Brad Miller

Posts Tagged ‘War’

, , , , , , , ,

War: Who Profits and Who Pays?

In True nature of the State on April 4, 2012 at 3:54 am

War is a violent competition between two Governments to determine who will make the laws, levy the taxes, and regulate the behavior of individuals within a given geographic area.

War is ugly. It is brutal. It is about killing others until they submit. There is nothing more serious in the world than the taking of another individual’s life.  It is the most grave of businesses. And If you believe in Natural Rights and the Principles of Individualism it should only be conducted as a defensive act against an aggressing Government.

Unfortunately today like in the past War is looked upon not as a grave business but business as usual for the United States Government.

Today the United States Government has military personnel on 900 installations around the world and over a trillion dollars of taxpayer money is used to fund the wars overseas and the continued “projection” of military power around the world. This is all done for the production of security for the American People. We are told by the propagandists inside and outside of the United States Government that we are all safer because of the endless war in Afghanistan, the continued military presence in Iraq, and the continued military drone assassinations of individuals deemed “terrorists” across the world. Then are also told that it is  our moral imperative to kill warlords like Kony in Uganda, to help oust dictators like Assad in Syria and help kill Dictators like Gaddafi in Libya so rebels could take over the reigns of government and bring about democratic reforms (which is usually code word for socialism). We are told that this is in the big scheme of things being done to protect “American Interests” overseas which in turn benefits all of us at home.  Which in reality is a lie perpetrated by the Government and its allies in the media to benefit itself and the few who profit when it goes to war.

Smedley Butler the most decorated Marine at the time of his death wrote a short essay entitled “War is a Racket”   back in 1935. It is a powerful work written by a man who served all his life in the military, won 2 medals of honor during combat around the world and saw first hand the horrors of war. He described war as the following:

“WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.”

http://archive.org/details/WarIsARacket

He goes on to expose who benefited from the United States entry into WWI.

“In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows. How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?”

Today the big defense contractors are reaping huge profits from the wars overseas. I don’t know how many millionaire have been created since the “War on Terror” and the “War on Dictators” began but I’m sure its more than you think. The trillion dollars a year flowing through the Defense Department definitely doesn’t all end up in the pay checks of the soldier, marines and airmen doing the fighting.

Smedley goes on to explain who has paid for these profits of war.

“The general public shoulders the bill. And what is this bill? This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations”

When its put into those terms it really hits home how terrible war is. It should be avoided at all costs and only entered into when it is to defend person and property. The United States Government should be under the “Castle Doctrine” which is a principle which states that deadly force is to be used only to protect person and property from imminent threat. And if the MIlitary were not overseas that would be a purely defensive act against an invading army. But that is not the current policy nor has it been of the United States since 1898. Recently the Secretary of State of the United States Government told the world that the President of Syria’s “time was up and that he should go” and the discussions of attacking Iran grow in seriousness in  the Chambers of the House and Senate everyday.

Smedley goes on to warn:

“Yes, they are getting ready for another war. Why shouldn’t they? It pays high dividends. But what does it profit the men who are killed? What does it profit their mothers and sisters, their wives and their sweethearts? What does it profit their children? What does it profit anyone except the very few to whom war means huge profits? Yes, and what does it profit the nation?”

Admiral Mullen Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2010 answered Smedley’s question,  the Nation doesn’t profit from War nor from the profligate War Spending. In fact every United States citizens is  threatened by it and the other out of control spending by the United States Government.

“The single biggest threat to national security is the national debt, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday, underscoring the importance of good fiscal stewardship and a need to stimulate economic growth.”

He went on to add that:

“American taxpayers are going to pay an estimated $600 billion in interest on the national debt in 2012″.

You would think such a strong warning from the man who is basically in charge of surveying the threats against the citizens of the United States  would prompt a tidal shift in the way in which the United States Government defends us. But Admiral Mullen’s warnings in 2010 as well as Smedley Butler’s warnings in 1935 have not been heeded by the American people or their Representatives. But there is still hope that the war can be averted with Iran and Syria and the policy of violent intervention by the United States Government can be curbed and even ended.

In the Senate recently a bill was being considered which had already passed the House, to increase the sanctions on Iran(sanctions are by the way an act of war) which had wide bipartisan support and was seen to be destined to become law. But one Senator, Senator Rand Paul stopped it by proposing an amendment that reiterated the principles of the Constitution. Senator Rand Paul felt like if the bill was passed it would be used by the White House as a pretext for waging physical war against the Government of Iran. His one sentence amendment that has yet to be voted on or overturned with a 60 vote major to overcome his objection simply reads:

““To clarify  that nothing in the Act shall be construed as a declaration of war or an  authorization of the use of force against Iran or Syria.” That’s it and the United States Senate will not vote on that. Why not? He went on to give an explanation.

“Our Founding Fathers were quite concerned about  giving the power declare war to the Executive,” Paul said on the Senate floor.  “They were quite concerned that the Executive could become like a king.”

“Before sending our young men and women into  combat, we should have a mature and thoughtful debate over the ramifications of  and over the authorization of war and over the motives of the war,” he  added

“Many in this body cannot get boots on ground fast  enough in a variety of places, from Syria to Libya to Iran,” said Paul. “[I]  urge that we not begin a new war without a full debate, without a vote, without  careful consideration of the ramifications of a third or even a fourth war in  this past decade”

I like how he mentioned the motives of war. It seems that the White House and those in Government do not want an open debate when it chooses to go to war, like it did against Libya.

Well this trend of waging wars overseas did not just happen with the “War on Terror” or the current “War on Dictators” or the huge additions to the National Debt needed to the territory over which the United States Government exerts its control. In fact it goes way back in the Untied States Government’s history.

 Smedley Butler addresses the extension of government power overseas with the huge increases in government debt and where in his opinion it all started.

“Until 1898 we (United States Government) didn’t own a bit of territory outside the mainland of North America. At that time our national debt was a little more than $1,000,000,000. Then we became “internationally minded.” We forgot, or shunted aside, the advice of the Father of our country. We forgot George Washington’s warning about “entangling alliances.” We went to war. We acquired outside territory. At the end of the World War period, as a direct result of our fiddling in international affairs, our national debt had jumped to over $25,000,000,000.”

Smedley Butler as well as George Washington would turn over in their graves if they could see the 16 trillion-dollar National Debt.

