Brad Miller

Posts Tagged ‘collectivism’

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Government Made Disasters – Red Cross in Spain Taking Donations for Spainards

In True nature of the State on October 11, 2012 at 2:19 am

Has a hurricane, tsunami, or flood hit Spain that I’m not aware of? If not then why is the Spanish Red Cross collecting money to help their fellow country man?

The Red Cross is out soliciting donations around Spain because people are beginning to starve in Spain. How can that happen in a First World Nation? Has there been a Famine caused by drought, locust or some other Biblical Plague? No. There hasn’t been a faminine in Europe since Laissez-Faire Capitalism hit the shores of Europe.

Has there been a war that has disrupted the economy? No, Spain’s last real war was the Spanish Civil War back in the 1930′s.

Has there been a massive outbreak of disease forcing millions to be unable to not work? Well sort of. Its not a physical disease but rather a mental “disorder” that is causing massive physical effects for the people of Spain today.

The reason why so many people in Spain are needing ”assistance” is because of the ideology the majority of the Spanish have embraced over the decades. Spain and the other “PIIGS” Portugal, Ireland, and Italy are suffering the effects of what happens when Individuals embrace the ideas of Collectivism and elect politicians who put those ideas into action.

I’m not saying that the Bankers, Politicians and Pundit apologists didn’t orchestrate this collapse. They were front and center. But when individuals forget they have a God-given right only to their own life, liberty and property they suffer the effects of the violation of the Natural Laws.

Right now the Red Cross in Spain is going around the country soliciting donations for those according to Bloomberg Business “are hurt by the economy and government austerity measures”. But the article did not dig into why the economy is in shambles in the first place.

Spain is the case study for how Collectivism fails even when its shrouded in t”Deomcracy”. It was on the forefront of the Green Economy movement and gover the last decade has seen massive government intervention into every aspect of the economy. Just four years ago American politicians were pointing to Spain as the model for how to turn an economy around. Those politicians may want to rethink that now.

Spokesman Jose Javier Sanchez Espinosa for the Spanish Red Cross laid out the current ”Utopian State” of Spain today:

“25 percent of children are living under the poverty level and old people now have their children and their grandchildren depending on their pensions,” he said.

“Spain is in its second recession in three years, and has near 25 percent unemployment”

Spain is in bad shape. The reason why is simple. The people of Spain like the people here have traded liberty for security and now they have less and less of both.

It reminds me of the story of the Farmer who wanted to catch some Wild Hogs on his property and domesticate them. The Wild Hogs were wary and proud creatures who regarded the farmer with great suspicion because of the stories they heard of the animals being caged and slaughtered on the farm. They valued their independence living in the forest only by their brain and their brawn. Sure the forest was dangerous and nothing was guaranteed but he Wild Hogs were crafty, strong, and self-reliant; that was until they discovered how tasty free Farmer corn could be.

The Farmer was cunning and patient. He knew he could never get all the Wild Hogs into a pen by force. So instead of the stick he used the carrot or more accurately, free corn. .

He began putting corn out in a small clearing next to the forest. At first The Wild Hogs were leery but soon one by one they began to eat the corn. After a few days of laying out the corn the Farmer put up some fence.  Not too close to the corn but close enough that the Wild Hogs noticed it when they ate. They rationalized it away. They told themselves “Hey, I’m still free I can come and go as I please and this corn is mighty tasty”.

Now as days passed the Wild Hogs continued to eat the free corn and the Farmer began putting up more and more of the fence.  The Wild Hogs didn’t mind at all and became more and more accustomed to it. As the second side of the corral was completed the Wild Hogs told themselves  “I’m not worried I can still come and go as I please and this corn is so tasty”. They even didn’t mind seeing the farmer because they knew that he was the one brining them the corn. After a few weeks of this The Wild Hogs now didn’t even notice the fence at all, it was just part of the landscape. That was until the Farmer put in the last of the fencing, installed a gate and locked it shut. That was the day the Wild Hogs became very aware of the fence and that they could no longer come and go as they pleased.

But the Farmer assured them that the fence was there for their protection. They were safe in the pen from the wolves that lurked in the forest and they no longer had to go out searching for food in the forest. So the Hogs calmed down and settled into a routine of sitting around each day waiting for the farmer to bring the free corn.

Over time the farmer began cutting the rations back  and the pigs  after a while noticed and began to protest. But what could the pigs do? The Farmer simply ignored their pleas. They were trapped. They could no longer escape. They now were no longer the Wild Hogs who lived free in the forest by their brains and their brawn. Their muscles had atrophied and their power to reason was gone. No longer were they strong enough to push the fence over or smart enough to work the gate.  The once Proud Wild Hogs were now nothing more than trapped domesticated pigs.

The people of Spain,Italy, Ireland and Greece are all beginning to feel the “restricted rations of corn” from their Government Farmers. The crazy thing is that those who are calling for austerity are the one’s who  have fattened themselves the most by using the Central Banking System and the ability of Government to tax through force. The PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) don’t have a chance. The Farmers today, the central bankers, politicians and pundits, are all trying to pen up as many people as possible so  that they ensure that their supply of corn is never shut off.

The people were not forced into these pens by the pointing of guns. They were  domesticated little by little over the years by the desire for a steady diet of free corn. The majority of people around the world clamor to be taken care of. People naturally want to do other things besides work. Work is strenuous, hard and requires people to use their God-give ability to reason. None of that is easy.  Mises like to called this natural human tendency the “disutility of labor.” Everyone he wrote would rather do something else besides work. Fortunately (I’m being sarcastic) there are philosophers and politicians who take advantage of this human tendency with concocted theories of “collectivism” which gladly relieve the masses of their need to reason and place the responsibility of their lives in the hands of the Government Farmers.

The observable results of the Collectivist philosophy in action are always the same.  It is not something new. In the last century Collectivist Governments have killed over 170 million of their own citizens. A lot of these were “non-comliant” pigs who were agitating the other pigs in the pen and others were “undesirable pigs” who were starved to death either by design or simply through bureaucratic neglect. When your life is in the hands of the Central Planners, a.ka., the Government Farmers, they decide who lives and who dies.

It is sad. This is not some abstract debate about the theory and practice of governing. This is about millions of people beginning to starve to death in a First World Nation. That is startling. I think more people should be outraged at this because the same ideology that penned up the people in the PIIGS is running rampant through the hearts and minds of Americans today.

A lot of people in America are beginning to notice the government fencing in their lives. Unfortunately  Mitt Romney and Obama are not talking about taking down these fences, they are in fact talking about making them higher and stronger. Make no mistake about it, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Obama Care, 401ks, IRAs, tax deductions are all Fences designed to keep you in the Centrally Planned Pen. Instead of demanding to hear about how these fences should be taken down, the only thing most Americans want to hear is who among the Government Farmers will be giving them the biggest ration of corn.

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Living Free of Government Fences

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Rand, Rush and the Religious Rigtht

In Advocates of Liberty on May 14, 2012 at 10:52 pm

Thomas Jefferson ” I don’t care what my neighbor does as long as he doesn’t pick my pocket or break my leg.” I wish Rush and Rand Paul believed the same thing.

Recently President Obama changed his mind on Gay Marriage. That’s not a big surprise since 1 out of six of his bundlers, those who raise huge amounts of cash for his campaign, are gay. Neither is it a big surprise that Rush Limbaugh and the Religious Right are still against Gay Marriage. What is surprising is that Rand Paul agrees not with those who want more liberty for folks but with those who want some people to have less. I had hoped that Rand Paul would carry the Torch of Liberty into the 2016 presidential race, but I don’t think so after his remarks he made last Friday.

Rand Paul has been an ardent supporter of Liberty in the Senate since being elected. Often times he has been the lone dissenting voice arguing against war in Syria and Iran and the expansion of the Federal Government at home. That is why it shocked me to hear what he said about Obama and the president’s stance on Gay Marriage. Rand Paul said that:

“Obama’s remarks could not get any gayer.”

That is a shocking statement coming from a man who is on record as being a champion of Individual Liberty. Now he did make that remark while speaking in front of the Faith and Freedom Foundation, a part of the Religious Right. So I’m not sure if this is what it takes to win an election in Kentucky, or since he said it in Ames, Iowa he is groundwork for a run for president in 2016. This maybe his ploy to garner votes in the future but it is the wrong way to advance the cause of Liberty today. Unfortunately this is the remark that will be remembered come 2016 and not all of this other statments concerning the 16 trillion-dollar deficit, the massive military industrial complex running rough shod over the world, and the growth of the government regulatory apparatus at home.

Rand Paul would have been a whole lot better off reading from his father’s book “Liberty Defined” at the Faith and Freedom talk. This would have been a better way to talk about gay marriage not as a moral issue but one of Individual Liberty. Ron Paul believes as Rand does that marriage should be between a man and a woman. But in “Liberty Defined” Ron Paul stresses that the reason that this is even a political issue is that it’s the Growth of the meddling government into the private lives of individuals that is the real problem. Whether you personally agree with the choice of who someone marries, it is still their  God-given natural right to choose.

Ron Paul asks the fundamental question in the chapter on Marriage in “Liberty Defined”:

“Why should the government give permission to two individuals who want to call themselves married?”

Even though Ron Paul is not in favor of Gay Marriage for himself, he understands that Liberty is indivisible. Everyone’s Natural Rights are Inalienable.

Ron goes on to argue that he believes gay marriage is actually a First Amendment issue.

“Though there may be a traditional dictionary definition of marriage, the First Amendment should include allowing people to use whatever definition they like as long as force and fraud are excluded.”

Ron Paul also in “Liberty Defined” believes that marriage should be a private contractual matter.

“In a free society…all voluntary and consensual agreements would be recognized. If disputes arose, the courts could be involved as in any other civil dispute.”

Marriage is a partnership between two people who voluntarily agree to share their life and their property. If a religious organization doesn’t approve of the union they should not be forced to perform the wedding. And if a person doesn’t agree with Gay Marriage they have no legal obligation to marry a member of the opposite Sex. There is no need to use the force of Government to prevent people from engaging in peaceful voluntary behavior.

Ron Paul goes on to equate government licensing of marriage to that of any other government licensing, which Rand Paul is usually opposed to.

“In economics, licensing is designed by the special interest groups to suppress competition. Licensing for social reasons reflects the intolerant person’s desire to mold other people’s behavior to their standard. Both depend on the use of illegitimate government force”.

While Rand Paul’s position on gay marriage was a surprise to me, Rush Limbaugh’s is not. He had a discussion with himself on his radio program about how the people in this country do not want Gay Marriage. He made a point to show that what Obama really said was that he was for gay marriage and that the states should decide the issue. Rush said that 32 states had decided that gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed. Why I’m even brining up Rush’s name is that he went on in another segment to talk about how ”Conservatism” was based upon Liberty. I’m sorry Rush you can’t advocate for the use of Government force to limit individual’s ability to choose how they live and call that “Liberty”. Conservatism actually agrees with the fundamental tenets of Collectivism in which the majority has the right to use government force to mold other people’s behavior. I’m sorry to tell Rush and Rand Paul that Liberty is not based upon the will of the Collective.

