Friday, June 28, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Are you a brute?
Today on the radio show, Will Grigg (http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/) talked about punitive populists. Lew Rockwell talks about Red State fascists. Both of these labels offended me when I first ran across them. The Red States are the good states. The people of America are the salt of the earth, it is only their wicked government which ruins things. Maybe not.
Michael Rozeff (http://lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff412.html) gives me at least one insight per article, usually more.
It is my belief that evils that we are seeing do not come about unless the public not only tolerates them but wants them. Economists would say that there is a demand for them. Behind these demands is a demand for Law and Order, and behind that demand is the even more basic DEMAND FOR FORCE.
People aren't content with law and order (the protection of property). They want to use aggressive force to bend people to their will, be they neighbors or foreigners. The lust to dominate rules the hearts of middle America. This is the hook that the state uses to trick us into our own slavery -- the lust to make others our slaves.
I am saying politely that the American public is brutish at heart, prone to resort to force, not freedom-loving at heart and not justice-loving at heart. I am not one who blames government for being the sole cause of the evils that we are seeing. I think social-political causation is more complex. It is a two-way street running between public and government; it is a dance with two partners. First one takes the lead, then the other. There is an interaction.
The worship of force is the official religion of the United States. Elected officials are the eye-candy which tricks us into thinking force works to our benefit and we're not really being evil by using it against those we disapprove of (even if our disapproval is justified).
The public largely believes in might makes right. The public has adopted and become used to the idea that all ills can be overcome by government laws and force. A basic misapprehension is at work in this belief. The people leading the government think that FORCE works to alleviate various ills and problems both domestically and overseas. The public shares this belief.
And later in the article Rozeff talks about how the state exacerbates the moral failings of the population.
When the American public worships government’s use of power, it worships the brutishness in itself. The two go hand in hand. To the degree that a people is uncivilized, it will produce an uncivilized society and an uncivilized government. But government, consisting of men and women elected to use force, is not a mere tool of the public. Causation works in both directions. The government actively promotes the use of force, educates and propagandizes on its behalf and extends its use in the lives of the society and overseas. The people and the government people they elect are at one and the same time independent and dependent. What they share is a demand for the use of force, as opposed to a demand for freedom.I recommend the entire article. I can't do it justice.
Friday, June 14, 2013
I follow the writings of Dr. Robert Higgs (Crisis and Leviathan) on Facebook. Today he was posting quotes from Leo Tolstoy.
"The government assures the people that they are in danger from the invasion of another nation, or from foes in their midst, and that the only way to escape this danger is by the slavish obedience of the people to their government. This fact is seen most prominently during revolutions and dictatorships, but it exists always and everywhere that the power of the government exists. Every government explains its existence, and justifies its deeds of violence, by the argument that if it did not exist the condition of things would be very much worse. After assuring the people of its danger the government subordinates it to control, and when in this condition compels it to attack some other nation. And thus the assurance of the government is corroborated in the eyes of the people, as to the danger of attack from other nations." -- Leo Tolstoy, "Christianity and Patriotism," 1895
"Not only does the action of Governments not deter men from crimes; on the contrary, it increases crime by always disturbing and lowering the moral standard of society. Nor can this be otherwise, since always and everywhere a Government, by its very nature, must put in the place of the highest, eternal, religious law (not written in books but in the hearts of men, and binding on every one) its own unjust, man-made laws, the object of which is neither justice nor the common good of all but various considerations of home and foreign expediency." -- Leo Tolstoy, "The Meaning of the [1905] Russian Revolution," 1906
"The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens." -- Leo Tolstoy
To round out this, my first post to Patriot's Lament (Thanks, Josh, for inviting me), I'd like to share this video from the people at Reason:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SegAoSpHJck&feature=player_embedded
"The government assures the people that they are in danger from the invasion of another nation, or from foes in their midst, and that the only way to escape this danger is by the slavish obedience of the people to their government. This fact is seen most prominently during revolutions and dictatorships, but it exists always and everywhere that the power of the government exists. Every government explains its existence, and justifies its deeds of violence, by the argument that if it did not exist the condition of things would be very much worse. After assuring the people of its danger the government subordinates it to control, and when in this condition compels it to attack some other nation. And thus the assurance of the government is corroborated in the eyes of the people, as to the danger of attack from other nations." -- Leo Tolstoy, "Christianity and Patriotism," 1895
"Not only does the action of Governments not deter men from crimes; on the contrary, it increases crime by always disturbing and lowering the moral standard of society. Nor can this be otherwise, since always and everywhere a Government, by its very nature, must put in the place of the highest, eternal, religious law (not written in books but in the hearts of men, and binding on every one) its own unjust, man-made laws, the object of which is neither justice nor the common good of all but various considerations of home and foreign expediency." -- Leo Tolstoy, "The Meaning of the [1905] Russian Revolution," 1906
"The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens." -- Leo Tolstoy
To round out this, my first post to Patriot's Lament (Thanks, Josh, for inviting me), I'd like to share this video from the people at Reason:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SegAoSpHJck&feature=player_embedded
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Contributing to slave labor
We had a guy call the show today, who calls himself "token socialist" (TS), and he basically said that buying from WalMart makes you responsible for the slave labor conditions in China, and you are contributing to the suicide rate there, where people are diving off buildings to end their enslavement.
I am going to give you my opinion, one you may not have heard or thought of before.