It’s easier to reckon the dollar cost of war than the cost in terms of human life. We should not forget that when you hear of politicians talk of boots on the ground they are talking about live human individuals who think and feel and have families and hopes and dreams. There are  almost 5,000 dead and over  42,000 wounded soldiers, marines and airmen from the current “War on Terror” and “War on Dictators”. These men and women who’ve died have left behind broken hearts and homes and those wounded bring home shattered minds and mangled bodies. And I would be remiss not to point out that hundreds of thousands of civillians have also died in these wars overseas, been maimed and suffered horrible mental and physical wounds as well as had their homes and businesses destroyed. Individuals are paying a huge cost for the hubris of politicians and the profits of the war contractors, bankers and others who profit when men are sent to kill other men by their government.

 Smedley Butler wrote about the horrors of the maimed men who returned from WWI. Today the numbers aren’t as great but still the impact is huge.

“So much for the dead — they have paid their part of the war profits. So much for the mentally and physically wounded — they are paying now their share of the war profits. But the others paid, too — they paid with heart breaks when they tore themselves away from their firesides and their families to don the uniform of Uncle Sam — on which a profit had been made. They paid another part in the training camps where they were regimented and drilled while others took their jobs and their places in the lives of their communities. The paid for it in the trenches where they shot and were shot; where they slept in the cold and the rain with the moans and shrieks of the dying for a horrible lullaby”

Smedley Butler saw first hand the horrors of war and was disgusted by how the few profited safely at home while men died in horrible conditions overseas. These war profiteers included bankers, arms manufacturers, meat packers, big agriculture, oil companies, steel companies, and the others who sell to the United States Government during war-time or have their interests protected by the U.S. military overseas.  Today the same types of industires are using the Force of Government to accomplish the same things today. War profiteering and using the force of Government to secure profits overseas is another form of Crony Capitalism and we’ve seen that grow exponetially in the last decade along with the wars overseas.

Where I think Smedley misses the bigger picutre when doesn’t  fully indicts the United States Government or the ideas of Collectivism on which Big Government is founded upon, for the waging of wars overseas. Smedley forgets that “War is the Health of the State”.  He instead focuses on the profits made by “private” companies during wartime. I can appreciate his view of profits from blood. That is a horrible concept and one that Eisenhower warned about in his farewell speech when he briefly spoke of the Military Industrial Complex growing in America back in 1961. But the profits of war wouldnt’ exist if the ideas of Collectivism  which lead to the growth and power of the Federal Government didn’t exist in the minds of most Americans.

I don’t agree with everything Smedley Butler writes about in “War is a Racket” but he gets most of it right. Another place he does fall a little short on is with illuminating the Federal Reserves role in War Making. The Federal Reserve has been instrumental in facilitating the ability of the United States Federal Government to wage war since its inception. That is because the American People would never stand for the amount of taxation required to pay for wars of aggression upfront and thus there would be no support for the wars the politicians and bankers desired to prosecute.  The people do support the wars because the Central Bank can facilitate the borrowing of trillions that will be someone elses’ problem in the future, and most Americans at least up until now have been okay with gaining perceived security in the present while passing the cost onto taxpayers in the future. But what most Americans don’t realize is that they are impoverishing themselves now and enriching a few now because they are supporting the Federal Reserves devaluing of the dollar which is causing the inflation that we are all feeling today.

The average Citizen doesn’t profit from war. It impoverishes us. It doesn’t make us safer it actually makes us less safe. The greatest defense against aggression is a prosperous and Free Economy in which individuals are free to innovate, save, invest and create new product and services that enrich all our lives. It was the tremendous Free Market and Division of Labor that “won” WWII. American production lines were not created when war broke out with Japan and Germany but were already in place because they were manufacturing an ever-increasing quanity and variety of goods that consumers demanded. If the arms industry had existed in America like it did in Japan and Germany in the preceding decade before WWII the outcome of the war may have been quite different. Today we have a huge military industrial complex and a voracious appetite for war in the Government. As that grows the Free Market Shrinks and consequently our ability to actually defend ourselves in the future from the real threats diminishes as well. A bankrupt nation can’t feed itself let alone field an army.

If the Collectivist ideas that has gripped the minds of most Americans is not proven to them to be wrong and impovershing,  the United States Government will continue on its current path. It will continue to print and borrow more and more money, continue to expand its dominion over more and more territory by waging more and more wars overseas, which in the end will lead to the collapse of the dollar  and at the same time destroy what’s left of the Free Market at home.

This can be avoided if more and more people understand embrace the ideas of Individualism, Liberty and Peace and see that there are other options besides what we currently have.

The First Option is a limited government non-intervetionist idea and it’s from Smedley Butler. He proposes the following limits on the United States Military: The Navy can’t go beyond 200 miles off the coast, the Airforce can’t go over 500 miles byeond the coast and no armed troops of the military can ever leave the territory of the United States of America.

What he was proposing  is a purely defensive force. This is a radical idea today. I think its brilliant. The Defense budget would be a fraction of what it is today, the National Debt would shrink, less taxes would be taken by the Feds and instead would be spent by the productive individuals who earned that income, and the Federal Reserve would stop devaluing our currency. That is a win-win for everyone except for the politicians, bankers, bureaucrats, war contractors, and others who profit from war. This is a Constitutional Limited Government position or a non-interventionist position not too far off from the foreign policy of the founders. I think that if more people hear it the more traction it will get. People are tired of the “new normal” of the stangnate growth of their own personal economy and the ever expadning “economy” of the Federal Government.

The third option is what I prefer and that is the allowing of competition of the production of security by privately owned companies. This would mean the elimination of the government’s monopoly of the production of security. That would at least end the aggressive wars that are currently caused by The United States Government.  In Gustave Molinari’s book “Production of Security” published in 1850  he argues that if freedom of exchange and division of labor are superior to monopolies and collectivism in every other aspect of production why is it not in the case for the “production of security” as well. He stresses that Freedom of Exchange and division of labor are like Natural Laws no Different than gravity and they either apply everywhere or not at all. http://library.mises.org/books/Gustave%20de%20Molinari/The%20Production%20of%20Security.pdf

You and I don’t profit from war. If you want to know who does, follow my dad’s advice and “follow the money”. The United States Military budget is over a trillion dollars a year. That is insane. What is more insane is that the Department of Defense has had its financial statements deemed  “unauditable” by the Government Accounting Office (which is an oxymoron). That means that the Department of your Federal Government that is responsible for you and your family’s security can not even keep a set of books like every other business in America has to. And people think its a radical idea not to want these same people who can’t account for the trillion dollars they spend each year to fight wars thousands of miles overseas. The Dept of Defense has not been auditable since 1998. Congress in all it’s wisdom has given it a deadline of 2017 to be “audit ready”. I’m sure that makes you feel better about the Trillion Dollars that’s running through it every year.

People in the military pay a terrible price for the wars they are ordered to fight around the world and we pay a horrible price at home as well. It is only the few who profit . They use lies,  propaganda, patriotism, scare tactics, and every other trick in the propagandist playbook to gin up public support to support the wars overseas so the few can profit at the expense of the many.