“Man has inalienable rights which cannot be taken away from him by any other man, nor by any number, group, or collective of men.” Ayn Rand ”Textbook of Americanism”

A lot of Conservatives and members of the Religious Right do not believe that if they vote to prevent two individuals from entering into a voluntary contract of marriage they are expressing authoritarian collectivism. Conservatives, the Religious Right and Obama all believe that Government is not limited but it is “unlimited” according to the will of the masses. I’m not surprised at their agreement in the matter. But I am surprised that Rand Paul is on the opposite side of individual Liberty when it comes to Gay Marriage. Maybe he will come out and clarify his position like his father did in his book ”Liberty Defined” and realize that it is about Individual Liberty and not religious belief.

During his speech in Ames, Iowa Rand Paul further disappointed those who love Liberty when he said “It did bother me though that he (Obama) used the justification for it (his reversal on Gay Marriage) in a biblical reference. “He said the biblical Golden Rule caused him to be for gay marriage. And I’m like what version of the Bible is he reading?”

For me the Bible’s basic tents are  to treat others the way you want to be treated, love yourself and love others, and be self-responsible. Gay marriage in no way violates these basic tenets. Just as Gay Marriage doesn’t violate the basic tenets of the Natural Right to Life, Liberty, Property and the pursuit of happiness of those who oppose it.  It is hard for me to understand how those who claim to “Love thy neighbor as thyself” could be against the right of two people to enter into the most meaningful of human contracts; marriage. When you deny a person or group of person’s their Natural Rights you are in essence dehumanizing them and unfortunately in the past when this has occured it has led to the commiting of horrible attrocities.

Gay folks have been persecuted for centuries if not for millenia. In fact so many gay people were burned alive in the Middle Ages they were called as a disparaging term, by the common word for kindling,; Faggots. During WWII thousands of gay men were killed in concentration camps and through the extermination through work programs. Himmler one of Hitler’s henchmen set up in 1936 “The Reich Central Headquarters for Combating Homosexuality and Abortions.” When you use the force of government to prevent people from getting married it is a form of violence and follows in the horrible tradition of persecuting people for who they love. And once people get used to thinking that someone is “less than” they are  or “sinful” in the eyes of their God its much easier for them to close that gas chamber door or work them to death in concentration camps.

What is encouraging though today is  that Gay People are a lot less likely to be persecuted physically for their biology. But the “us” vs “them” mentality of many Christians and Conservatives who view Gay People as immoral still allows them to justify preventing same sex marriage. Its so easy to forget that we are all just  individuals on this blue and green orb trying to live our lives the best way we know how.  The only real difference that matters between people is not their sexual orientation but  if they use force or fraud to limit the peaceful behavior of others.  Peace and love are always a better way than Hate and War and Freedom is always better than Slavery.

Rand Paul’s Remarks about Gay Marriage and the president hurt the cause of Liberty and not just for those who want to marry a member of the same-sex. When people hear a high-profile ,up until now, defender of Individual Liberty, say something that is totally anti-Liberty it makes all his other positions seem hypocritical or insincere. When politicians pander to the Religious Right or Conservatives who don’t like “people who are different”, it undermines everyone’s liberty. Either government is limited or it is not. Either you have the right to live your life as you see fit and marry who you choose or you do not. This goes the same for those who believe in any form of Collectivism as well, and that is why its a shame Rand Paul missed a great opportunity to further the cause of Liberty last Friday by simply expressing the views of people he admires; Thomas Jefferson, Ron Paul and Ayn Rand.

“The Smallest Minority on Earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities” Ayn Rand

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and the philosophy of Live and let live.

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Freedom is a lot like Broccoli…

In True nature of the State on May 4, 2012 at 1:13 am

Have you ever wondered why other people don’t  have the same burning desire within that you have to want to be FREE? I know I have. Its because : FREEDOM IS A LOT LIKE BROCCOLI. (Not just because George W Bush hated them both )

Broccoli is awesome and so is Freedom. Broccoli contains all kinds of great stuff including iron, potassium, magnesium, tons of vitamin C and cancer fighting compounds. Freedom is also great for people. In the last two hundred years or so, more people have enjoyed more wealth and health than all the other people who have ever lived , and its all because of Freedom.

But unfortunately most people will today choose to eat junk food, like doughnuts over eating broccoli; and will vote for Collectivism instead of Freedom.

Why do seemingly rational human beings who know broccoli is good for them choose to eat junk food like doughnuts? The reason why seemingly rational individuals choose junk food is the same reason human beings voluntarily choose to live under ever-increasing amounts of Collectivism.

It all has to do with Time Preference. Every human being on Earth factors in Time Preference when they make a decision, whether its voting for a Collectivist Candidate versus a Freedom Candidate or eating a stalk of broccoli over a box of doughnuts. Time Preference dictates that humans instinctively favor the immediate satisfaction of a need in the now versus the satisfaction of a need in the future.

This is why we succumb to grabbing the sugary or salty treat instead of a bag of broccoli. I’ve never heard of anyone standing in line for their ”Broccoli” on a Friday morning or making sure meetings are stocked with stalks of broccoli. But maybe folks should. The immediate satisfaction of consuming a doughnut and its 200-300 calories of sugar, flour and fat, satisfies a part of the brain that is concerned with keeping a human being alive in the moment. This often overrides the person’s knowledge that in the long-term broccoli even though lower in calories now, will have huge health benefits for the entire body in the future. When doughnuts are chosen short-term ”pleasure” is favored over the long-term health of the individual.

After years of giving into temptation in the moment people will eventually have to reap what they have sown. They will eventually suffer from increased incidents of diabetes, obesity, impaired neurological function, and other nasty health effects related to consistently consuming fried sugary treats. These health effects greatly reduce the quality and quantity of that person’s life. It is interesting to note that the increase in the rate of both Diabetes and Obesity in this country has corresponded to the public’s increasing support for Collectivist Laws at all levels of Government.

Collectivism is the doughnut of Political Ideology.

It is exactly like junk food. Collectivism is tasty at first and is all about the immediate satisfaction of needs without regard to the long-term effects of how those needs are being met. When redistribution of wealth occurs the majority of people at first are thrilled. This “Socialist High” is short-lived because the people soon become aware of the long-term effects of their choices. They are much less happy with what accompanies these Collectivist Laws, and that is always taxation, regulation and inflation, that are necessary to make them “work”. These side effects of the Consumption of Collectivist ideology in the long run impair everyone’s ability to live a healthier and happier life.

But not everyone succumbs to eating the sugary fried balls or Collectivists’ false dreams of Utopia. More and more people are choosing to eat more wisely and demand their Freedom because they realize that their long-term happiness depends on it.

Eating broccoli today means you have a better chance at a better life in the future. You are sacrificing the short-term pleasure of consuming junk food, like doughnuts now, because you value the knowledge that the stuff in broccoli is the best stuff for your body and brain. When you eat badly you are actually “redistributing” the positive effects of the good foods you’ve eaten in the past and consuming these good “effects” in the present because of your bad food choices. This prevents the “healthy capital” from being accumulating over time which is now not available to promote and produce a better tomorrow. Collectivism does the same thing, when politicians redistribute accumulated wealth of the past in order to satisfy the immediate needs in the now,  they destroy the future benefits this accumulated capital would have produced.

When this occurs everyone is impoverished, just as every cell in your body suffers when you eat poorly.

In this country today with the epidemic of consumer debt, public debt, obesity and diabetes, these side effects of Time Preference of the Now, demonstrably shows that most people in this country lack the ability or have never learned how to delay or defer gratification. And it is this ability to delay or defer gratification which is the key to being able to live and thrive in an environment of Freedom. It is essential to be able to defer consumption in the now in order to save up for the future. That is how all capital is accumulated, and that is the secret to “capitalism”.

I don’t think things are hopeless though. Most people do have the capacity to value the long-term over the short-term if they develop their “will power”. People are all the time adjusting their diets learning to defer gratification. If people can do this with food, there is no reason why they can’t apply the same mental processes to political philosophy. Instead of choosing the sugary seemingly easier path of Collectivism, they will choose what appears on the surface to be the harder route of Freedom because in the end it is ultimately the more satisfying choice.

Freedom in the long run, like broccoli, has amazingly positive effects. In order to delay gratification people simply have to embrace these long-term benefits over the short-term ”high” of eating doughnuts and reaping the short-lived hollow benefits produced from Collectivist Laws. Both Freedom and eating well help individuals develop their true potential. Collectivism and eating poorly enslave an individual’s mind and body and limit who they can become.

Some people believe that if people are freer they will in fact eat more Doughnuts instead of more broccoli. Experiments and Experience has proven this theory wrong. It has been demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that over the last 200 years the freer individuals are in a society the more they are self-responsible and thus are better able to see the long-term effects of their choices and weigh those against any short-term ”hollow” pleasures. Overall instead of becoming more hedonistic in and environment of Freedom people tend to become more responsible, because there is no one to separate them from the long-term consequences of their choices. It was even shown with an experiment with Rats, that if given freedom to eat “good” food or bad “food” the rats would eventually self-regulate their diets and consume more and more of the good food. They seem to be able to naturally defer gratification of the pleasure of eating badly now in order to reap the health benefits of the good food for the future..

Today we are suffering more and more under the strain of Collectivism in this country. People are eschewing the ancient wisdom of Christianity, Stoicism, and Buddhism by satisfying the wants of today with no regard to the effects those actions will have on their future. Living in the moment is awesome. But in order to live in the moment you must be alive. Freedom and Broccoli are the best ways to live and to thrive. Collectivism and eating poorly on the other hand decreases the quality and quantity of your life. Let’s not forget that over the last century Collectivist Governments have murdered 170 million of their own citizens and those who suffer from type II Diabetes die 30% quicker than those who’ve avoided the disease by choosing to eat more wisely.

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Billionaire Mort Zuckerman Misses the Big Picture

In True nature of the State on April 24, 2012 at 1:21 am

Mort Zuckerman one of the top 200 richest men in the world and current editor of U.S. News and World Report has been painted by some conservatives as a liberal that has seen the light”. But has he?

Mort Zuckerman’s latest attack on the president’s policies occurred in an editorial in the U.S. News and World Report and was linked to on the DrugeReport last Friday.  http://www.usnews.com/opinion/mzuckerman/articles/2012/04/20/mort-zuckerman-president-obamas-economic-programs-have-failed.

In it he lambasted our current president’s economic policies and labels them a “Failure”. I agree with Mort on this point. Mort like a lot of Conservatives and every liberal do not get to the heart of what has been going wrong in the halls of Congress, in the Oval Office and the chambers of the Supreme court for the last 100 years. This is what Mort fails to realize is that the Collectivist Central Planning of Our economy and governing of Individual Behavior by all the previous administrations, along with the monopoly of the money supply and the setting of interest rates by the Federal Reserve and the endless wars overseas  has led us to the where we are today.

