rescue and repealing his own precious, beloved demonspawn.

Watch the video below. I recorded it back in January and almost forgot about it. I listened to it this morning, and hearing Patrick Henry’s words again now in the context of Roberts’ decision, the escalated and unfathomable lawlessness of the Obama regime just since January, and the complete state of insane denial of reality from the right makes Henry’s speech positively SPOOKY.

Bottom line, if you continue to argue that Roberts’ decision was anything less than the end of the Republic, then you are either a total jackass, or you are despicable liar looking to keep some stream of revenue or power concentration flowing. And may God forgive you for whichever sin you choose to wallow in; unrepentant cowardice, unrepentant willful stupidity or unrepentant greed; because, knowing what’s coming, I’m not sure I can.
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POSTED BY ANN BARNHARDT – JUNE 30, AD 2012 3:29 PM MST
http://barnhardt.biz/index.cfm

Racist Test

I received this in an e-mail and thought I might share. Enjoy!
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Do you like him any better white?

No?

Me neither.

See, you’re not a racist.

Author Rosenberg: America’s Spiritual Void Could Lead to Implosion

Tags

American implosion, economic collapse, end times prophecy, Joel Rosenberg, spiritual revival, spiritual void, third great awakening

This is an article citing an interview with Joel Rosenberg which can be found on Newsmax.com. Another really great article from Joel Rosenberg can be found here.
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America’s internal crises — of faith, of spiraling crime, of massive debt, of moral and spiritual void — could lead to an implosion and the best hope for preventing it is a spiritual great awakening, author Joel Rosenberg told Newsmax.TV.

Rosenberg new book “Implosion – Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges in Time” addresses the enormous internal threats America is facing. Rosenberg told Newsmax that he usually writes about the external threats to America and Israel, such as radical Islam but that “we’ve got internal threats that are enormous and they’re building so rapidly that it concerns me as an American.”

The author says that because America is not mentioned in the last days as prophesized in the Bible, “something happens to neutralize us, to sideline us, or at least to paralyze us from projecting influence and force into the world at large and into the Middle East specifically where most end times prophecies will happen.”

“Bible prophecy talks about very specific countries: Israel, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon, and others with very specific plans and purpose for them in the last days,” he said. “What’s extraordinary is, United States does not show. Here we are the wealthiest, most powerful country on the face of the planet in the history of mankind and we don’t show up anywhere in end times Bible prophecy. And the question is why not, what happens to us?”

Rosenberg said the scriptures do not mention what has happened to America but the evidence might be found in what’s happening to the country now, pointing to the circumstances the country faces: “$15 trillion in debt, $65 trillion worth of unfunded promises that the government has made towards us with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid all coming due with no way to pay for that and the financial trouble we’re already in. On the economic side, people on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, are talking extensively about how much danger we are of collapsing or imploding.”

Alongside the financial woes, Rosenberg said “if you look at the moral and spiritual side, we’re even in more trouble.” He cites the high divorce rate, infidelity, unwanted pregnancies, drug abuse among young people, and violent crime in small-town America.

“Even in small town America, the FBI just reported – I don’t have it the book ‘Implosion’ because it just happened – the report shows from the FBI that in small town America, we’re seeing a murder wave up 18 percent. Murders. Up 18 percent in small town America. The place where we say, ‘That’s where are values are strongest, you know. That’s Andy Griffith and Barney Fife country, you know. Aunt Bee and Opie.”

One chapter of the book addresses natural disasters and how God tries to send messages with such events.

“He will use earthquakes and tidal waves and all kind on natural disasters to shake people and get them to start thinking less about the sins that they’re involved in and start thinking about their only hope being in Jesus Christ,” Rosenberg said.

“We’re seeing meltdowns in small towns, in major towns and then you add to that rampant pornography, the pornography industry’s making more money than ABC, CBS and NBC combined annually, and abortions,” Rosenberg said.

“We’re at 53 million plus abortions in the United States. We are rapidly approaching 60 million human beings murdered . . .  How long until He either removes His hand of favor on our country or proactively begins to judge it?”

The book focuses on this question and explores whether a “third great awakening” could happen, “a spiritual revival so sweeping that it would rival or surpass the spiritual awakening of the Great Awakening in the early 1700s and the second Great Awakening of the early to mid-1800s,” Rosenberg said. Failing that, he added, “I don’t see, based on the evidence, economic and moral, that we can make it that much further.”