“Why of course the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don’t want war neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” Herman Goering

I am an advocate of liberty and a free market society in which Peace is the goal and war is only used as defense against aggression.

“Don’t mistake a man’s desire for peace as weakness or a man’s desire for war as strength”

 Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Peace

 

 

 

, , , , , , ,

Natural Rights and Rick Santorum

In True nature of the State on February 20, 2012 at 8:25 pm

Today Rick Santorum is leading in the polls for the Republican Nominee for President. I’ve actually heard from several people that they support Santorum. Whenever I hear that this is what I say to those folks.

Rick Santorum is a big government guy who doesn’t believe in the Natural Rights of the Individual. Stated differently he doesn’t believe in Individualism. He has several quotes where he denigrates Libertarians the “rugged individualism”. Like most Conservatives he wants to bomb people overseas and limit freedoms at home. Instead of working to chain down the Federal Government to the confines of the Constitution he wants to use the expanding powers created by preceding Congresses and Presidents to implement his “vision” for America.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want anyone’s vision for myself. That is because America is made up of individuals. Santorum doesn’t see that. He sees a “nation” of people who should behave in the way he sees fit. To that I say no thank you.

Natural Rights is another way to say that every individual on Earth has an inalienable right to their Life, Liberty, Property and Pursuit of Happiness.

Here’s a real gem from Rick Santorum that I think summarizes what he believes about Individual Liberty:

One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about  before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country…. Many of the  Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not  okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how  things are supposed to be”

Now who is to determine what is supposed to be? This is the same man who said this about individuals who choose to marry another individual of the same-sex (I hate the term gay/middle class/heterosexual…etc):

“Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. Why? Because society is based on one thing: that society is based on the future of the society. And that’s what? Children. Monogamous relationships. ”

Society is made up of individuals. Only ten percent of the population is gay. So his assertion if gay people marry somehow there would not be enough people to continue society? That is insane. But the core of the issue is that he believes that if you force people to behave in a certain way according to how he reads the Bible somehow God will “bless the Nation” and all those who use the force of government to keep two people who love each other from marryinig will be especially blessed.

That to me is the definition of Collectivism. You are forcibly making those who disagree with you to behave in a certain way so that you benefit from their action or non action. First of all the whole idea that “God Blesses” or “Damns” a nation is crazy. A nation is a collection of individuals in a geographic area. Society doesn’t act, doesn’t believe, doesn’t ”uphold”. Only individualis think act and are responsible for their actions.

Here’s another one:
“Isn’t that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage? ”
With the 16 trillion-dollar debt, the five wars overseas, the drug war, the destruction of individual liberty at home, the  big government big business cartel that strangling the free market he’s talking about how wrong it is for two dudes or two chicks to marry? That is again insane.
He is a collectivist in the worse sense. He cloaks his brand of collectivism a thin veneer of Freedom  to make it go down easier for Conservatives.
Here’s his take on Individual Liberty:
“The idea is that the state doesn’t have rights to limit individuals’ wants and passions. I disagree with that. I think we absolutely have rights because there are consequences to letting people live out whatever wants or passions they desire. “

Rick is clearly has not had his Personal Revolution yet. I’m hoping he will join the 100 million individuals who want to be free. soon. But until that happens I’ll continue to point out his irrational statements.

 This statement is a total denial of an individual’s right to choose how to live his life as he sees fit. Now maybe Santorum is saying that everyone has a right to act as they see fit as long as they don’t violate the Natural Rights of others. But we know that’s not true from his previous quotes about gay marriage.
Now on Iran I’m sure he has a sane approach right. One that will help to bring about peace. Wrong.

“ he would tell Iranian leaders that either they open up those facilities, begin to dismantle them and make them available to inspectors — or the U.S. would attack them.

He doesn’t believe in Individual Rights at home or abroad. Have you looked recently how many U.S. military bases surrounded Iran? It is crazy. I wish Santorum would spend his time telling everyone how the interventionims around the world has helped to cause the problems we have but there is only one candidate who talks that way, I bet you can guess.

Now think for a second what would the State of Texas be doing if China had bases in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Lousiana, and Arkansas and ordered them to give up or stop developing a weapon that they themselves have pointed at Texas? Wouldnt Texas be doing everything they could to defend itself?

I know there are some crazy folks in Iran but they are in government. I would rather put my faith in the decency of ordinary individuals in any country than trust a politician to kill anyone anywhere in the world because their government threatened ours. Unless someone is attacking the shores of the United States of America I don’t believe we should kill individuals in other countries. That’s what I believe. Maybe I’m naive but I’d rather be naive then a murderer.
Because the case could be made that my tax money is going to pay for those bombs that blew up kids in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lybia and I don’t do anything to stop it. So in an extended way you could say I have the blood of the innocents on my hands. That is a scary thought when you take it to its logical conclusion which Rick Santorum I can guarantee you has never done.

By the way which  is the only country that has ever used a Nuclear Bomb? That’s right ; the United States of America, twice. The rhetoric from Russia during the cold war was no less inflammatory than that coming from some folks in Iran, is today and they had thousands of Nukes.

Look this argument could be made against every nation who has ever uttered a bad word about the Federal Government. Every nation has an army and even if they had one gun with one bullet than the logic would hold that we should go in and attack them immediately.

People around the world don’t hate us because of our “freedom”. We don’t have that much left anyway. They hate the U.S. Federal Government becasue of the five wars across the world, the 900 military bases, the rampant devaluing of the U.S. dollar and the arrogance to tell everyone around the world how to live. That is why there is animosity towards the U.S.
Stalin had a quote “ We don’t let our enemies have ideas and they are more powerful than guns, why would we let them have guns”.

I understand that nukes could kill a lot of people. But who has killed the most in the last ten years? It could be argued the wars started  by the United States in the last ten years have killed more people than the Iranians, Chinese or the Russians combined.

If Rick Santorum gets the nod for the GOP it is a vote against your Natural Rights. It is a vote against individualism, it is a vote against Peace, its a vote against the Free Market to America.

There is only one GOP hopeful you could vote for that understands your inalienable right to your life, liberty and property and that’s Ron Paul. Every other candidate including Santorum does not believe that you or anyone else on Earth has a right to live your life as you see fit. They believe that the State is the supreme arbiter of what you can and can’t do.
Who else but Ron Paul ever talks about Natural Rights? The Conservatives don’t because they (for the most part) believe your rights come from those who hold the reigns of power and and not from God and their only hope is to be the one’s holding the reigns.

By the way why do you think they use the phrase “reigns of power”? What do you think those reigns are attached to?