Mort’s failure to see that the Collectivist ideology that underpins the Entire U.S. Federal Government Budget is the ONLY REASON for the “Great Recession” that most of us are endruing today. (Around Washington D.C. there is no Recession.)  Instead of advocating for less Central Planning and Control by Politicians and Bureaucrats over the lives and wallets of individuals he advocates for more. Instead of Advocating for More Individual Liberty he Advocates for more Government Intervention.

Mort and his ilk are satisfied with the way the system works as a whole. Remember he wouldn’t be one of the richest men in the world if the “system” didn’t benefit him. All he wants to do is tweak the system not overhaul it. This goes for many conservatives as well who want to keep their social security and medicare, keep the war on Terror Rolling and keep Homeland Security “hunting terrorists” at home.

Mort does do an excellent in his article accurately describing the dismal economic picture in this country. He even looks deeper into the Labor Statistics than most media folks and gets it right when he says that unemployment is really closer to 15%. (That figure alone should be enough to see another indivduals sit in the Oval Office in November.)Mort also goes on to point out the unemployment rate for minorities a “liberal honey hole for votes” is incredibly high. Among hispanic teenagers the unemployment rate is 30.5% and among black teenagers it’s almost 40%. . But Mort fails to talk about how the minimum wage in particular has kept low skilled workers out of the work force and in fact was deliberately  designed to do so. He has in the past voted for politicians who supported the very policy that is keeping unskilled workers from entering the work force.

Mort goes on to lament the loss of  manufacturer jobs in this country. It’s no secret why people would want to manufacture overseas. Mort only sees how its the lower labor cost  that is ”pulling” businesses off American shores. Which is  partially true. The truth is that the U.S. Federal Government is “pushing” businesses overseas to places like Mexico, Honduras, India and China because of the  EPA, FDA, OSHA, Labor Unions, Payroll Taxes, the uncertainty of Obamacare and the highest corporate tax rate in the world. Again Mort and his liberal and some many conservatives have voted to keep the politicians in Washington who do nothing except expand the very things that are destroying jobs in America.

The Payroll Tax in particular is an insidious impediment to job creation that Mort fails to attack. If businesses weren’t forced to pay for the retirement of current retirees out of their profits they would be able to hire more people immediately.. The cost of labor is higher in America because of GOVERNMENT and programs like Social Security.

Not only does Social Security hurt the hiring of new job seekers it kills the entrepreneurial spirit of the individuals who are working and makes sedentary those who have retired. Social Security was based upon the German model and was meant to ”solidify” the nation and to make both young and old subservient to the State. That has been a huge success in this country. Look how the young are manipulated to vote for Politicians who promise to keep the payroll tax holiday if only the debt ceiling is increased.  The older folks don’t fare any better. Politicians are always using scare tactics to get them to vote for more and more Collectivist Politicians (Which is almost an oxymoron)  who will “shore up” Social Security so they won’t lose their benefits. It is just another lever used to move the populace to support the ever-increasing size of the State. Mort Fails to even mention this massive Ponzi Scheme or the Socialized Medicine of Medicare and Medicaid that we suffer under today. He lets down those who love liberty by not realizing  how much these types of Calcifiying Collectivist Programs  cost us all in innovation, entrepreneurship and preventing all of us from living life to the fullest.

The corporate income tax, the crushing business regulations, the payroll tax, and the minimum wage, the looming Obamacare; are all an impediment to running a successful business in America but so is  level of intelligence and skill of the average American Worker. This  plays a huge role in determining how much value an employee can offer to an employer.  Mort  doesn’t even think to indict the American Public School system as one of the main reasons why there isn’t a more robust and vibrant economy here in America. Everywhere that government intervenes the citizens loses. The Public School System in America is no different. It was based upon the Bismark model which was implemented during the Industrial Revolution in Germany. The Public School system in America was designed to create non-thinking, obedient, and easily led individuals. And that is exactly what we have today in America. A Free Market Requires Free Minds (a nod to Reason magazine), not automitons.

What is needed to revitalize the economy is to end the monopoly of the Public School system and let parents with the child’s input direct his or her education. If there was a free market in Education there would be as many different types of schools as there are places to shop. You would have the massive low-cost big boxes and the small high-end boutique schools. There would be specific schools for specific subjects just like there are stores that just sell camping equipment or building supplies. Only when a free market in education is allowed  would we see the one million new businesses created each year instead of the 400,000 that we currently have.  The Public School system has taught individuals to embrace the entitlement mentality not the entrepreneurship attitude which is needed to create for them personal prosperity which in turn would create an increased standard of living for all.

Mort at least is no fan of the Stimulus Packag or at least the White House’s stimulus plan. He accurately labels it as useless. But again he is blind to the underlying ideology behind the bailouts. In fact at the end of his piece he goes so far as to advocate for the “investing” in  infrastructure. That is always a code world for massive government spending. This goes counter to his indictment in the very same article of the Stimulus “Shovel Ready” Program of the White House.  Mort doesn’t see that the  problem isn’t the specific policies of the White House but the underlying ideology which has been the bedrock of this country’s laws for the last 100 years. Government spending will never stimulate the economy. If it did the Soviet Union would rule the world by now, Cuba would not be instituting Free Market Reforms and Venezuela, an oil rich country, would not have frequent rolling power blackouts.

Mort is worth over $2 billion. I’m not sure what his angle is here. He is currently in the business to increase sales of  U.S. News and World Report. Maybe he just wants to sell more magazines or maybe he genuinely wants to see the economy improve. His failing like a lot conservatives  to see that the politicians that he’s voted for in the past have passed laws based upon the same Ideology that the current administration’s policies are based upon which he labels in his article as “failures”. Mort should label Collectivism in any form no matter who is the “benevolent dictator” implementing it, as an Ideology of Failure, Misery and Poverty. In his Article Mort never even speaks about Individual Liberty, Private Property, auditing the Fed, ending the wars around the world, ending the U.S. Military’s mission as the overseer of the world, or ending the devastating war against freedom being waged at home by the DEA, Homeland Security, the FDA and the EPA. I’m not sure what he believes.

Murray Rothbard described the philosophical political spectrum as a ladder; with Liberty as the top of the ladder and Collectivism as the bottom rung. Our job who love liberty he said was to help others up that ladder, and if you just helped a person up one rung that was worth the effort. Mort Zuckerman maybe is taking his first steps up that ladder from the bottom rung of Collectivism. My only hope is that continues on his journey until he fully embraces the Freedom Philosophy and blessings of the Free Market.

“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” Buddha
My only motive for writing this and any of my posts is to live as free as possible.  In order to do that I need others to want to be free as well so they will no longer support the Collectivst State that destroys Liberty.  Individuals when left to pursue their own rational self-interest while living under a Government that respects their natural rights will produce in abundance food, energy, clothing, entertainment, and things yet unimagined. People argue that this idea is a ”Liberty Utopia” and it is just as farcical as  “Collectivist Liberal Utopia”. I would just ask them if they would rather have lived in the United States in the 1950′s (even though it was flawed) or in the USSR during that same time.

There will never be a perfect anything in this world. That doesnt’ mean that there isn’t an enormous difference between living mostly free and living mostly unfree. That is why it is imperative that every individual on Earth to not only desire to be free but to be working towards becoming more free everyday. Human beings throughout history, have when given small amounts of liberty  accomplished amazing things. Just imagine if everyone on Earth went up just one rung on the scale of Liberty and as a result supported less Collectivist Government, which meant less Politicians and Bureaucrats with the power to menace our Life, Liberty and Property. With less Government, Society which is the Private Sector is free to grow. If Mort Zuckerman wants to see ”jobs” return to America he needs to first get rid of all remnants of collectivist Thought in this own mind and then use the U.S. News and World Report to campaign for the ending of all Collectivist based Laws in this country and around the world.

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Searching for the Truth

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Freedom in Film Friday: District B-13

In Freedom in Films Friday, True nature of the State on April 13, 2012 at 2:00 am

District B-13 is not an alien movie like District 9. Instead it is a 2004 French Film which reminds us that any government today against its own citizens just like the Nazis perpetrated agaisnt the Jews during WWII.

I give District B-13  ”3.5 beacons of Liberty out of five”. It has a great message about the evil that government will perpetrate against its own people. And that by exposing the dastardly plans of the politicians lives can be saved.

District B-13 is the name of the inner city slum near Paris that has been walled off by the French Government.  It is an inner city war zone, where the drug dealers have taken over and all government presence has fled including the police. The innocent civilians are left in there with the drug dealers to fend for themselves.

One Resident Leito, played by one of the founders of Parkour, is a vigilante defending his building in District B-13 against Taha the local drug kingpin. The movie starts with Leito flushing down 2o kilos of Taha’s coke. Needless to say Taha doesn’t take too kindly to the destruction of his property and kidnaps Leito’s sister in retaliation.

Using awesome Parkour moves Leito infiltrates Taha’s lair, rescues his sister and escapes with Taha’s men in hot pursuit. Leito and his sister make it to the police station in the wall separating B-13 from the rest of Paris. There they hope to have the cops arrest Taha. But instead the cop in charge arrests Leito and allows Taha to take his sister back into District B-13.

Now fast forward six months later. Our hero is still in jail but guess what the Government now needs him to lead an undercover cop back into to District B-13 to retrieve a stolen neutron bomb.  Capt Damien and undercover cop is ordered by Kruger the Secretary of Defense to pose as a fellow prisoner, gain Leito’s trust, break him out of a prison van and convince him guide him to the bomb inside of District B-13. Now whenever there is a bomb in the movie you know there is a countdown too. Damien only has twenty-four hours to find the him find the Neutron Bomb before it blows.

Leito is reluctant to help find the bomb at first because all he wants to do is find his sister. But after some cool fight scenes against Taha’s men he decides to help Damien find the bomb. They actually give themselves up so they have access to Taha’s lair. Inside they begin to negotiate with Taha so they can disarm the bomb. But Taha wants 20 million dollars or he will take the Bomb into Paris and leave it to go off. So Damien calls Kruger to wire the money to Taha’s account. Kruger tells him no deal.

Damien pretends the wire has gone through. This gives Damien and Leito time to escape to go and disarm the bomb before Taha realizes the rouse. Taha is hoisted on his own petard when his men turn on him. They kill him after his accountant announces that the government used the information he provided for the wire that never happened, allowed the government to wipe out all his bank accounts.  His second in command and the rest of his crew fill him full of holes.

Leito and Damien are stopped by Taha’s second in command in front of the building that has the bomb on the roof. But he lets them go inside. In order to get to the elevator they must fight a huge guy named Yeti. It’s a well choreographed fight scene where they work together to defeat the bigger man. Leito and Damien then scale the exterior of an exposed elevator shaft to the top of the building. On the roof is the bomb and Leito’s sister. She has tipped over a gas can and is about to light the pool of gas under the rocket with the Neutron Bomb on it when Leito grabs the match out of her hand.

Now the ending of this film puts a cool twist on the old “disarm the bomb” before the counter hits zero cliché.  (spoiler alert). This is the best part of the film Instead of the movie ending with Damien heroically entering the code as the timer strikes zero the filmmakers put a new twist on the cliché “bomb disposing scene”. The heroes actually fight each other as the timer ticks down.