Thursday, 21 Jun 2012 03:23 PM
By Patrick Hobin and John Bachman
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Canning Jars—An Economic Indicator?

Tags

canning jars, food prices, off the grid, rising food prices

This is an article from Off the Grid News. It is very short, but nonetheless very informative.

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“I don’t need Money News to tell me that America’s economy is in trouble. I don’t need the Wall Street Journal to tell me about unemployment figures and I don’t need the Center for Economic and Policy Research to tell me that my money doesn’t go as far as it once did or that the equity in my house is down 33% over the last five years. All I have to do is take a trip to the local Walmart. The first thing you notice is the dwindling stock on the shelves… which is a pretty good assessment of our economy’s health, as far as I’m concerned. And have you noticed the packaging? Everything is smaller. They try to sneak it in with fun little euphemisms like “portion size” and “more compact.” My favorite is “less fat” or “less calories per serving.” They shrink the package, then shrink the portion sizes. Voila! Instantly diet-friendly. The problem is, the only thing losing weight is my checkbook. I used to complain about $100 grocery trips. Now I’m whining about $150 to $200 grocery store trips that bring home less food than ever. Before you know it, a wheelbarrow full of money will barely be able to buy a loaf of bread. It’s like an inevitable progression from bad to worse. But do you know what the most telling portent about our economic vulnerability is? At least to me? The canning aisle.My garden has produced rather well this year. I’ve been putting up vegetables like crazy, and have started to run out of jars. A few days ago I had my husband run to Walmart to pick me up a “case or two” of pint wide-mouth jars for the wax beans. I told him they’d run about $6 to $7 a case. There were none. And not only were there none, they cost $9.29 a case. He checked at all the Walmarts, Lowes, Dollar General, and everywhere else he could think about and came up dry. Obviously these folks had only ordered a case or two and hadn’t bothered to restock, I thought.I couldn’t have been more wrong. Walmart gets a shipment of jars every day from their central warehouse. By noon, they’re gone. The girl stocking the shelves at one of the stores in my town told me they’ve had to break up fights between people over canning jars. Lowes is restocking constantly and still can’t keep their shelves with adequate stock.I was going to be a smarty pants. I headed for my computer and thought quite smugly that I’d just order them online. I went first to Amazon, because after all, traditionally, Amazon is cheaper than most everyone else on everything. And since I have Amazon Prime, I could probably get the jars here in two days, no sweat.

Oh they had pint-sized wide-mouth jars all right… for $17.62 a case! My bottom lip hit the floor with a thud and I about fell out. $17.62 a case? What in the world was going on?

It’s the economy, just like I said. More and more people are beginning to see the signs of the times and have decided that a garden and Mason jars are a pretty wise investment. Folks are beginning to read their pocketbooks like a gypsy fortune teller reads tea leaves, and they don’t like what they’re seeing. What about you?”

The Euro – Just Like the Titanic

Tags

euro bailout, euro crisis, european bailouts, eurozone, greece bailouts, nigel farage, spanish bailouts, Thomas Jefferson quotes on debt

This is a great video showing the utter madness of the current bailouts occurring in Europe. See below.

Some quotes on debt:

• “It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.” –  Thomas Jefferson
• “We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude.” – Thomas Jefferson
• “The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys.” – Thomas Jefferson
• “The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced, if the nation doesn’t want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 B.C.
• “There is not a more important and fundamental principle in legislation, than that the ways and means ought always to face the public engagements; that our appropriations should ever go hand in hand with our promises. To say that the United States should be answerable for twenty-five millions of dollars without knowing whether the ways and means can be provided, and without knowing whether those who are to succeed us will think with us on the subject, would be rash and unjustifiable. Sir, in my opinion, it would be hazarding the public faith in a manner contrary to every idea of prudence.” – James Madison
• “A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.” – G. Gordon Liddy
• “…either immediately or ultimately every dollar of government spending must be raised through a dollar of taxation.” – Henry Hazlitt
• “No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable.” – George Washington

Laissez Faire Books

Tags

economics, Frederic Bastiat, laissez faire books, The Law

I discovered this screaming deal that Laissez Faire Books is giving out to new subscribers. It’s only $10 bucks a month, but they send you four different books including Frederic Bastiat’s The Law and much more! I’m signing up! Are you? Let us know! Here here for the link to sign up!
Here is the e-mail I got from Laissez Faire Today,

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Dear Laissez Faire Today reader,

Today I’d like to introduce you to a major change we’ve decided to make to Laissez Faire Books’ 40-year history of doing business — a change that I believe will directly impact your knowledge of economics, the way you protect your liberty against the police state, and even how you look at your personal freedom (or lack there of).