 

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty

, , , , , , , ,

Ron Paul’s Foreign Policy – A path to peace and prosperity

In Advocates of Liberty, Liberty on December 21, 2011 at 12:49 am

I like to look at Vietnam as a prime example that justifies Ron Paul’s belief in non-intervetionism around the world. If you could go back in time to the end of the Vietnam war and then go visit it today could you possibly be able to justify the loss of life and money consumed in the conflagration of that horrible war?

Do you think that war was worth the 58,000+ Americans killed along with another 350,000 wounded?  Today in Vietnam they are moving towards a free market economy. There are still many hurdles to overcome, the communist one party rule still exists but private ownership is on the rise. Look at the trade between the U.S. and Vietnam and the tourists who visit every year  14,579,460,000 in goods so far this year have been bought by U.S. customers from Vietnamese businesses. Compare that to the half a trillion dollars some state that the war cost American Taxpayers to prosecute. But now any American can travel to the beautiful Vietnamese Country side without fear or restrictions.

Look how much has changed in 40 years? That is why its important to keep a historical perspective when the media and politicians try to gin up a new war. That is why you have principles. And the only candidate who has constitently stuck to his principles who is running for the President of the Untied States of America is Ron Paul.

The lesson learned from Vietnam is that  the U.S. should stay out of the business of other Nations. It would have saved 58,000 American lives, saved the maiming of 350,000 more and saved tens of thousands more the agonizing deaths due to the effects of the defoliant Agent Orange.

I point out Vietnam as an example of how sending troops to kill and die in wars around the world is not the answer, if you claim to want peace.  Right now the U.S. military is in at least five wars overseas. Iraq is still a war zone, Soldiers and Marines are still dying in Afghanistan, predator drones are assassinating individuals in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and now in Uganda along with special forces.  Isn’t funny how no politician except Ron Paul talks about peace. Before 1913 and even during the interwar period Americans default position was a desire for peace and not war. Look how far the nation has come. The militarization of America has to stop if Liberty is to be restored.

Ron Paul’s Foreign Policy is the total opposite of every other candidate running. His foreign policy like every position he holds is informed by the Constitution and the founding principles of this Nation. He believes that we should not intervene in the world offensively and instead focus on defending the homeland, which the Department of Defense is mandated to do.

But with an almost trillion-dollar budget the Department of Defense has no limits on what it wants to do. It sees enemies everywhere. Ron Paul takes a longer view of history when viewing the current events unfolding.For instance the current target for the Military War Machine is Iran. That country has a legitimate beef with the U.S. if you don’t believe me research the 1953 coup that the U.S. orchestrated and you’ll understand why they might not feel all warm and fuzzy about the States. How would we feel if another country knocked off a president and installed one of their choosing? That would not sit well.

Ron Paul believes that the United States should return back to the ideals of the founding of this nation and focus on trade instead of war. Look at China, Russia, Vietnma and the other countries the United States Trades with. War is clearly not the answer when the quest is to live in peace with other nations. People around the world just want to be able to live, love and improve their lot in life. War is an impediment to that, peace and trade enable it. Ron Paul Believes as Thomas Jeffeson wrote that the United States foregin policy should be:

“Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with none.”

And Frederic Bastiat the great French Economist once wrote that “where trade fails to flow across borders troops soon will”

Ron Paul predicted the ginned up war against Iran years ago. He doesn’t believe in appeasement or weakness. He believes that every individual has a right to self-defense and by extension every nation, which is a collection of individuals has a right to defend themselves. But the war machine in this country has to constantly be in motion or the Tax Payers become curisous as to why they must foot a trillon dollar bill every year for the gadgests, bullets, ships planes if they aren’t necessary.

So if you are tired of the endless wars overseas, there is only one candidate who will take a different approach to the United State’s foreign policy, you should vote for Ron Paul.
He will immediately end the wars overseas, begin dismantling the intrusive police state we currently live under, work to repeal the Patriot Act, stop the assassinations of Americans around the world  and the indefinite detention of Americans deemed as terrorists pushed by John McCain, while maintaining a strong military that is more than capable of defending the shores of this great nation.

Ron Paul asks why should the American Tax Payer be asked to pay for the defense of the countries of Europe, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel and Egypt? Why should Americans pay to bomb people thousands of miles away who pose no threat to the U.S. then pay to rebuild what was blown up?

A flip side to Ron Paul’s non-intervention policy is that the United States should end all foreign aid immediately. Also he believes that the United States should immediately exit the U.N. If you believe in your individual right to your life, liberty and property than you should vote for Ron Paul because his Foreign Policy increases your ability to exercise your Natural Rights at home.

The Federal Debt is over 15 trillion and the other Republican Candidates are dying for another war. Ron Paul believes in truly limited government chained down to the U.S. Constitution, which means that endless wars are not lawful. He also believes that the U.S. Congress should vote to declare was unlike what occurred in Libya this year.

A lot of people forget that the military is a part of the Federal Government. It is not sacrosanct, it is not something that is off-limits, it is simply a department of the Federal Government. The men and women who sign up for it are unfortunately asked to do horrible things in far off places, and too many die and come home maimed because of those orders.

Foreign Policy affects domestic policy. The two can not be divorced. They are one in the same and should be based upon the same basic premise. Only Ron Paul bases his entire platform on the basic premise of Maximum Individual Liberty and Minimal Constitutionally Limited Government. If you want freedom at home than you must demand that the Federal Government follow a course of Peace with the other nations abroad.

If you belive in Individual Liberty,  low taxes, minimal regulation, limited Federal Government, and Peaceful relations with all Nations then you have only one Candidate you can vote for to be the Next President of the United States of America and that candidate is RON PAUL!!!

 

, , , , , , ,

Individual Holiday Calendar -Rejecting the idea of Federal Holidays

In True nature of the State on November 19, 2011 at 2:58 am

If you celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas on the days assigned by the Federal Government you have been brainwashed by the State. Celebration of these mandated State holidays leads to loss of individualism, ability to think for oneself and ultimatley to war.

“The only evil in the world is not to think.” Ayn Rand

If you don’t develop your own system of thought you will be the slave to another man’s. If you accept without critically examining why and for what reason the Federal Government assigns the masses days of celebration you are acquiescing to someone elses’ system of thought.

It is the crazy time of year when the herd is being directed to celebrate State sanctioned Holidays. This is not done to strengthen the family or even celebrate it. The Holidays are used to manipulate the population and give a respite to the powers that be so they can go about their business. And what is their business? It is to kill, steal and decieve.

The collective celebration of holidays is anathema to the individual. It denies choice. It replaces individual thought for group think.