When they reach the bomb it is rapidly ticking down… and Damien calls Kruger for the disarm code. The Secretary of Defense confirms that the bomb is still inside District B-13 before he gives the code to Damien. As Damien is entering the code onto the  warhead’s key pad, Leito grows suspicious.The code is made up of the area codes for District B-13, the next set of numbers are the date and  final part of the code is B13.

Leito tries to tell Damien that the code is not to disarm the bomb but to detonate it. He tells him the bomb was not stolen. Earlier in Taha’s warehouse they saw the transport van the neutron bomb had been in when it was stolen and there were no signs of forced entry. It was allowed to be stolen.

Leito tells him that they bomb is meant to level District B-13. Damien being a guardian of the State can’t believe it.

“They would not kill 2 million people.”

Leito in return utters the best line in the movie when he tells him that

“6 million people were killed for not having blonde hair and blue eyes.”

Damien still doesn’t believe him and a cool fight ensues where Leito is trying to keep Damien from entering the code on the bomb’s keypad.   The timer continues to tick down. And with only seconds left Damien gets free, he charges for the key pad on the warhead and is about to put in the last of the code when Leito’s sister grabs him from behind and they both fall to the ground. All three watch as the timer hits zero. But there is no explosion;  Leito was right.

The code was the detonation code.   Leito  and Damien take the warhead to the office of Kruger the Secretary of Defense who planned the mission and they set the neutron bomb on his desk.  Damien uses the bomb to get Krueger to confess to his murderous plan.

Kruger “District B-13 is out of control. The taxpayer’s are scared and sick of paying for it”. “It’s Undemocratic but solves the Problem.”

Damien “Not for you”. He puts in the last of the code but it doesn’t go off. (He must have disarmed it earlier the film isn’t clear on that.)

Damien ” Violence isn’t the only way to solve problems. There are democratic ways.”

He then he points out the window to a t.v. crew filming and that recorded and broadcasted his confession to all the t.v. channels.  So in the end the Government official gets his due.

During the resolution Damien  tells Leito at the resolution of the film that the wall will come down on Monday. Leito’s is still skeptical but Damien assures him that he will make sure they keep their word. (Have you ever met a politician who did?

Overall a fun moving with lots of free running, hand to hand fights, some gun play and a lot of cool stunts.

I didn’t give District B-13 a higher rating than “3.5 Beacons of Liberty out of 5″ because the filmmakers fail to grasp the inherent Collectivist Nature of “Democracy”.

The filmmakers put their faith in “Democracy” instead of individual Liberty. They do a great job showing the violent nature of the state but fail to realize that it was the “Democratic Process” which caused the walling off of the slums in the first place. If it weren’t for Drug Prohibition the gangs would not have any funding. If it was not for Public Schools the children would have  places to learn because of the Spontaneous Order of the Free Market. When individuals forget that they and everyone else have a God-given Right to their Life, Liberty and Property the Government becomes and instrument of plunder and murder.

That is the main fault I find with the Film as far as the freedom angle is concerned.  I liked how they portrayed the callousness of the politician towards the 2 million people walled inside of District B-13 and how the State was willing to sacrifice one of their “Loyal Servants”, Damien, in order to carry out their dastardly plan. The walling off of District B-13 is  an illusion to the “walling off of the ghettos” of Warsaw by the Nazis in the 40′s. There the Nazis killed tens of thousands of Jews, used the ghetto as a staging point for the deportation of thousands more to the gas chambers, and eventually razed it to the ground when some of the Jewish prisoners revolted against the Nazi murderers. This is what the filmmakers remind us of when the politicians are willing to “raze” District B-13 to the ground to solve their “problem”.

It amazes me how easily human beings forget the terrible things politicians, bureaucrats, police and soldiers have done in the past and how easily they now swallow the tripe of the current political class who prattle on about  how their plans will create a utopia on Earth . The politicians today convince the people that their brand of ”collectivism” will work becuase they are the one’s at the helm. But all the Socialist, Fascist, Communists Schemes are all based upon the same ideology of Collectivism. That ideology is not based upon the  Natural Rights of Individuals but on the whim and brute force of the Majority.  Kruger, the Defense Secretary, is willing to kill two million people who are deemed undesirable so the rest of the “socialistic” system of France can continue on. That is the definition of “Democracy”.

This is the same mentality that led to the 170 million citizens of collectivists countries being slaughtered by their own governments last century.

The film also highlights how government intervention as Mises wrote never accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish. And that every government intervention instead of solving the original problem creates more problems and leads to more and more intervention. The final government intervention in the lives of the residents of District B-13 is to wipe them off the face of the Earth. Central Planners can’t plan their own lives let alone anyone elses. When they try they have to use force to make people conform to their plans. And when people fail to conform to their plans they kill them.  All government action rests upon the threat or use of force.

Overall the film was very enjoyable. It reminded me a lot of a French Jackie Chan movie. If you like Parkour, a.k.a  Free Running, you’ll love this movie because there is a ton of it, the actor playing Leito is one of the founders of  Parkour and the actor playing Damien is an accomplished  Free Runner as well.  The pacing of the film is great, there is never a slow spot with  plenty of action and cool stunts and a great twist ending I would defnitely recommend this film, to those who love action movies and love Liberty.

If you are looking for a fun action film that reminds you that the your government today can kill millions of individuals just like the Nazis killed during  WWII, then check out “District B-13″ which I give “3.5 Beacons of Liberty out of Five”.

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Learning Lessons from the Past

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Individualism and the Individual Mandate: Two Incompatible Concepts

In True nature of the State on March 28, 2012 at 3:53 am

For the last few days the Supreme Court has listened to a case in which they have been asked to decide the Constitutionality of the Individual Mandate of the Affordable Care Act.

This case is not about Health Care. It’s not about lowering premiums or rectifying the problem of the uninsured shifting healthcare costs to the insured, it’s not about increasing access to health care. It is simply a debate between whether or not the U.S. Federal Government is a government adhering more to the principles of Individualism or Collectivism.

The Individual Mandate is based upon the principle of Collectivism which is the opposite of the principle of Individualism,which the Federal Government was originally founded upon.  But over the course of the last 225 years after the Constitution was ratified more and more laws have been passed that were based upon the ideas of Collectivism and most have been upheld as “Constitutional” by the Supreme Court.

Ayn Rand wrote in her awesome essay titled “Textbook of Americanisms” that

“Individualism holds that man has unalienable rights which can not be taken away from him by any other man, nor by any number, group or collective of men. Therefore each man exists for his own sake and not for the sake of the group.”

http://c457332.r32.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Textbook-of-Americanism-by-Ayn-Rand.pdf

On the other hand the Individual Mandate which forces every American to purchase a product is based upon the ideas of Collectivism because it’s the majority who are using the force of Government to coerce individuals to act in a certain way.

In ”Textbook of Americanisms” Ayn Rand explained what  the principle of Collectivism really boils down to:

 ”Collectivism holds that man has no rights; that his work; his body; his personality belong to the group; the group can do with him as it pleases; in any manner it pleases; for the sake of whatever it decides to be it its own welfare”

But we must remember that the Affordable Care Act with its Individual Mandate is not the first Law based upon Collectivist principles passed by the Congress.  In fact over the last 100 years there have been innumerable laws that violate the Inalienable Rights of individuals for “the Greater Good of the Collective” and the Affordable Health Care Act with its Individual Mandate is just the latest of these.

One of the most dastardly of those laws that usurps Individual Liberty and confiscates justly earned property is the Social Security Act which was passed back in 1935.  Judge Ginsberg even cited this very law as a precedent during arguments in the Individual Mandate case.

Judge Ginsberg said Social Security caused “a big fuss about that in the beginning because a lot of people said — maybe some people still do today — I could do much better if the government left me alone. I’d go into the private market… I’d make a great investment, and they’re forcing me to paying for this Social Security that I don’t want; but, that’s constitutional.”

If Congress wants to address the problem of the uninsured then, Ginsburg said, “Social Security is its model.”

The Individual Mandate deals with everyone’s fundamental right to their property and their ability to dispose of that property as they see fit. Collectivism holds that no individual has a right to dispose of his property except by how the administrators of the “people’s will”, the State deems appropriate. The myriad of laws based upon Collectivism that brought us the tyranny of the income tax, social security, medicare, medicare part D, food stamps, corporate welfare, public education, and agriculture subsidies  have all laid the foundation for the “Individual Mandate” in the Affordable Care Act. All of these laws have taken the property of some individuals for the benefit of others. If the Government can take any of your property by force it can take it all. The question is how much can they get away with at anyone time and that is what is currently being argued in front of the Supreme Court.

Some would argue it’s not the Government who is taking your money. The Government is just forcing or “Mandating” that you pay insurance companies for health insurance. Well that’s not true. If someone can direct by force where an individual spends his income then that person no longer owns that property. Someone else does. And it is insidious if you think about the Government taking possession of your property and then handing it over to a private company all for the “Greater Good”. That is frightening.

If the Individual Mandate is struck down as Unconstitutional that will not eliminate all the other Collectivist Laws that are currently on the books. Even if it’s not struck down it gives those who love liberty a great chance to talk to folks who may not understand the underlying principles involved on both sides of the argument. For any of your friends and family who are unsure about what is truly at stake in front of the Supreme Court and really at stake every time any law is passed; a great way to get them thinking in these terms is to ask them the following question:

Do you want to live in a country where your rights are respected as inalienable and that they are part of who you are or do you want bureaucrats, politicians and your neighbors determining how much of your property you can keep, where you can live, who you can associate with, what products you must buy or whether you should live or you should die?

Frederic Bastiat a French Economist and Ardent Defender of Individual Liberty described in his classic “Harmonies of Political Economy” what a Government based upon the principle of Individualism would say to the citizens who constituted it.

“You have invested me with the public Force. I shall apply it exclusively to those things in which the intervention of Force is permissible, and there is but one—Justice. I shall force everyone to conform himself within the bounds of right. You may work freely and as you please during the day, and sleep in peace at night. I have taken under my charge the security of person and property—that is my mission, and I will fulfill it—but I accept no other. Let there then be no longer any misunderstanding between us. Henceforth you shall pay me only the light tribute that is necessary for the maintenance of order and the administration of justice. Keep in mind that henceforth every man must depend upon himself for his subsistence and advancement. Turn no longer your longing eyes to me. Ask me no longer for wealth, for employment, for credit, for education, for religion, for morality. Never forget that the mainspring of your development is in yourselves. As for me, I never act but through the intervention of force. I have nothing, absolutely nothing, but what I derive from you, and for this reason I cannot confer even the smallest advantage on one except at the expense of another. Cultivate your fields, then, manufacture and export your products, carry on trade, afford each other credit, render and receive services freely, educate your children, set them out in life, cultivate the arts, improve your minds, refine and purify your tastes and sentiments, unite, form industrial and charitable associations, join your efforts for your individual good and that of the public, follow your inclinations, fulfill your destinies by the free exercise of your powers, your ideas, and your foresight. Expect from me only two things—Liberty and Security— and depend upon it you cannot ask me for a third without losing the other two.”
http://www.econlib.org/library/Bastiat/basHarCover.html

This passage from Bastiat’s ”Harmonies of Political Economy” rings so true today. It was first published in 1850  during a time when Socialistic thought was being embraced by the majority of the French People. Unfortunately the same Collectivist ideas that existed back in Bastiat’s time are alive and well in America today as evidenced by the passing of laws like the Affordable Care Act. What would are current Federal Government say to us today? I believe it would say that you are not an individual you are part of the “Collective”. The will of the majority determines your rights. I am the administrator of the “Collective will”.  I confer to others confiscated property of some to benefit others in order to grow my power. Everyone who lives within my borders is my property and all the product of their labor is mine to dispose of as I see fit. Everyday I am working to ride myself of the last chains of the Constitution in order to fully express my desire for unlimited power. That is exactly what the Federal Government is doing before the Supreme Court with the Individual Mandate Case.