I’ll explain this change — and its benefits — in a moment. But first, a quick apology…

Normally we reserve the pages of Laissez Faire Today to explore economic theory policy, to tip you off on threats to your personal liberties, or to explore protection strategies.

This missive doesn’t directly focus in on any one of those specific things.

Instead, I’d like to focus on the intersection of all these things, and how they all add up to affect your life. I’d like to take you from the “analysis” we normally offer in these pages to whole new world of “actionable advice” that you can put into place today to make you smarter, happier and wealthier.

For the first time we’ve found a way to deliver you the knowledge base of all the classic economic ideas, and combine that knowledge with things you can do to workaround laws that affect your personal liberties.

For example… although you may not know this, the government passed a law in 1993 that’s surely cost you $1,000s in new clothes. The law removed a vital ingredient from detergent that kept clothes clean and white. They claimed the ingredient created algae growth in streams and ponds. Their claim has never been proven… even to this day, nearly 20 years later.

But I’ve found a natural element that works around this boneheaded regulation. Add a cup of this element to your next wash and it whooshes away stains and dirt, leaving clothes clean and smelling fresh. Best of all, you can buy this element from the paint department at your local Home Depot or Lowes. It’ll cost you less than a dime per wash, yet it’s guaranteed to save you $1,000s in clothes over the years.

You may not think government regulation on laundry detergent is a huge problem. But it’s these small laws that, added up, really put the boot on our throats.

Over the course of my 20 year career, I’ve found a dozen of these small workarounds. Each of them can help you take back control of your own life, thumbing your nose at Uncle Sam and the legions of regulators who believe they’re in position to tell you how to live your life.

I’ve written up all 10 of these loopholes in a new report called, Hack Your Showerhead: Plus, Nine Other Ways To Get Big Government Out of Your Home. 

As executive editor of Laissez Faire Books, I’ll gladly send you a copy of this report, free of charge. In return, all I ask you do is agree to be part of an exciting new change in our business…

I’d like to invite you to become a member in the brand new Laissez Faire Club — the first full-service, digital-age, private society of big ideas.

As a member, you’ll have everything you need to cultivate learning and living a free life. And best of all, everything in the Club comes to you for free, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars in expenses.

Your membership starts with the report I’ve just told you about, Hack Your Showerhead: Plus, Nine Other Ways To Get Big Government Out of Your Home.This report shows the best ways that you can fight back against all the ways the regulators are trying to wreck your way of life. The way to receive the report is to become a club member.

You’ll also receive our new Economics in One Library box set of books, mailed directly to your doorstep. This carefully selected set includes the great work by Henry Hazlitt Economics in One Lesson, plus Garet Garrett’s Bubble that Broke the World (the true story of the Great Depression) and F.A. Hayek’s Tiger by the Tail. Each includes fantastic introductory material to explain what it is all about.

In addition, this set will include a new edition of Frederic Bastiat’s classic essayThe Law, with an introduction by Agora Inc.’s founder, Bill Bonner. Having reread this monograph recently, I’m amazed at just how timely it truly is. I can see why it has inspired so many over the course of a century and a quarter. In some ways, this one essay is all you need to understand the social, economic, and political orders. It opens eyes as nothing else.

Together, these four books help you understand the world a whole new way, providing greater clarity on politics, economics, and personal life management. Never again will you be confused about terms like Keynesian spending, quantitative easing, or credit default swaps.

This Economics in One Library set will be for sale in the traditional Laissez Faire bookstore at the regular price. But as a member to the Laissez Faire Club you’ll have it delivered to your doorstep at no charge.

In addition, your membership to the Laissez Faire Club:

provides you with free, high-quality e-books that we publish every week. You can access from your laptop, e-reader, smart phone, or desktop. Read just 1/10 of these books and you’ll be the smartest person on your block, guaranteed… grants access to videos and private podcasts to allow you to read and absorb the ideas in those books more quickly, saving you hundreds of hours of reading time… connects you with some of the most intelligent and knowledgeable people in business, finance, and the world of ideas. This allows you to leverage hundreds of years of experience as you learn, discuss, socialize and share pass ideas back and forth … saves a boatload of money on every printed book in the Laissez Faire catalog, with a clean 20% discount on all 1,000 titles.