Holidays originally sprang from individuals, families and clans celebrating small events that they led to their continued survival. A successful hunting trip, the birth of the first son, a remembrance of when they entered a new fertile land etc. were reasons to celebrate year after year. These times set aside to celebrate with family strengthened familial bonds and are just as important to the modern humans as it was with our cave man brethren.

But the powers that be soon found that by formalizing these holidays it gave them great power over those they subjugated. It develops a sense of “we”. And once that’s established its easy to use the “we” vs. “them” argument to kill others who don’t celebrate the same holidays or share same beliefs. So holidays actually lead to war.

Holidays cement the “we” and reinforces the submissiveness of the individual to the overlords who know so much they even know when you should get together with your family and what you should celebrate. It is a subtle way of inserting group think into something that should be voluntary individual expressions of love and gratitude.

Federal Holiday holidays cement collectivism. One example has to do with banking.  Your money is not your money. They let you have some access to it. But on Holidays its greatly restricted plus you can’t get to safe deposit box. It is a further repudiation of your Natural Right to justly acquired Property. These subtle ways they violate our rights adds up until they take everything. Federal Holidays give them another excuse to get you used to not have access to your property. 401ks and IRAs are an extension of this and wouldn’t exist if individuals didn’t accept the fact that they couldn’t have 24 hr/365 access to their property inside of banks.  The Banking system  like Federal Holidays are meant to serve the overlords not individuals.

The Federal Holidays in America are meant to shape and direct individual activity. It is the same case with the 5 day work week and the 8 hr work day. Think about how much of our lives are controlled by the decisions of past politicians. It is insane.  I am advocating  that each individual consider taking a fresh look at what we consider “normal” and not accept anything just because the majority does or because you once did.

If a small body of men can get a nation to celebrate Thanksgiving on a given day they can get them to pack cattle cars with undesirables and send them to  the gas chambers. In both cases ideas originated in a few minds directed the actions of millions.

“The only evil is not to think”

If we don’t question these “small” things how will anyone question the big issues . Who will question the politicians when they order  us to pour a canister of Zyklon B inside a small dark room filled with naked women and children? Thoughts matter. They are the basis for all your actions. Whose ideas do you want to direct your actions? Those in the State who are liars, thieves and murderers or your own?

A simple example of this is the Fact Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.. Jesus Christ was not born on December 25th.  Why do we so readily accept this? It’s like in 1984 when Winston finally acquiesced and truly believed that 2 + 2=5.

If you celebrate  December 25th as  Christ’s birthday  you have been successfully brain washed. To begin with the reason for Christmas on Dec. 25th is to replace a pagan holiday that was celebrated on that date when the Christianization of Europe was taking place. It was meant as a way of brainwashing folks back then and it continues to this day.

If the majority refuses to question the State’s wisdom on the small matters then they will accept the State’s assertion that there are no individual rights, that the collective will is all that matters, and tha wet all should sacrifice ourselves upon the altar of the State.

If you believe Christ is your Lord and Savior then why do you need to have one day to celebrate it and why the fuck do you need the State who is the enemy of the individual and the opposite of Love, tell you when to celebrate it?

Think about the chaos that would ensue to the central planners and their cronies on Wall Street if millions of Americans celebrated Christmas on their own schedule? If there were no black friday or no 4th quarter push to drag retailers out of the red. I’m not saying it would change the world but it would be a way to exercise your God-given right to choose how to live your life.

Is the rejection of the Federal Holiday schedule the best path to living Free? It is a start. When you celebrate your life and your family and friends lives instead of mandated collectivist endorsed themes and ideas pushed by the State, that is a form of freedom.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving or Valentines day. But you should examine exactly why and what you are “celebrating”. That’s all. Question everything. Find the truth for yourself. If you were God, wouldn’t you want folks coming to you voluntarily after searching out the truth than accepting someone else’s second-hand truth?

.I think we’ve been lied to about everything. That is where you have to start in life and find the truth for yourself. Reject the herd mentality. Think for yourself. Celebrate your uniqueness first of all. Take a calendar and mark one day each month and celebrate something you’ve accomplished or something that you love about yourself.

For me January 18th is special because it is the day I completed my first Marathon at Callaway Gardens in 2009. I had almost died seven months earlier. I started training a couple of weeks after getting out of the hospital when I could barley walk around my pool. Seven months later I traveled by my own power 26.2 miles. To me that is something to celebrate. It helped me to understand the mind-body connection and understand that my locus of control is internal.

That is just one example. Birthdays should be a huge deal. Yours and your loved ones. Those are the real holidays. In the past I haven’t made a big enough deal about them.  The older I get and the more I understand who I am the more this stuff is important. Your world is the most important world. You should spend your energy upon it. People ask all the time what can I do to change the world?

I say a good first step is to celebrate your life, your accomplishments, the things you love about yourself and do the same for the most important people in your life. .

This is a form of thanksgiving that would permeate the year and we wouldn’t need to have one day assigned to us by our “benevolent” overlords to be grateful.

Resist group think. You are not a member of the heard. Life is to be lived. Love yourself. Celebrate life and love. Make concrete the things you’ve accomplished by setting aside a day, or even five minutes a day to have mini-holidays to acknowledge what you’ve done.
Celebrate the journey, the small accomplishments and make holidays out of the big ones. If you want to exercise your Liberty inside of the police  state make a personal Calendar of Holidays.  Even if you don’t act on it. It is a fun exercise of individual will.

Cross out the Federal Holidays. If you want to celebrate them move them to a different day. I think this is a great start to moving outside the control of the State. Any time you reject their paradigm you are creating a freer world.

1. Celebrate Life. Birthdays-Near Death experiences/Great Loves/ Break Ups

Celebrate the birtdays of  those who in the course of your life helped you become the person you are today, living or dead.

2. Celebrate your Accomplishments Yearly;  change them up as new accomplishments come around.

Celebrating everyday some accomplishment might not be a bad idea.

3. Celebrate the things that you love most about yourself. What characteristic of yourself are you most proud of?

4. Celebrate the things that you love most about your loved ones. One day could be a day to celebrate how your mom makes the best sloppy joes in the world!!! Bake special bread, give her a little gift, visit her and ask her to make those sloppy joes, make her a card, get balloons the whole deal. Celebrate Sloppy Joe Day!!

That’s just a suggestion. Let those around you know how important they are to you; and be specific.  Little things are important they are what fill our days and make our lives.

5. Celebrate and be grateful for the world  and the forces of nature. Why not celebrate the birth of the Universe? Celebrate Creation day and the physical laws that govern it. For it’s only by discovering the forces of Nature and gaining their cooperation can we sustain and increase our life.