But I am hopeful, not necessarily for the outcome of the case currently before the Supreme Court but for the ideas that are being exposed by this blatant power grab by Government and the Collectivist Ideology that underpins it. Never before since  the American Revolution has there been so many individuals cognizant of the difference between Individualism and Collectivism and between Liberty and Coercion.

I don’t advocate for a violent revolution like the one that started this Nation. I advocate for peaceful political change. This “Change”will only happen when more and more individuals understand that the words ” You are endowed by your Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” are not dead words written on an ancient sheep skin but are an expression of living Natural Law. And that it is only when the law of man is congruent with the Natural Law will individuals be able to flourish and become what they are capable of becoming. A government that is based upon the Principle of Individualism is the only government that can create an environment where no law is passed to violate the Natural Rights of individuals. Under this environment a Free Market emerges and technological advances occur, food is produced in abundance and everyone has the best chance at creating the life that they desire.

Under a political system based upon Individualism as Ayn Rand wrote ” No one has a right to initiate force against another individual”. And that includes using the Force of Government to coerce uninsured individuals into buying health insurance.

But as more and more laws are passed based upon the ideas of Collectivism that violate the Natural Law, the ability of individuals to innovate and create diminishes, products become more scarce and more expensive and human potential rots on the vine.  No amount of social engineering can change the immutable laws of Nature.

Individualism or Individual Mandate. We can’t have both!

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Living Life

I am an advocate of Maximum Individual Liberty within a Free Market Society devoid of any Government. But until that day is here I advocate for the reduction of the Federal Government and all forms of state, county and city governments down to their core mandate which is , as Bastiat wrote, “to the Maintaining of Order and Justice”.

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Pravda – Ten Myths of Capitalism. We will agree to disagree.

In True nature of the State on March 13, 2012 at 5:56 pm

You may have read an article recently on the Russian News site called Pravda,  praising Sheriff Joe Arpaoi’s quest to arrest the “persons of interest” concerning the forging of our current President’s birth certificate. (The sheriff if he’s interested in the biggest counterfeiting scheme ever in human histroy should arrest Bernake and the members of the Federal Reserve Board.)

While I do agree that the current resident of the White House is ineligible to lead it’s not because of his dubious birth. I believe that he is unfit to lead because of the principles he holds dear. He believes in the philosophy of Collectivism. The basic tenet of which is that the “collective”, the “State”, or the “majority” grant rights to individuals, and that no one has any inalienable Natural Right to their life, Liberty, and justly earned property. It is those in power who determines how everyone else should live.

It’s funny how the Collectivists in Russia are trying to get the Collectivist in the White House fired. But that is how it has always been with Collectivists. All Central Planners, those who want to determine how others should live, always believe their system their plan, their brand of collectivism is the best and can not tolerate anyone else who has a different plan.

The most famous split of the Collectivists occurred within Communist Soviet Union between Stalin and Trotsky. Eventually Trotsky was hunted down and eventually killed in Mexico. And the animosity between Hitler and Stalin was not Fascism vs. Communism. No, it was two collectivist central planners who thought their plan for the lives of the world’s inhabitants was the best and couldn’t stand to have anyone stand in the way of realizing their Global Dream of Conquests. We must remember that Lenin wanted Moscow to be the Communist Capital for not only the USSR but for the entire world and Stalin was in lock step with his ideology. And everyone is familiar with Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich in which he wanted to rule the world. These two Central Planners, these two Collectivists differed only on the specifics of how to violate the Natural Rights of Individuals, not in if they should be violated.

An interesting quote from another article was that anything that ” The U.S. wants for Russia is bad for Russia and anything the U.S. is against Russia having is good for Russia. It’s as simple as that. ” To me that sums up Pravda’s ideology.

I by no means am defending the United State Federal Government. And what the quote above expresses may in fact be true. The Federal Government is out of control.  That being said I think the anti-west mentality of a lot of the world wrongly focuses on the concept of freedom, individualism and private property as the problems in the U.S. instead of the massively intrusive increasingly Collectivist Federal Government. Those who ”hate the West” don’t hate the  ideals of Liberty, Private Property and Individuality directly, instead they hate the U.S. Federal Government which they believe is the expression of these values. When in reality the U.S. Federal Government is no longer based upon Individualism, Personal Liberty and your inalienable Natural Rights.

And that is where the Article “Ten Myths of Capitalism” misses the mark. The writer fails to grasp that it is not Free Market Capitalism that exists and causes all the problems in America and the world but it is Crony Capitalism or more accurately stated, Fascism that is causing all the problems.

My take is that Capitalism is just the means of production in private sector vs. publicly held. But that belies the point that in America today we don’t have a Free Market system at all. Private Property is all but a myth because of taxation, regulation and inflation. All levels of Government regulate and tax every transaction, they charge property taxes, they control what is built where and over 30% of the land in the U.S. is owned by the Federal Government. So it is not unfettered Free Market Capitalism that is the issue but the government regulation, taxation and inflation that is destroying that very system.

It all boils down to the fact that  all levels of Government in the U.S. violate on a daily basis the Natural Rights of Individuals and that is what the . Let me be clear that if you are reading my blog for the first time I advocate for a Stateless Society in Which individuals are free to voluntarily exchange with one another without coercion. Until then I advocate for the drastic shrinking of all government especially the Federal Government back down to a strictly night watchman state. That is a government that is only constituted to protect the life and justly earned property of individuals. When the Collectivists of all stripes look at the U.S. they are not seeing a Collectivized State, at least not one that is collectivized enough. And I think that maybe what the author of the Pravda article is trying to accomplish.

The Word Capitalism by the way was first coined by Karl Marx. So it is a loaded word to begin with. We must remember we are all Capitalists and Entrepreneurs. Everyone of us deploys our “Capital” everyday to better our lives by investing in ourselves. Everyday we are entrepreneurs because we sell our labor. So these terms are very loaded and should be scrutinized. The Collectivist like nothing more than to divide and then group all of the “alienated” members of society together in order to wield power to gain the reigns of Government.

This debate boils down to what Rand talked about with the two diametrically opposed systems that Governments can be based upon, either  Individualism or Collectivism. The Pravda article fails to see that the U.S. has for the last 100 years moved away from the Individualistic system to one that is more and more Collectivist everyday.

http://english.pravda.ru/business/companies/15-02-2012/120518-ten_myths_capitalism-0/
Here are the myths and my refutation.

Myth 1#

Myth 1. Under capitalism, anyone who works hard can become rich

The capitalist system will automatically provide wealth to hard-working individuals. Workers unconsciously formed an illusory hope, but if it does not come to fruition, they will be blaming themselves only. In fact, under capitalism, the probability of success, regardless how much you may have worked, is the same as in a lottery. Wealth, with rare exceptions, is not created by hard work, but is a result of fraud and lack of remorse for those who have greater influence and power. It is a myth that success is the result of hard work and, combined with luck and a good dose of faith, depends on the ability to engage in entrepreneurial activity and level of competitiveness. This myth creates the followers of the system who support it. Religion, especially Protestant, works to support this myth as well.

It was only in the last 220 years that man has progressed more than at any other time in the 6000 years of recorded history. It is only because of the mostly free individuals in America and England to a certain respect that the material innovation that the world enjoys is possible. Capital formation in the hands of private individuals pursuing their own self-interest is the best means by which to achieve prosperity. No central planners on Earth can do what free men can do. I agree that influence is used to gain favors from Government. But its Government who has the power of Legalized force behind them. No Amazon or Intel or Apple have police forces. So if hard work, faith, with some luck don’t allow for an individual succeed what does that leave us with? I guess he answers it when he writes that it is only through the result of fraud and lack of remorse for those who have greater influence and power. In the end that is what the Collectivists are always trying to acquire, POWER.

Myth 2. Capitalism creates wealth and prosperity for all

Wealth, accumulated in the hands of a minority, sooner or later will be redistributed among all. The goal is to enable the employer to accumulate wealth without asking questions. At the same time the hope is maintained that sooner or later workers will be rewarded for their work and dedication. In fact, even Marx concluded that the ultimate goal of capitalism is not the distribution of wealth but its accumulation and concentration. The widening gap between the rich and the poor in recent decades, especially after the establishment of the rule of neo-liberalism, has proven the opposite. This myth has been one of the most common during the phase of “social welfare” of the postwar period, and its main task was the destruction of the socialist countries.

The problem again is Not Free Market Capitalism. It is Government intervention and the use of Legalized Force to benefit some and punish others. How can anyone think that Government Regulations, Taxation, and Inflation are mechanisms of a Free Market that is based upon the Natural Rights of Individuals? Only when Individuals are free from the shackles of government coercion can they be free to pursue their definition of happiness, uncover their potential and follow their own uniqueness. You don’t need central planners to do that. You just need to get government out-of-the-way and this always includes eliminating the Federal Reserve.

Myth 3. We are all in the same boat

Capitalist society has no classes, therefore the responsibility for the failures and crises also lies on all and everyone has to pay. The goal is to create a guilt complex for workers, allowing capitalists to increase revenues and pass expenditures onto the people. In fact, the responsibility lies entirely on the elite consisting of billionaires who support the government and are supported by it, and have always enjoyed great privileges in taxation, tenders, financial speculation, offshore, nepotism, etc. This myth is implanted by the elites to avoid responsibility for the plight of the people and oblige them to pay for the elite’s mistakes.

Everyone is responsible for themselves. There is no “plight” of the people. There are only individuals. Only individuals act, only individuals feel, only individuals can think. I do have a problem with Privatizing gains and socializing losses. Again this boils down to the central planners at the Federal Reserve, the White House and the Congress who intervene into every aspect of our lives. If the Federal Government stayed within the enumerated powers and was ran on a shoe string budget it would have no favors to dole out. By the way we are all in the same boat. Every Human on Earth is on the same boat, its called Earth. And the best way for us all to live in Peace and for everyone to have the best chance at prospering is through Free Trade which must have the Right of Private Property as its foundation.  We are all Social and Rational Animals. The best way to prosper is to trade with other humans.