That’s a lot of benefits, I know. So let’s cover some of those things in more depth…

FREE E-BOOKS: When you become a member to Laissez Faire Club today, you’ll enjoy one new book per week. But it doesn’t come in a packet. It is delivered through the website and arrives for your e-reader. It could be an early release of a new book by today’s most remarkable writers. It could a great classic.

Regardless, each one will be what is called an “essential read.” Each one is custom built with new introductory material and other tools.

This weekly delivery will cause the digital bookshelf to fill up fast. That is just fine. A digital reader can carry whole libraries in a thin package. Members will have access to an archive too that will have books added as fast as we can make them.

These books will provide you with an education unrivaled by any Ivy League college.

FREE AUDIO BOOKS: You will receive audio books as we produce them, starting with the best contemporary work on libertarianism, read by the best professionals. In time, we will add an introductory course in economics — with video, text, and tests — available for you and your family members.

Download these books to your MP3 player, or listen to them on a CD in your car. You’re free to take the ideas on the go with you, no matter where you’re going.

FREE VIDEO CLIFF NOTES: I’m often told me that my own video reviews of books are wonderfully informative because I boil down hundreds of pages into small bites and explain the themes and ideas in the context of the current political and economic culture. As a Laissez Faire Club member you’ll be able to download and enjoy as many of these video “cliff notes” for free, for as long as you’d like.

I will involve others in these video reviews as time goes on. I’ll interview authors, ask experts in various fields to weigh in, and broaden the discussion to include older works.

LIVE ONLINE SEMINARS: Imagine if you could have studied under F.A. Hayek or Ludwig von Mises in the 1930s. Their modern equivalent will be made available to Club members in real time. Here’s how…

Technology today allows for live online seminars, where people can gather to hear lectures and ask questions in chat. This has only been possible for a few years, and, in my own view, this is an underused technology today. It has great potential to allow you to meet up in real time with some of the best thinkers and experts.

But the vision of the Club goes far beyond distributing literature…

Have you been reading about the government’s attacks on the Internet and how this is has alarmed advocates of free speech?

Well, the chilling effect has already arrived, and public spaces are becoming ever less useful and informative. That brings me to what I believe could be the most exciting part of this club…

PRIVATE COMMUNITIES TO SHARE IDEAS: The Laissez Faire Club provides exactly what is needed right now: a free city within the digital world. This private city stays off the search engines, protects your privacy, keeps your browsing habits and discussions out of reach from prying eyes, and allows you to form real friendships with safety and confidence.

A members-only forum provides an opportunity to read along with others and discuss the book, chapter by chapter, giving your reactions and considering them alongside other members.

This is a wonderful way to stay constantly in touch with people who share your values and contribute to your learning and knowledge. It will become your essential community, the basis of professional networks and great friendships.

Forums can form charming internal cultures and are thoroughly humane and friendly for everyone — provided they are set up properly. The big problem with most public forums, however: they are too public. Public forums invite drive-by commentators, trolls, lurkers, jerks, flame wars, and worse. A very common complaint concerns profanity. Administrators work hard to keep the culture clean, and as a moderator of many forums for years, I can tell stories you wouldn’t believe. It is a full-time job that is never done.

But you know what solves it all? A wall, a privatization, the formation of a club, the creation of a gated community. This is what lets a vibrant and healthy community develop, one based on civility, intelligence, mutual respect, and genuine excitement about ideas. This is a core of what the Laissez Faire Club offers.

Having built many web properties from 1995 onward, I can assure you that there’s never been a better time to join this effort. And when you claim your membership today, you’ll be in fine company.

The initial team we’ve assembled to lead this effort include…

Bill Bonner, founder of Agora who has been called the Bastiat of our time… Joel Bowman, the erudite essayist for the Daily Reckoning… Gary Gibson, the radical voice of Whiskey and Gunpowder… N. Stephan Kinsella, the attorney who revolutionized the theory of intellectual property… Chris Mayer, world-travelling capital-markets analyst who not only predicted the housing crisis… John Papola, the genius filmmaker who immortalized the battle between Keynes and Hayek in brilliant videos… Addison Wiggin, the entrepreneur who built Agora Financial into a commercial powerhouse.

I’m thoroughly convinced: this club will change your life – putting you in place to take control of your health, happiness and finances — as nothing else ever has.

It’s the unity of actionable ideas, technology, and private enterprise, all in one package.