6. Celebrate the Free Market and Natural Rights. Everything we have is the result of individuals pursing their self interests and voluntarily exchanging goods to satisfy their desires. Its only when Natural Rights are respected by the overlords can this exist. Currently our overlords are increasingly violating our Natural Rights and shrinking the Free Market. By celebrating a Free Market day or Natural Rights day we keep alive the ideas that create wealth and happiness.

.
These are just examples. You pick and choose what you want to celebrate. All I stress is that you choose. Don’t let bureaucrats or politicians, or society  convince you to celebrate anything you haven’t fully vetted. Because if we dig behind the thin veneer of turkeys and pilgrims, Christmas trees and caroling we find the State’s agenda; which is what its always been and always will be; that of controlling the individual and destroying  his freedom.

If we set out to create a list of holidays based upon our uniqueness it forces us to clarify who anw what  is important to us and why. It is one step toward living a more free life and doing what you want when you want because you decide to do it. I urge everyone to feast and  gather with family,   but only do so because you choose the reason for the celebration.

, , , , , , ,

False Choices the Government Gives the People

In Liberty, Taxes, True nature of the State on October 19, 2011 at 10:35 pm

Why is it that in only 100 years the Federal Government has become this monolithic creature which we the individuals in this country have no control over?

The Politicians and Pundits say we can’t cut Federal Government Spending to be in line with Revenue, we can’t bring the troops home because we wouldn’t be safe and we can’t lower taxes because we can’t cut spending and we can’t bring the troops home because that would make us less safe hurting the economy and thus decreasing revenue which would cause the budget deficit to grow larger which would mean that taxes will need to be raised.

This vicious cycle keeps us all in bondage. We are slaves and our fetters are taxes and regulation.  Our lives are continually being directed by the mind and the hands of other people whom we never see nor have any control over. This includes the Federal Reserve and the plummeting value of our money.

False Choice: We have to choose between slowly balancing the budget over a long period of time or  wait to do it in the distant future when times are better because doing it now would hurt the economy.

This premise is flawed on two accounts.

1. Government can’t create wealth it only destroys it. The people would be  be 15 trillion times better off if its spending ways are curbed or eliminated all togehter.

2. Government is a man-made institution not some force of nature that has to be “reigned in”. It is the result of conscious decisions made  by human beings. These decisions have consequences and we are suffering under them. Human thought and action creates and sustains Government. It can also limit and eventually eliminate it.

The budget can be balanced tomorrow if the people demanded it.

The reason that the budget won’t be  balanced tomorrow or eliminated all together (That’s what I would like to see.) is that too many people are net benefiters and the people who are net losers don’t realize it. The net benefiters are  parasites and don’t want their hosts, the tax producers, to realize that they are in fact siphoning off their life. Why would any of the tens of millions receiving tax payer money want to lessen their cut? It goes against human nature.

So on one hand the State anesthetizes the host, the productive in society, with propaganda and talk of patriotism . When the parasites grow too numerous per host and the hosts grow weaker they begin to  feel the pain of the parasite feeding. The words of the pundits, economists, and politicians  fail to fog their mind sufficiently and they begin to see clearly that they are the prey of parasites.

What does the State do when the hosts try to get rid of the parasites?  It uses the threat of force or actual force to make sure the host doesn’t find a way to stop the parasites from feeding.  This is a diabolical scheme that goes way beyond “money” or “regulation”. It deals with the only real capital on Earth and That is human life.

The State and its dependents live by consuming the life of others. I’ll explain this concept under taxation is Cannibalization. I believe Human Sacrifice is alive and well in America and around the world. It is partial human sacrifice mostly with taxation and regulation but at times the State does murder others in order to keep the rest in line.

The Tax Consumers are bankers, Federal Reserve, Foreign Nations, Defense Contractors, Non Profits, the U.N., Politicians and their families, Agriculture, Energy, and everyone who is a net tax profiteer from the system. No one talks about those who net a profit from the Federal Government’s handouts or from its regulations.  Why isn’t that “profiteering” attacked by the Occupy Wall Street Folks?

So all of these disparate Tax consumers prop up the current system. The politicians claim their hands are tied when the Tax Producers complain. They say “it’s not mathematically feasible to balance the budget overnight.”  As Penn Gillette would say that is”Bullshit”.

I don’t care about the numbers. If a thief  steals your debit card and pays for his living expenses out of your checking account then gives the rest of your money to the “needy” do you allow him to continue to do so?  Do you say oh I’ll wait till he begins stealing it from others before I tell him to stop or wait till there are no more “needy” people left in the world.

Need will always exist in this world. Every human being is born into this world naked and hungry. Its only by using reason to enlist the cooperation of nature does man find shelter, food, and life in this world.

Another False Choice: You must be Taxed more or you will be allowing  children to starve and kill old people because they can’t get medicine.

The only money the Fed’s have is that which they steal from us. Individuals are altruistic toward others in need. We don’t need an intermediary to steal from us and give to others. In a Free Market Society without Taxation there would be a lot more individuals who could and would take care of themselves eliminating the need for a lot of charity.

False Choice: Fair Tax, Flat Tax or Modification of Current Tax Code.

If you believe in Natural Rights than in my opinion you must consider taxation as Theft. It doesn’t matter what costume a thief is wearing or how many of your neighbors tell him its okay to steal from you. Nor does it matter where who he gives the money to after he steals it from you.  The act is still theft.

In my own mind I take the description of the act of taxation a step further. I believe that Taxation is Cannibalization. So how can I have a debate about the tax code when I believe taxation is consuming my life?

Here’s how I came to that conclusion. Think about it another way. Taxation steals your money, and what does money represent? Money equals time.  Okay if money is time than what is your time? Your time is simply your life. Taxation steals your life!!!

Taxation is cannibalization. It is when one individual feeds upon the life of another in order to sustain his life. If people began to view the tax consumers as life consumers, as cannibals than the discussion will now be grounded in reality.

So the False Choice that one politician gave us was through a famous line “It’s patriotic to pay your taxes.” He is asking you to voluntarily sacrifice your life for the life of others. But the false choice is the “voluntary” part. If the taxes were voluntary why would the IRS and Federal Agents kill you if you decided not to pay your taxes?

The scenario would go down like this. You decide that taxation is not only theft but it’s more akin to cannibalization. You decide that you will not “voluntarily” pay your so-called tax bill nor will you allow them to forcibly take your pound of flesh. The IRS does not like this to say the least so they embark on a process to forcibly collect your “voluntary tax”.

Their first step is to go to their buddies the banks and order them to steal the money out of your checking account and send it to them. But your too smart for that and you have already closed out all your bank accounts. Why do you think they want everybody to have a bank account?  Next they try to target your employer to garnish you wages. They know they’ve got companies over a barrel with regulations and their own corporate “voluntary tax” mess. But again you’ve out smarted them. For the last few years you’ve worked full-time on your farm and now your are self-sufficient. Anything you need you trade for.