Myth 4. Capitalism means freedom

True freedom is only achieved under capitalism with the help of the so-called “market self-regulation.” The goal is to create something similar to a religion of capitalism, where everything is taken as is, and deny people the right to participate in making macroeconomic decisions. Indeed, the freedom in decision-making is the ultimate freedom, but it is only enjoyed by a narrow circle of powerful individuals, not the people, and not even the government agencies. During summits and forums, in the narrow circles behind closed doors, the heads of large companies, banks and multinational corporations make major financial and economic decisions of strategic nature. The markets, therefore, are not self-regulating, they are being manipulated. This myth has been used to justify interference in the internal affairs of non-capitalist countries, based on the assumption that they have no freedom, but have rules.

The idea that I should have any say over a corporate board is insane. That being said I do believe that the Federal Reserve should be abolished, the Entitlements ended, the income tax ended and fund the Federal Government with a National Lottery. That way no coercion is necessary for the funding of the Federal Government. Free Markets are self-regulating. It is called Spontaneous Order. It happens everyday without the interference of central planners. It is precisely because Central Planners are interfering with the Free Market that distortions are occurring. By the way when anyone talks of regulating the Free Market they are talking about regulating individual behavior. That is because the Free Market is simply individuals voluntarily trading with each other for mutual gain. No one needs to plan these interactions because no one knows what each individual values.  And the Free Market is self-regulating becasue each individual is responsible for their choices and will have to adjust their behavoir to those consequences. In others words individuals will do more that profits them and do less that causes a loss. That is how the pursuit of self-interest is the most efficient means of production and must be done by each individual and not dicatated by central planners.

Myth 5. Capitalism means democracy

Democracy can only exist under capitalism. This myth, which smoothly follows from the previous one, was created in order to prevent the discussion of other models of social order. It is argued that they are all dictatorships. Capitalism is assigned such concepts as freedom and democracy, while their meaning is distorted. In fact, society is divided into classes and the rich, being ultra-minority, dominate over all others. This capitalist “democracy” is nothing but a disguised dictatorship, and “democratic reforms” are processes opposite to progress. As the previous myth, this one also serves as an excuse to criticize and attack non-capitalist countries.

The idea of other models of social order always means coercion and in the previous myths the writer spoke of the “elites” ruling a country. Who does he think will “plan” and “run” these new Social Orders. My only thought is that he thinks he will be one of the one’s at the top. It’s amazing how someone from Russia doesn’t remember the Soviet Days and how those in Power lived like kings while everyone else suffered. Again I’m not excusing the current system in America. It is more of an Empire than anything else. What I am defending is the Ideas of Natural Rights, Spontaneous Order and the idea that human interactions are harmonious if left alone.

Remember what Ayn Rand said “the smallest minority in the world is the individual.”

And where in any collectivist society was the rights of the minority of “one” placed above the needs of the “many”?

Myth 6. Election is a synonym of democracy

Election is synonymous with democracy. The goal is to denigrate or demonize other systems and prevent a discussion of political and electoral systems where leaders are determined through non-bourgeois elections, for example, on the virtue of age, experience, or popularity of candidates. In fact, it is the capitalist system that manipulates and bribes, where a vote is a conditional term, and election is only a formal act. The mere fact that the elections are always won by representatives of the bourgeois minority makes them unrepresentative. The myth that bourgeois elections guarantee presence of democracy is one of the most entrenched, and even some left-wing parties and forces believe it.

Voting is not the answer if there is not a Candidate like a Ron Paul or Gary Johnson. All the other Big Government Collectivists will keep the status quo. But the Answer is not the taking of power by the masses either. the best option  is through individual action and self-improvement will there be any change in the world.

” If a man wants to move the world, he must first move himself.” Socrates.

“Everyone wants to change the world but no one wants to change themselves.”

When we first educate ourselves then others people will naturally be so disgusted with the Collectivists of both parties they will not only vote for them and will demand more and more Liberty minded politicians to limit government down to protecting the lives of individuals and their property from force and fraud. And then people would demand an end to all compulsory taxation as well. Government would then only be funded by voluntary means like a National Lottery system. People would also demand competing currencies and an end to the Government’s monopoly of money.

Myth 7. Alternating parties in office is the same as having an alternative

Bourgeois parties that periodically alternate in power have alternative platforms. The goal is to perpetuate the capitalist system within the dominant class, feeding the myth that democracy is reduced to the election. In fact, it is obvious that two-party or multiparty parliamentary system is a one-party system. These are two or more factions of one political force, they alternate, mimicking the party with an alternative policy. People always choose an agent of the system, being sure that this is not what they are doing. The myth that bourgeois parties have different platforms and are even oppositional, is one of the most important, it is constantly discussed to make the capitalist system work.

Again the author misses the point. It is not the “Capitalist Bourgeois System”, which by the way is impossible to classify, it’s the force of government intervening into the lives of individuals that is the problem. It doesn’t matter who has the reigns of power whether it is the “workers” or “proletariat” or the “ruling elite” it is still legalized force with which it is used to direct, control and plan the peaceful interactions of individuals. That is what is evil, no matter what system it occurs under, or who holds the reigns of power.

Myth 8. The elected politician represents the people and can therefore decide for them

The politician was granted authority by the people, and can rule at will. The purpose of this myth is to feed the people with empty promises and hide the real measures that will be implemented in practice. In fact, the elected leader does not fulfill that promise, or, worse, starts to implement undeclared measures, often conflicting and even contradicting the original Constitution. Often such politicians elected by an active minority in the middle of the mandate reach their minimum popularity. In these cases, the loss of representation does not lead to a change of the politician through constitutional means, but by contrast, leads to the degeneration of capitalist democracy in the real or disguised dictatorship. The systematic practice of falsification of democracy under capitalism is one of the reasons for the increasing number of people who do not go to the elections.

It’s interesting he cites the Constitution. If he means our Constitution then he should know that it was based upon the securing of The Natural RIghts of Individuals in America from Government. It was an imperfect but unique document in the annals of Human history. It stated that the Creator not the State granted the individual his rights and that they were inalienable and included the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Also the right to justly earned property is included as well. So clearly our Federal Government is no longer chained down to these principles and it is more and more implementing and acting upon Collectivist principles.

Myth 9. There is no alternative to capitalism

Capitalism is not perfect, but it is the only possible economic and political system, and therefore the most appropriate one. The goal is to eliminate the study and promotion of other systems and eliminate competition using all possible means, including force. In reality, there are other political and economic systems, and the most known is scientific socialism. Even within the framework of capitalism, there are versions of the South American “democratic socialism” or European “socialist capitalism”. This myth is intended to intimidate people, to prevent the discussion of alternatives to capitalism and ensure unanimity.

The only alternative to all Collectivism is Individualism. That is the only two systems that the author should be talking about. He is in error thinking that in America we do not already have massive amounts of Socialism in our government. How does he explain the concentration of wealth of 3.5 trillion annually into the Federal Government and another 1.5 Trillion or so into State and Local Government? I believe that when individuals are more  free great things are possible. The less government the better. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Federal Reserve, Welfare for individuals and businesses, and the ever-increasing invasions overseas is based upon Collectivist ideology and not upon the philosophy of Individualism.

Myth 10. Savings generate wealth

The economic crisis is caused by the excess of employee benefits. If they are removed, the government will save and the country will become rich. The goal is to shift the liability for capitalist debt payment onto the public sector, including the retirees. Another goal is to make people accept poverty, arguing that it is temporary. It is also intended to facilitate the privatization of the public sector. People are being convinced that savings are the “salvation” without mentioning that it achieved through the privatization of the most profitable sectors whose future earnings will be lost. This policy leads to a decrease in state revenue and reduction of benefits, pensions and benefits.

The dependence on anyone besides yourself is the problem. Think about all the laws today concerning 401ks, IRAs, Social Security and Medicare, The new Health Care Mandate, the EPA, the Energy Dept, Public Education, the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, the Federal Reserve, the Progressive Income Tax, the regulation of the Airwaves and Roads. Think about the police state that is growing everyday. It is becoming more and more like 1984 everyday. And isn’t that the kicker. Everyone is trying to “plan” a new society to tell others how to live and the very act of trying to “plan” the peaceful interactions of individuals leads every one of those Collectivist systems to a future like 1984.

I would love to see an end to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I would love to have 100% of my paycheck which is truly mine. No one else worked for that. I am the only one entitled to the product of my labor. I want an end to all “entitlements”. It violates not only Economic Law but your very Natural Right to your Liberty and your justly earned Property. Collectivist always want to demand more and more from everyone. They are never satisfied until 100% of the productivity is under their “control” through the direct means like in COmmunism or in the indirect means like with Fascism. Either way the individual has no rights except what the Ruling Elite administering the will of the “PEOPLE” grant them. That is Collectivism and we are sliding more and more into that everyday. I wish it was the opposite and we were going towards a more Free Market Society in which everyone’s Natural RIghts were respected and everyone was free to do what they wanted to as long as it didn’t violate the Natural Rights of others.

The Collectivist Governments of the world killed over 170 million of their own citizens instituting their “plans” in the last century. We should all be careful when anyone wants to tell you how to live and at the same time are seeking to acquire the seat of power in Government. Because all too often in history when the worker revolutionaries gained the reigns of power and controlled the Government they unleashed a reign of terror.

Freedom is good. And as Mises put it “Freedom always means freedom from Government” I want to live in a world in which every individual has the courage and confidence  to live their lives as they see fit, to pursue their passion and to do like Leonard Read wrote “anything Peaceful”.

The Pravda article is interesting and gave me a glimpse into the mind of a Collectivist who is focused on Capitalism as the great evil, when in reality it is as always, Government Action that is evil. Taken a step further it is the very Collectivist ideas that the author of the article espouses that has led to the massive Government Intervention we see in this country today and around the world. That is because all Collectivism is based on the notion that the ruling elite administering the will of the people have the moral authority to determine who has what rights. That is scary.

I believe that every individual even the author of the Pravda Article has a God-given Natural RIght to his or her Life, Liberty and Justly acquired Property. Even if the Collectivists of the world don’t believe that.

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Living Life to the Fullest

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2. 3 Billion Revolutions: One Mind at a Time/One Thought at a TIme

In True nature of the State on February 21, 2012 at 8:35 pm

When 2.3 Billion individuals desire to be free the rest of the world will follow!!!

I’ve thought long and hard about why people don’t seem to want to be free. I don’t think its an intelligence problem. I don’t think its a lack of awareness of the Rise of the Totalitarian State. In fact I think a lot of people feel comforted by the increase of the size and power of Government. And the reason they do is the same reason they don’t currently desire to be free and that is they lack the Confidence in themselves to be self-responsible.

Either they don’t believe in their own capacity to take care of themeslves or their families or they don’t want to have to try. But I think its the first. There will always be indivdiuals in society who will not “try”. But like criminals they are alwasy a small segment of society and an entire National Landscape should not be altered because of a few patches of crab grass here and there.

My mission in life is to live as free as possible and help others do the same. To me its amazing anyone would want to live under a Collectivist regime since they always end in famine, firing squads and death camps. But that is not the best way to sell Freedom in my opinion. I’ve framed my argument for too long as an anti argument. Now I want to help those who currently don’t want to be free to develop the confidence and feel the power of what it means to be a Rational Individual with Inalienable Rights who is responsible for and capable of meeting not only his needs and achieving his dreams.