First, I am not a communist, and do not condone the communist system. I do not condone indentured servitude, slave labor or whatever.
I hate the State.
What I am for is Liberty and the ability to live and trade freely.
The Chinese have lived through one master after another, and their latest master is communism. The communist system has murdered tens of millions of Chinese, and yet TS is upset, saying middle class America is taking advantage of these Chinese by purchasing goods made in China.
I would say that middle class Americans buying Chinese goods has had the opposite effect for the Chinese people. Before the Chinese were making goods that Americans bought, the Chinese were slaves to their government with literally no value. Killing millions of them just made it easier to feed the rest that were kept alive. They lived like dogs, getting zero in return for their work, only whatever the Great Leaders decided to give them.
Then the Market stepped its foot into China, and by selling cheap goods to the Americans, (those greedy good for nothings), the Chinese laborer suddenly had value, his actual life had a certain value that it had never had before. He could make the State rich. As time has gone on, the average working Chinese people have seen their standard of living go up, not near what America has seen in previous years, but it is better than it was. And I say, given more time, the Free Market will destroy the Communist Chinese and the Chinese people will flourish. In the meantime, buying Chinese goods is making the Chinese Slave more valuable to the State, which induces the State to treat them better and better. A healthy, happy slave is going to produce more than a sick unhappy one. In time, the Market will show that a Free person can and would produce even more.
Take North Korea for an example. They produce no goods that the Western world buys. They are the most impoverished people on the planet. Has middle class America brought them to their fate? Not at all-- the State and Socialism has. If the people of North Korea were allowed to make goods that the West would purchase, their standard of living would skyrocket. Would they be eating prime rib in the first year? Nope. But a bite of meat to go with the 2 spoons of rice would be an improvement, and it would progress from there. China is proof.
I asked, and would like to know, from whom should I purchase goods from then, if not ever from the Chinese? Should all my purchases go to "American" companies and corporations? American companies pay extremely high taxes, which ends up going to the military industrial complex, and feeds the war machines that enables the U.S. to make war with all peoples of the world (including their own), and to kill people in the Middle East simply because they are brown. So am I more ethical by supporting that? Trading with American companies simply makes the U.S. government stronger through taxation. Period. More jobs going overseas means less tax slaves for the U.S., which makes it harder for it to make war.
And here in the U.S. we see that the opposite is happening than what is happening in those "Slave States." Americans are losing Liberty as fast as the clock can move.
So strike a blow for Liberty, help those enslaved by the Socialist Marxist government of China, and buy quality Chinese goods. Help to truly feed the poor, and raise an entire people's standard of living. One day you can say you helped in the collapse of the Chinese Communist government, and used the Free Market to do it.
I am going to give you my opinion, one you may not have heard or thought of before.
First, I am not a communist, and do not condone the communist system. I do not condone indentured servitude, slave labor or whatever.
I hate the State.
What I am for is Liberty and the ability to live and trade freely.
The Chinese have lived through one master after another, and their latest master is communism. The communist system has murdered tens of millions of Chinese, and yet TS is upset, saying middle class America is taking advantage of these Chinese by purchasing goods made in China.
I would say that middle class Americans buying Chinese goods has had the opposite effect for the Chinese people. Before the Chinese were making goods that Americans bought, the Chinese were slaves to their government with literally no value. Killing millions of them just made it easier to feed the rest that were kept alive. They lived like dogs, getting zero in return for their work, only whatever the Great Leaders decided to give them.
Then the Market stepped its foot into China, and by selling cheap goods to the Americans, (those greedy good for nothings), the Chinese laborer suddenly had value, his actual life had a certain value that it had never had before. He could make the State rich. As time has gone on, the average working Chinese people have seen their standard of living go up, not near what America has seen in previous years, but it is better than it was. And I say, given more time, the Free Market will destroy the Communist Chinese and the Chinese people will flourish. In the meantime, buying Chinese goods is making the Chinese Slave more valuable to the State, which induces the State to treat them better and better. A healthy, happy slave is going to produce more than a sick unhappy one. In time, the Market will show that a Free person can and would produce even more.
Take North Korea for an example. They produce no goods that the Western world buys. They are the most impoverished people on the planet. Has middle class America brought them to their fate? Not at all-- the State and Socialism has. If the people of North Korea were allowed to make goods that the West would purchase, their standard of living would skyrocket. Would they be eating prime rib in the first year? Nope. But a bite of meat to go with the 2 spoons of rice would be an improvement, and it would progress from there. China is proof.
I asked, and would like to know, from whom should I purchase goods from then, if not ever from the Chinese? Should all my purchases go to "American" companies and corporations? American companies pay extremely high taxes, which ends up going to the military industrial complex, and feeds the war machines that enables the U.S. to make war with all peoples of the world (including their own), and to kill people in the Middle East simply because they are brown. So am I more ethical by supporting that? Trading with American companies simply makes the U.S. government stronger through taxation. Period. More jobs going overseas means less tax slaves for the U.S., which makes it harder for it to make war.
And here in the U.S. we see that the opposite is happening than what is happening in those "Slave States." Americans are losing Liberty as fast as the clock can move.
So strike a blow for Liberty, help those enslaved by the Socialist Marxist government of China, and buy quality Chinese goods. Help to truly feed the poor, and raise an entire people's standard of living. One day you can say you helped in the collapse of the Chinese Communist government, and used the Free Market to do it.
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