The IRS now shows its true colors. Every action the State takes is backed up the barrel of a gun. They come to your farm and to steal your livestock; your two goats one cow and a chicken will be sold at auction to cover your  “voluntary tax bill”.

Wait a minute,  you’ve worked hard for years and expended your time and energy in order to work the land, grow the corn and tend to these animals. You’ve mixed your labor with the factors of nature in order to procure and then raise those animals. They represent your past, present and future, a portion of your life. The IRS only knows that you owe them “Money” so they will sell these creatures at auction to pay your “Voluntary Tax Bill”.

You believe in your God-given right to self-defense. So when the thieves in costumes (Federal Thugs) show up you to steal your property you decide to defend it. You warn them. That is more than they would do for your, but they ignore your warning and go straight for your barn. You present a shotgun as you would to scare off any other thief and are  summarily executed by heavily armed agents in combat gear. Your life is sacrificed to the god of the State and now all your property will be laid upon its altar.

The idea that Taxes are voluntary is wrong.

False choice: We can’t bring the troops home because we won’t be safe if we do.

How does stealing my life through taxation and giving it to Drug Dealers, Dictators and tribal chieftains around the world make me any safer? How does building vast Aircraft Carriers parked off the coast of other nations  and developing  micro drones used for assassination make me any safer?  How does sacrificing our young men and women on the altar of this false choice make me in any  safer?

The only people who won’t be safer if we pull the U.S. military  home are the corporations who use the military to protect their overseas assets. Without the guns of the Department of Defense many corporations couldn’t cozy up with dictators and Totalitarian States in order to enter markets closed to those who don’t have political connections.

I think the odds of my life, liberty and property are hell of a lot more likely to be violated by the American Federal Government than any other Government on Earth. So I will take my chances and have the troops come home.

And  I believe more and more of the soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines are waking up to the fact that what they are ordered to do has nothing to do with my safety or their families’ safety. It’s about the large corporations using politics and force to gain market share in Totalitarian and Corrupt Countries around the world.

This has played out over and over again through by the U.S. throughout its history. Read up on how Hawaii was illegally annexed and how the Doles benefited from that or how the Marines were used in Central America to secure land for them. Read up on how the U.S. military began intervening in the Middle East because of Standard Oil . The list goes on and on.

The false choice is that if we do not fund a huge military we will all be less safe. This is wrong. The Founders warned against standing armies for eventually they are turned on their own people. And even if they are not they will bleed the people dry.

Don’t buy into the False Choices that the Politicians, Economists, and Pundits give you. Think for yourself. Your Life, Liberty and your justly acquired Property are yours and no one else’s. Don’t let anyone tell you that you must sacrifice for the “greater good”. There is no “Economy”, or “Country” or “GDP” or “National Security”. These are all collectivist terms used to destroy the individual and further enslave you into their system. The economy you should worry about is your own and the economy of the people you choose to love, the only security that you are responsible for is your security and the security of the people you choose to love, the only collective that matters is the free associations that you choose to be a part of.

That’s My Take

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty

, , , , , , , , , ,

Authoritarians love Earthquakes and Alien Invasions

In True nature of the State on August 25, 2011 at 2:38 pm

Does Destruction Lead To Prosperity?

Authoritarians of all stripes  love a good crisis that results from destruction. They see it as an opportunity in  which they can garner more power and resources for their god, The State . Whether its War, Natural Disasters, or fabricated stories about Alien Invasions those who worship at the altar of the State see destruction or potential  destruction as a net positive to the economy and especially to themselves. They believe the more power the State has the more they will be able to institute their plans for controlling the Life, Liberty and Property of other individuals.

Without the power of legalized force behind them the Central Planners would be no different from self-help gurus peddling their particular prescription for happiness. I don’t think they would be able to institute their plans if it rested upon individuals voluntary accepting to follow them. 

 Without the threat of death, imprisonment, and financial ruin Central Planners would not be able to force  others to act in a certain way. They would have to use persuasion. This is not something that  the Utopia Seeking Authoritarians can afford to rest such important work upon. Instead of relying on  their ability to convince individuals to buy into their collectivist commandments they enlist the power and force of the State to implement their plans.

The favorite way for those who work for the State to institute their collectivist designs is by rebuilding after a disaster. They sell the idea to individuals if they only give up more of their money and their power to choose after a disaster the  State can not only improve the individual’s economic well-being but that of the entire economy as well.   But contrary to what they tell people, Destruction never leads to wealth creation. If it did no civilization or Empire on Earth would ever disappear.  What Empire throughout history who has squandered their treasure on War or had their lands devastated by natural disasters ever succeeded in becoming prosperous over the long-term?  If War and Natural disasters  produced wealth we would be filthy rich right now. But instead of Private wealth has been dramatically decreasing  in this country after the natural disasters and wars over the past 100 years, while the wealth and power of the State has grown astronomically.

I think one of  the unseen reasons why those on the Left and some on the Right believe that destruction, whether it’s war earthquakes or alien invasions is a good thing is because they see it as an oppurtunity to remake the world according to their vision. If the old order is destroyed a new one will be put in its place.   With destruction coupled with the growth of the State they believe they will be able to sell their wares and be part of the Central Planning Cabal in charge of the rebuilding effort. In a sense the Authoritarian Professors, Pundits, Politicians and Economists are selling a product and that product is increasing the size and scope of the State at every opportunity.

Natural Disasters or Alien Invasions or War demand that the State become more dominant and  like a very smart man said to me over lunch the other day , “Gain market share“. That is exactly what the State and its allies are constantly trying to do in all situations  : Increase the State’s market share from the private sector. It does this by stealing money and directing the choices of individuals. The two competing forces in this world are Society (collection of individuals acting peacefully according to their own plans) and the State (which uses force to institute its plans for all individuals).

In the classic “What is Seen and Unseen”,  Bastiat explained with the  Window Breaking Fallacy that destruction may look to be a net positive at first because the damage needs to be  repaired. But in reality reparing destruction is not a net positive because of the unseen loss of the opportunity that those repairs denied.

If destruction is a net positive why do we want to wait for natural disasters?  Whey not Nuke one of our own  major cities? Why not evacuate everyone out of downtown Portland or Peoria or  New York City and raze it to the ground? Wouldn’t that be a huge boon to the economy? Just think of all the money needed to clean up, rebuild the buildings, buy new furniture computers and other consumer goods. That would be awesome right? But the money has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is from individuals who have earned that money. And they had plans for that money besides building a new city. Instead of having the city in which they live intact along with their money, now they only have the city.  Repairing Destruction always destroys unforseen opportunites.