Internal Freedom will lead to External Freedom.

In order to live in a free world individuals need to 1. Know that freedom is an option and 2. Believe that they can survive and thrive in a Free Society.

What is needed is the Personal Confidence to take responsibity to meet one’s individual needs. That is what the whole freedom issue boils down to. Everything else revolves around that.

That is why I’m no longer calling for 100 million personal revolutions in America but for 2.3 billion personal revolutions to take place world-wide. I’m talking about 2.3 billion personal revolutions in which people have the confidence to live their lives as they desire. Once 33% of the world’s population believes this they will start creating external peaceful political revolutions because the freer men think the less government they want.

That is because once people learn what it means to be free  and live their lives as they see fit the only thing they will desire from government is to get out of their way.  Once individuals have eliminated the self-limiting internal shackles and are pursuing their definition of happiness they will naturally want to shed the external shackles of taxation and government regulations that impedes or makes more difficult the achieving of their dreams. My Dream is to see the entire population of Earth Free of all Government Coercion and that no peaceful activity of any individual will ever be regulated or taxed or  outlawed by any Government.

In order to live free of external  limits one must first be free from the limits internally that we impose on ourselves.  That is the idea behind the one mind one/one thought at a time tagline for the 2.3 Billion Revolution Movement. Because that is where everything begins.

The revelation of thought takes men out of servitude into freedom.  Emerson

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.  Thoreau

So as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. Bible

The Core Concept or spark if you will for Personal Revolution is the belief that Your thoughts create your reality and that you and you alone are in charge of your thoughts. Everything else flows from there.

The Three KEy thoughts to have in order to live as a free man internally and then effect that change externally are:

1. I AM

2. I CAN

3. I WILL

These three statements clarify who you are, what you want, instill a belief in yourself that you can reach your goals, and the determination to do so.

I AM: Simply Means you are you. This  means that you are a unique individual with needs and dreams. You and you alone are responsible for seeing those satisfied and fulfilled. You alone think, act and feel the experience of your life. This also means you have Inalienable Righ, Natural Right to your life, liberty and property you’ve earned. No one has a claim on your thoughts your actions or the product of your labor.

I CAN: Means that you are endowed by God with Reason. That you can achieve what you desire when you objectively view yourself and the world and rationally devise a plan to achieve your goals. This also means that you can do anything that you want as long as it does not violate the Inalienable Rights of others.

I WILL: This is almost a superpower. Everyone of us possesses it.  It means that once you have an overwhelming desire to achieve something nothing on this Earth will stop you from doing that. This is the essence of Confidence, of Self-Assuredness, of Determination, and of Perseverance.

These three statements are a foundation for Confidence that I believe can help anyone spark their Personal Revolutions and help them live their best life possible.

Say these three out loud to yourself and see if you don’t sit up a little straighter. They are powerful. The “I AM”  statement is maybe the most powerful thought man has ever possessed. Think about what that means to you and how you diminish that on a daily basis by not going after what you need and want.

I believe once a third of the world’s population is truly committed to living their life to the fullest, freest way possible, out of these personal revolutions there will be the outward revolutions that those who love Individual Liberty want to see.

Why would someone who depends on Government and doesn’t believe in themselves want to have government reduced? That is the question.

Freedom is good. But freedom is always freedom from Government not responsibility.

I am, I can and I will continue to do what I can to help spark the personal revolution in one individual at a time until a third of the world is living internally free. Then once that occurs they will no longer depend on the Government and instead insist that it be chained down to Defending their Natural Rights and doing no more.

I believe that on the whole man has an innate desire to be free. But in today’s world of public education and popular culture they have forgotten how to think and act as free men. That is what this movement is all about. Getting rid of all the junk, injurious thoughts in your head and replacing them initially with the simple Phrases “I AM, I CAN, and I WILL”.

This will help plant yourself firmly at the center of your Universe.  Your own needs and desires are your priority. I know that is against just about everything you’ve been taught but think about how your life has unfolded by “serving” others and displacing your own needs for others? Its gotten you exactly where you are today. But you have begun your personal revolution. You confidence is growing everyday from here on out. You are figuring out what you want and how to go and get it. And everyday you are taking small efficient actions to accomplish your goals.

Life is short. Don’t let others fill your head with their wants, needs, judgements, prejudices, and desires. Your mind is your sacred temple. Don’t let it be defiled by anything that doesn’t serve the meeting of your needs. Your mind is where you worship yourself. You should sing hymns to yourself. Create your own Personal Anthem and imagine Christina Aguilera singing it. Have a flag made up and fly it in your room with your initials on it or your logo you’ve come up with. I always find it amazing how much college and pro sports team merchandise people buy. Its insane. You are you own team. You should believe in you. You should be rooting for you as hard as you route for your college or pro team. I’ve been blown away by how people are so engrossed in sports teams and their personalities for guys and the “stars” of the reality shows for the girls. You should be the most interested in your OWN LIFE!!!

That is not selfish or self-centered. That is the only rationally way to live. The more you are meeting your own needs the more of the needs of others you can help meet. Stated differently do you want to be around someone who is enthusiastic about their life and passionate about achieving their goals or someone who complains about how everyone is against them and they can’t ever accomplish what they want.
Enthusiasm and Passion are contagious. The world is a better place when you are passionate and enthusiastic about your own life!!!

Our lives our EPIC. You are the hero of your journey. Your story is on the same scale as The Iliad and the Odyssey. You should associate yourself with quality people who also recognize the magnitude of this precious few moments on Earth.

And when it comes to Romantic Love. Don’t worry about the girl who doesnt’ like you. Move one. Improve yourself and the heroine of your story will make her appearance. You will love her for her virtues and values and she will do the same with you. She will be your soul’s counterpart. And you will share how ever long of the journey together. I’m not saying there is only one true love for everyone and it lasts forever. I don’t know. All I believe that if a girl doesn’t want to be with you , you have to focus on your life and meeting your needs which means finding a girl who does care about you, who does ask you questions about your life and what is important to you. And you will do the same with her. I know that’s off track a little but loving another person starts with loving yourself.

THat is what I want for everyone. Too often I’ve focused on the limiting factors that used to hold me back. No longer. The first step is to remove the limits of your own mind and you will soon the external limits will fall away. Now it may take days, weeks, years or even decades but if you have faith of a mustard see you can move mountains.

But if you are to move the world you must move yourself first. Start today rewiring how your brain thinks. Stop the hateful self talk. Stop the wasted purposeless actions that have filled most of your days.
Start by understanding that your thoughts are building blocks of your life. And remember to unlock the potential within you all you need is these three Key Phrases.

I AM. I CAN. I WILL.

Get out there and do something amazingly awesome today. Start it. Don’t worry if your not qualified. You never will be to push beyond your limits and do what you’ve never done before. Reading about exciting lives or watchign reality tv to feel better about your own life isnt living.

Commit to yourself to live every moment not in Fear but in Faith. COmmit to yourself to for a week hit with a club any injurious thoughts that crop up in your head.

You are awesome. You matter. What you think and do matters. The universe needs you. The people on Earth need you. More importanly you need you. Remember God has entrusted you with you. Make the most of it. We only have this life, we only have this moment.  Commit to yourself that you will seek to feel good, strong and calm as much as possible. Commit to yourself that patience as well as fear will be your friend. Embrace the anxiety and live within it. That is how great things happnen. The more you are exposed to the danger of the unknown and live through it the less each time it will affect you.

I want to be free and in order to do that I need others to desire the same thing. What I need to do first is to think as a free man, to trust my own judgement, to follow my own desires and dreams, make plans and act upon them, and never stop going forward. The more everyone else does this the less government  will exist becasue everyone will be self responsible. Today most of Government is caused by individuals granting their liberty over to those who claim to be able to take care of their needs whether it be a job, education or health care. Government can shrink back down to the size of the post revolutionary period or even less. because Free Men don’t need much government becasue they govern themselves.

Once the government is shrunk its funding can be done voluntarily through a national lottery. I think that is an awesome idea. I will not be participating in that but a crap load of people will. Just think if the Lotto Jack Pots were in the 100 of Millions on a weekly basis? And it provides an outlet for people to protest what the Government was doing. If enough people stopped playing its funding would shrink and policies would change.  I think that is an elegant solution to the problem of the taxation as theft problem with all present government.

I am going to start today reaching out to others to find individuals who desire to be free with the Goal of Reaching 2.3 billion individuals in my life time.

Once people are focused on their own lives, meeting their own needs, following their own dreams, producing within their minds only healing supportive thoughts their actions will translate their internal vision into external reality.

Just think what a true free market would look like . When 7 billion individuals freely trade goods and services for mutual benefit there is no limit to the possibilites. Who would have thought a hundred years ago we would have internet and tablet computers. What if instead of one Steve Jobs per generation there were fifty of them? I believe that all progress on Earth including the last two hundred years of primarily American Innovation sill pale in comparison to the unleashed innovative power of 7 billion people free to pursue their rational self interest without Government Intervention. That period when it comes about will see individuals producing inventions that will make Star Trek look like horse and buggy days. The creative power of the human mind when free from internal and external limits is truly capable of anything.

I hope this will spark your personal revolution and get you motivated to unleash the potential that lies within you. Which by the way is unlimited because you can always learn more and accomplish more. You are unlimited if you first unlimit yourself. The outside world will conform to your internal vision. And when 2.3 billion envision a world that’s free what a wonderful place that will be.

Free Your mind and the rest will follow. ( Thanks to en vouge for that) :)
Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Personal Revolution

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One Party: The Government Party

In True nature of the State on February 8, 2012 at 8:36 pm

If anyone doesn’t think this whole political system is rigged should look at who the nominee will be for the Republic ticket. This man is supposed to represent the opposite of who is  currently in the White House. He must be someone who believes in limited government and individual liberty. He must be as far away from a socialist as one can be, right? WRONG.

Mitt Romney believes in collectivist ideas just as the president does and has in fact set the table for the most sweeping liberty destroying legislation ever passed in the good ol’ USofA.

How in the world can the “opposition” party the party which currently doesn’t hold the White House run a candidate who supporst the crowing achievment of the sitting president. Not only does Mitt Romney support an indivdual mandate while in office as governor he signed into law the prototype for Obama care.

This is insane. Our choice is between the guy who implemented the single payer mandate to the nation and the other guy is the one who ran the prototype in Massachusetts. I am not shocked that the system is rigged any more. If you research how Alexander Hamilton encouraged the Federal government to assume state debt to centralize power, there is no way anyone can be surprised at the mess we are in today.

What does surprise me is that the American people keep lapping up the lies from the politicians. There is no difference in the parties. There is only a difference in degree.

Right now the wars in Afghanistan, the tough talk against Iran is set up to pacify the Conservatives and the Left gets Obama care, Soak the rich and redistribute the wealth.

All the while those in power prosper while the American people suffer with higher prices due to inflation and regulation.