That why I would love to welcome you as a member. Give it at try. Become a member for the monthly price you might pay for a fast-food value meal… just $10 per month.

Ideas are the most valuable commodity in the world — more valuable than riches and more powerful than governments. Ideas are real. They built civilization and they drive history. It’s time that we take them seriously and mix the right ideas with the right market forces. This can be a new beginning for all the things we believe in.

Simply click here to claim your membership to the Laissez Faire Club.

I hope to see you in the online community…

Sincerely,

Jeffery Tucker

P.S. As soon as I hear from you today I’ll email you your free “Hack Your Showerhead” report. In that e-mail I’ll include your club username and password. And, finally, I’ll drop your Economics in One Library set in the mail for you to enjoy.

It’s Not Fair to Be White Don’t Cha Know

Tags

image of God, Psalm 139:13, racial justice, racism, reverse racism, Tim Wise, Un-Fair Campaign

In the moment of relief, when you think you’ve heard it all and it could not get any worse, something like this shows up.

Please watch the following 30 second clip:

Sponsored by the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), the Un-Fair Campaign seeks to “achieve ’racial justice’ by raising awareness of ‘white privilege.’” With slogans such as, “Is white skin really fair skin,” “we’re lucky we don’t get stared at every single time we walk into a room,” “we’re privileged, because society was set up for us [whites],” and “we’re privileged, and that’s unfair,” I wonder if this isn’t an example of reverse racism. Well, I don’t wonder . . . I know it is.

Their premise is that being white is unfair. Obviously, that is absurd; however, this ad-campaign is pushing the notion that because of MY skin tone, it is somehow unfair to those of different skin tones. Reverse racism. Where is the criteria for determining the unfairness of “whiteness”? If a Caucasian is visiting a country such as China, Japan, or India, are they still being, “unfair?” Is a white person only being “unfair” in America? Basically, others can take pride in their race, but I cannot. Caucasians must now look themselves in the mirror with shame, because others have different skin tones? What happened to tolerance? What the hell happened to celebrating diversity? What the hell happened in the first place? This doesn’t cause unity among all humans, this creates division.

I am Caucasian. I did not choose to be. I have not been racist towards anyone. I am proud of my heritage, my color, and my values, as should every other individual. I believe we are all created in the image of God. I will not for one minute feel guilty because of the color of my skin. Are there those who are racist? Yes. Is that my fault? No. I thought skin tone didn’t matter (it doesn’t) and that everyone is the same (they are)? Yet, this ad-campaign is saying it does matter and that everyone is not the same. They are almost inadvertently advancing the (false) notion that whites are supreme above other races! Oops. Although they are apologizing for being white, they are simultaneously agreeing they need to be sorry, because Caucasians are somehow “dominate.”

According to The Blaze, “The Un-Fair campaign also held a series of lectures and events on campus last semester. One included a presentation by Tim Wise, author of Dear White America. In his book, Wise confesses a ‘longstanding fantasy’ where he turns to a man with a ‘Bless the USA’ button and asks him, ‘why can’t you just get over it?’”

How tolerant, permissive, and open-minded!

There are individuals in every racial group who hold intolerance and hatred for another race. Furthermore, there will always be people who are racist, discriminatory, or prejudice. Is it wrong? Of course! But to insinuate that the Caucasian race needs to apologize or feel guilty, is wrong. It isn’t just wrong, it is satanic. Why? Who hates us more than anybody? satan. Who loves us more than anybody? Jesus. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.” Psalm 139:13 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Therefore, whether one is Caucasian, African-American, Native-American, or Mexican, we are all created in God’s image. satan (lack of capitalization purposeful) on the other hand is the father of lies. He wants nothing more to divide us, encourage self-hatred, and persuade us that we will never be “good enough.” This is what that ad-campaign does. It attempts to make one of white color feel bad about who they are. Again, satan would enjoy nothing more than to feed us the idea that we are not made in God’s image, we were not “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and we must change ourselves for other people. God loves us just the way we are. He made each of us for a purpose. We must learn to embrace who God made us to be and celebrate the uniqueness of others as well.

God Bless.

More on this:

• http://d-umn.campusreform.org/group/blog/university-sponsors-campaign-to-undermine-white-privilege
• http://www.theblaze.com/stories/not-fair-to-be-white-see-the-unbelievable-new-campaign-sponsored-by-the-university-of-minnesota-duluth/