But we are doing basically the same thing overseas with all the wars? The State bombs and destroys buidlings in other countries  then It steals money from us not only for the bombs but also for the bricks to rebuild what they’ve bombed. The Wars have  been an economic boon to the corrupt officials overseas, politicians here at home and the Defense Contractors and other corporations who live off the State’s contracts. But who can look around the country and say its been good for the economy as a whole?   

A famous Authoritarian Economist said  the following on a talking heads show :

“There was a ‘Twilight Zone episode like this in which scientists fake an alien threat in order to achieve world peace. “Well, this time, we don’t need it, we need it in order to get some fiscal stimulus.” Along with that he is of course for more money printing from the Fed and more stimulus spending without the false alien invasion story.

His basic premise is that any event, even a manufactured one  that increases the control of the State over Society ( control over individual’s Life, Liberty and Property)  is a good thing. That is because when the State grows the prophets and the priests of the State benefit economically. So it could be said that Natural Disasters and Wars have a net positive economic effect but only for those who serve the State.

To them  individuals are always subservient to the State even if they don’t know it yet. Only a small handful of people like themselves know this and must convince everyone else that is the best way to live. They just need to grow the State and reduce the Private Sector  sufficiently in order to do  that. Once the State is sufficiently large enough and private independent thought and action are reduced they can then bring about their Collectivist Utopia.

Leonard Read in his Elements of Libertarian Leadership explains how the authoritarians are blinded by their own arrogance.

“Now, it is perfectly obvious that many authoritarians are richer in an encyclopedic type of knowledge than are many libertarians. But, does this necessarily mean that they are wiser? Socrates, reputedly wise, said, “This man thinks he knows something when he does not, whereas as I do not know anything, do not think I do either.”

I don’t know everything but unlike the Central Planners I don’t pretend to. In reality of course they never can know it all but that is what they sell to the people. Within the Free Market each individual has a small sliver of knowledge and with that they buy and sell with other individuals who have a small sliver of knowledge. Throughout the Free Market billions of transfers of information take place (buying and selling) and this is what allows individuals when allowed to freely choose how to spend their time and money to adapt to an ever-changing world. This includes rebuilding after a Natural Disaster or an attack by a Foreign Nation.

When Authoritarians Pundits postulate about  how the State can turn the economy around only if it consumes more resources from individuals, they are revealing how little they know.
Ludwig von Mises explained beautifully in his opus “Human Action” that each person has a unique scale of value and that it can change not only day-to-day but also moment to moment. And individuals always act to eliminate personal uneasiness, or stated differently to satisfy a desire. Mises wrote that all action to satisfy an individual’s desire  is speculative. With this in mind how can anyone plan the actions and anticipate the consequences of  the actions of billions of people each day,  when the Authoritarian Economist doesn’t even know how   his  own desires will change from day to day or moment to meometn or what will be the consequences resultant from his actions to satisfy them?

“No one of us gets more than a casual glance of all creation, and each of us experiences a different view. ” Leonard Read

Know-it-allness  as Leonard Read once wrote is the perfect way to describe  the attitude shared by all the  Authoritarian Economists, Professors, Pundits, and Politicians who serve the State. They know they know best. All they have to do is “force” people to believe it too.

“The authoritarian attempts to be the master of others when, obviously, he is not even master of himself. Plato likens the authoritarian to the man who passes his life, not in the building of his inner self, but in fighting and combating other men. Need we do more than look about us to confirm the rightness of Plato’s observations? One cannot be attentive to the inner self while exerting coercion on others.” Leonard Read

The  Authoritarian Central Planners hope for destruction. They use every crisis to aggregate more power to the State from which they benefit economically. Their business is to support and implement the plans of the State to violate the Natural Right of Individuals to their Life, Liberty and Property. When Destruction occurs individuals are the most vulnerable to the siren song of the Utopian Collectivist Planners who never let a good crisis go to waste.

And That’s my Take

Bastiat1776

AdvocateofLiberty

, , , , , , ,

Best way to support the troops: End the Wars

In True nature of the State on August 11, 2011 at 2:22 pm

The best way to save a soldier’s life is not to buy new body armor, or procure more Mine Resistant Vehicles or build better helicopters. The best way to save a soldier’s life is to end the wars and bring them home. With the death of 26 Navy Seals recently in Afghanistan many are scrambling to help their families by donating money. The best way to help military families is to not send their brothers, sons, and husbands to war to be killed and maimed.  

Anyone who truly wants to “support” the troops should demand that the 5 wars that  the U.S. military is fighting be ended immediately. Troops as well as civilians are dying and being maimed on a daily basis in 5 wars around the world.

Check out http://antiwar.com/casualties/ for a list of U.S. killed and wounded in the wars going on overseas. The loss of so much  blood and treasure and for what?  

John Quincy Adam foresaw the dangers of foreign adventures when he famously said

“America goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.”

Life, Liberty and Property are destroyed in every war. Not only on the battlefield but also on the home front. Our income is stolen to support the war effort, the free market is distorted due to trillions in military spending, trade is interrupted overseas, and productive individuals are killed or maimed in combat, family life for thousands is disrupted and destroyed.

“War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion throughout society  these irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate cooperation with the government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense.” Randolph Bourne

When the current president started bombing Libya without a declaration of War from Congress people demanded that he was going to war without the consent of the people.

But since most Americans stayed silent he actually did get the consent of the governed to continue the war. Only a few Congressman (Ron Paul and a few others) objected and after a few weeks it just blew over. No huge protests no lengthy diatribes by talking heads about how the president lied or was a criminal, no one seems to care, or if they did it doesn’t last.  

Maybe it’s because there is so much coming out of Washington on a daily basis that its hard to keep up with. Most Americans are all too comfortable with comprising principles on what they see as smaller issues because larger issues seem to demand their attention. But all the actions the Congress and president take are rooted in small compromises compounded over time.

Small compromises on principle open the flood gate for huge violations of Liberty. Look at the income tax as an example. It was sold to the public as a tax on only the super rich. The promise was that it would never be levied on the middle class. That was a lie. And the debate has been moved so far away from the Constitutionality of the Income Tax to merely how much of your income the government can steal. 

This is what is happening with the deployment of  the U.S. military today. No longer do we debate even if the military should be deployed overseas sexcept by Ron Paul and a handful of others in Washington. The debate now is  where to send them and who to have them kill. 

If you want to support Liberty demand that the wars are ended immediately.  If you want to save  lives, bring the troops home.  I am an advocate for Peaceful relations and Free Trade with all Nations and subsidies for none.

Everyone has a right to Life, Liberty and Property. But no one has claim to another man’s Life, Liberty and Property to defend his own.

And that is my take.

Bastiat1776

AdvocateofLiberty

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.