Mitt Romney and Obama believe that Government has the right to interfere with any part of your life. They do not believe in the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (The pursuit of happiness clause was originally the right to your property. But even under the current wording happiness means, happenstance in the lexicon of the revolution. Which means that each person has a God-given right to pursue their own direction without the interference of the Government and to reap whatever risk and reward of their actions)

The healthcare system of Romney and Obama violates your basic fundamental Natural Rights. If someone controls your healthcare they control your life, if they control your healthcare they destroy your liberty, which is simply your ability to choose, and they destroy your ability to pursue your definition of happiness because they destroy your ability to reap the risk and reward of your individual behavior.

Romney should be booed off stage at every single Republican Primary but everyone is so scared that he is the only “electable one”. What does that even mean? Electable. Does it mean he is the best liar? Does it mean he is able to soften the collectivist rhetoric with terms of Liberty and Freedom better than the other candidates? Does it mean he is attractive enough so women will vote for him? Does it mean he is able to pretend the best he is not a part of the Government Party?

Liberty is destroyed more and more at every election. Even though the SOPA bill was delayed a new version will slip through probably even worse than the current version. The totalitarian state continues to grow. Mitt Romney will not stop it. He will not reverse the growth of government and he will not repeal Obama Care. His take is that he will issue an executive order so States can opt out if they choose. And I’m sure if they do they will lose a huge chunk of Federal Funds.

That is the problem today. There are no States. There are only divisions of the Federal GOvernment. This is what Jefferson warned about but did not do enough to protect. This is what Alexander Hamilton wanted and he has won.
Why does Liberty slip away so easily? Why do people not want to be free?

Live Free or Die is just a phrase people say. We are dying every one of us because of the growth of government. Every time a law is passed it limits our ability to express ourselves. In doing so this limits who we are and thus destroys the potential life we would have lived. Make no mistake we have a One Party system, THE GOVERNMENT PARTY.

I still support Ron Paul as the best candidate trumpeting liberty. But even the stalwart of Liberty has been tainted by the system. He has been in congress maybe too long. There is talk of Paul’s campaign colluding with Romney. If this is true it is very disappointing. I would want Ron Paul to shout down Romney from the hilltops and treat him not as a friend but as an enemy.

I have a feeling that Romney will win the White House but the Senate will stay in control by the Democrats so everything that has been put in place will remain. The whole system is so f’d that it needs to be rebooted. Collectivism is like a virus that has effected every level of government. It is because the very idea of Government is a collectivist notion and limited government is a pipe dream. On the other hand maybe Anarcho-Capitalism is too.

I don’t watch the debates. There is no reason to. All politicians lie. They continue to lie after they are elected. Government is based upon lies, stealing and murder. There is no mistaking it.

I am not advocating anything except that people stop to think about the big picture. Where is the uproar over Obama Care now as the myriad of its pieces are being silently erected across the country? Where is the outcry to repeal it? It doesn’t exist. Do you find that curious? Has Mitt Romeny ever apologized for giving the Feds the blueprint for Obama Care?

The whole system from the Federal Reserve controlling your money, to Health and Human Services controlling your healthcare is about the elites controlling us. They are whittling down our choices in life. Why do you think that is? Do you think it benefits us or those that hold the reigns of power? I am appalled at this world. I am appalled at the apathy of Americans. I am appalled at the lies we are fed. I am appalled at the ONE PARTY RULE.

By the way Soviet Union which was termed the “Evil Empire” also had ONE PARTY RULE. Do you really have a choice come election day?

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I’m Not Zombie Feed – The Anti-Collectivist Creed

In Taxes, True nature of the State on January 3, 2012 at 11:51 pm

“I’m Not Zombie Feed” is my new slogan that sums up how I feel. 

It’s a protest slogan against the constant chatter from the collectivists for me and others to sacrifice more and more of my life for the benefit of them and others. It is a way of clearly and succinctly telling the world that my life is my own. I will not go quietly into the dark, while the “majority”  decides how much of my life I can keep.

Every man’s life is his own. He is the only one who is responsible for the choices he makes. No one Earth has a claim to his life, his liberty or his justly acquired property. This is the philosophy of Individualism. Every individual is an end to himself and not a cog in a machine or part of the “masses”.

Collectivism is the opposite to Individualism. It posits that an individual only exists to serve others. It’s basic tenet is that Society can only exist if everyone sacrifices their will, their property, their life,  for everyone else. Those who advocate Collectivism coincidentally are the one’s who are the “priests” of the State and receive these “life” sacrifices. While they seem to forget to adhere to the idea of “sacrificing themselves”, because they have so much important work to do in order to facilitate the slaughter and sacrifice of others to feed the helpless masses.

Do you believe that your life is your own? Do you believe anyone has a prior lien against your labor because of their need? Do you believe just because enough of your neighbors get together to form a majority you should be forced to give up your home, your bank account, and your life simply because they “vote” for you to do that?

Today we are asked to sacrifice more and more of ourselves to others. Unfortunately the majority of Americans, who I like to call the Apathetic Americans, are no better than Zombies.

If you do not think for yourself and you consume the life of another then you are a Zombie.

A man is only alive if he consciously chooses how to live and does so by not “cannibalizing” the life of another. Today in America we are asked to have our hat in hand and Sacrifice 50% or more of our life to the State who reallocates that life to others because of their political influence or because they are part of a “voting block”. This is all done by force. But on the same hand it is done with the consent of the Majority.

I call everyone who is tired of being “fed” to the “Zombies” to start replying when anyone asks you to “pay your fair share” or tell you that “paying taxes is your patriotic duty” or when they try to explain taxation with the bullshit “social contract theory”  that ”I”M NOT ZOMBIE FEED. MY LIFE IS MY OWN. I LIVE FOR NO ONE EXCEPT MYSELF”.

That is what I’m saying now. I’m making up and selling wrist bands and t-shirts that say this. I want to see a revolution of rational self-interest in America. I want to replace the Apathy and Entitlement thought processes that goes through most American’s heads with  the old-school Pioneer way of thinking of  that “I can Handle anything that happens” and that ”I will live my life as I choose”.

The Slogan “I’m Not Zombie Feed” is a summation of what I believe. I believe taxation is cannibalization. Your expenditure of energy used to produce a product or service that another person voluntarily purchases is siphoned off or “chewed” off by the IRS (THE HALL OF SACRIFICE) and “fed” to others (ZOMBIES). Of course the cannibals who rip off your flesh take their cut and then  pass the scraps out to the “Zombies” whom they rely upon for popular consent, to continue acting as the Priests of the State.

This is a primal event. That is why so many people are up in arms about taxation because they feel that their life is being stolen from them. But when those who feel that their lives are being stolen attempt to defend themselves they fail to get to down the basic premise of the theft of their life energy and instead debate on the collectivist’s turf and in turn get sucked into a debate about policy, politics or even worse “economics”. It  all boils down to the simple question: “Do you believe you own yourself?”

That is what all the debates about taxation and regulation should come down to. Make the Collectivist who is asking for more and more of your life or more accurately demanding it at the barrel of a gun, to admit that they think you don’t own your life or that you only own the portion of life that the State allows you to keep.

If you do belive that your own your self then you are “NOT ZOMBIE FEED”. If you don’t believe that you own your body then you don’t believe others do either. So this sets up a perpetual conflict of every citizen against every other citizen in a Collectivist Socieyt. If no one has a right to their own lives then possession of a person belongs to the largest “gang” who will fight to be fed the life of others and prevent their members from being fed to someone else. That is the destructive nature of any collectivist system. Each individual, each group, each department tries to get enough power, through numbers to cannibalize the others before they themselves are devoured. It is a state of war. Individualism which is slammed as “selfish” and “destructive” is the only humane way to live. Otherwise individuals are alive only at the whim of the majority. And history is full of examples of the majority turning on “individualists” and labeling them enemy of the “People” because they were profiteers, capitalist, or worse selfish. Those throughout History who screamed in their own way that they weren’t Zombie Feed were summarily killed by the Collectivist States.

In the Last century the collectivist nations deemed about 170 million of their own citizens threats to the collectivist ideology and murdered them by starvation, shooting, hanging, boiling in oil, drowning and every other way you can imagine a human being can kill another human. Why is this not brought up in every conversation about the difference between individualism and Collectivism?

These ideas have consequences. The more you allow your life to be fed to the Zombies the more the Zombies will grow. Once they are sufficient in number they will consume everyone who is not a Zombie first and then they will consume their current caretakers and then turn on each other.

The Slogan “I’m Not Zombie Feed” is not supposed to be funny or ironic. It is a statement of fact. I am not a sacrificial animal to be slaughtered and offered to the living undead. I am a man in full. The more people you can help educate about the importance of individuality and self-responsibility the less Zombies there will be and the less government necessary to offer the sacrifice of the living to the walking undead.

The Zombies today are not helpless . Zombies come in all shapes, sizes, socio-economic levels of society, what they share in common is that they believe government should steal the life of others in order to feed it to them. When they stop believing the government propaganda they too can be brought “back to life”. Once they start using their NeoCortex in rational thinking and refuse to feed upon the life of others they too will be able to say not only they themselves are not  Zombies; but they themselves will be able to say proudly to the world of Collectivists that they are “Not Zombie Feed“.

I’m tired of being told that my life is not my own. I’m tired of being told that I have to prove I’m not a criminal in order to travel. I’m tired of being told that I don’t own the product of my labor and I don’t have a choice in what I put in my body or how I spend my life. I’m tired of having 50% of my life cleaved off and fed to others. Our job who believes this too is to provide the Zombie inoculation to those who are content with the status quo.  And that Anti-dote to Zombism is the Truth.  The Truth about Liberty and Individualism. That is the only weapon that can turn the tide against the swarming Undead.

The school system in America is designed to produce Zombies by the millions. The America education system was adopted from the German model whose only purpose was to educate citizens to become obedient cogs and competent enough to operate the machinery of the industrial revolution. That’s it. The citizens were never meant to think rationally, or how to innovate, or to appreciate the Liberty that made this country the most prosperous of any Nation in the history of the world.

The State has no interest in self-reliant, self thinkers. They want conformity. They want dependence. They want to be on top and then feed the different groups to each other. The House of Representatives is not a factory of law like some like to refer to it but it is an abattoir, a slaughterhouse of humans. It is where a majority decide how much life should be cut off of some individuals to be fed to satisfy the desires of others. They say that you shouldn’t watch how bills are made because it looks like making sausage. That is appropriate but it’s also an insult to butchers. Because at least the butcher kills the poor animal before carving him up. But the Legislators (human butchers) cut pieces off of live human beings to be fed to sustain the life of others. It is cruel. It is literally killing people by a thousand cuts.

Is your life your own? Do you want your life energy stolen and fed to others? Of course not. The more of your life energy that you are left to keep the better your life will be. You are the captain of your fate. You decide what’s best for you. You live to satisfy your desires. That is your purpose of your life. Your mind, your body, your labor, your production, your words, your thoughts are yours, and no one has a claim on them. You are a minority of one. No majority on Earth can take away your God-given Right to your life, Liberty, and property.

So when you hear a politician talks about a bill or law that cuts off a piece of your life to feed to others just think in your mind or scream it at the top of your Lungs “I’M NOT ZOMBIE FEED”!!!

Brad Miller (NOT ZOMBIE FEED)

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