In these last few days before the election, I want to think about something that has been on my mind. I hope to never post another political message here again, but I am compelled to say this.
I need to define a few assumptions, first.
One - All government derives power from the barrel of a gun.
Anyone who says the death penalty is not a deterrent has misunderstood the most basic human interactions and perhaps all of history. Imagine you see a $100 bill on the ground a short distance away. Would you walk over and pick it up? Probably! Now imagine that the largest snarling Rottweiler you've ever seen stands within striking distance of that bill. Now would you walk over and pick it up? The threat of death has changed the dynamic, hasn't it? Again, let's say someone walks up to you with a rubber chicken in hand and demands your wallet. Will you hand it over? Probably not. Now, imagine a real 9mm handgun in place of the chicken. The threat of your death has changed the dynamic considerably has it not?
Imagine if you will, not a Rottweiler but a massive Federal Government, and not a 9mm handgun but a standing army of police armed to the hilt and well corrdinated. Should you deny them the taxes they have come to extract from you? I think not. Of the 300+ million people in the United States, so few are the real rebellions against confiscatory taxation by the common man, that when they occur they tend to make the national news. And if they come to take your children by force, will you plead with them? And if they consript you to throw yourself in front of that bullet you fear, who will save you?
The actions of a few desperate criminals asside, the threat of death (be it by gun, by bloodclot, by starvation, or any other means) is a prime motivator for almost everything we do. The threat of death and loss is the source of all government power.
Two - Government exists for a few basic and clear reasons, one of which is to enforce social contracts. It is itself a social contract. The point being to minimize as much as possible all predatory or parasitic interactions between citizens.
Imagine if you will purchasing something from Big Box Store which is completely not what you were lead to believe it is. What recourse do you have? Without government, there would be none. You would need to muster a force powerful enough to genuinely threaten Big Box Store to lend weight to your demands for justice. You would likely fail in that. Government is your counterbalance. It enforces the agreements and provides neutral judges to arbitrate.
Now, on to the meat.
Government is an involuntary assocition. It is thrust upon us all. Given the choice, in a perfect world, government would not exist because we would all govern ourselves. However, this is not a perfect world. Though few enjoy government, it is better than the alternative. It is at best a necessary evil due to our own nature. I take the position that government should be clearly defined and very much limited.
Unfortunately, too few genuinely govern themselves to a degree even approaching that necessary to have a limit government. If you will not govern yourself, then government MUST govern you. Hence the reason why Benjamin Franklin said the government of the United States is for a moral people. A moral people govern themselves.
And government rules by threat of death and loss. Government is subtle, though. They do not wield guns at you openly, but laws. Laws are enforced by the gun. They are an extension of the gun. Some laws are just, but the number of laws is a direct reflection of the condition of the citizenry. A healthy and self-governing citizenry, actively involved in politics, does not need a preponderance of laws. SO IF YOU WISH TO BE FREE, LEARN TO GOVERN YOURSELF!
When a politician runs for office, he runs for power. This could be a beneficial or a harmful thing. It can be just or a perversion of justice. Power is a limited commodity. He only has so much in himself, so he has to get you to lend him some of yours.
Government is by the consent of the people. If the people allow government to run roughshod over them, there is no one to blame but the people. Do not complain about what you have given your consent to!
But the danger looms that government itself can overstep and become the GREATER of evils. Why choose government who steals much from you daily, when a robber would only steal what he can carry, and only do it once in a while? When that occurs, hard choices must be made. Who can overcome the government but a cohesive and united citizenry, of one mind and purpose, who through the very fact of their numbers can threaten the government and return it to its rightful boundaries? This cannot be done but through personal sacrifice. One must forego the self to work towards the good of the whole. Some personal loss is guaranteed - be it time, money, or even life. An active involvement in politics is the best prevention - and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In a selfish, undisciplined, aloof, and divided nation, the government grows unchecked. If government at its best is a necessary evil, then unchecked government is certainly not your friend.
The goal of a government out of control is to keep people divided. Take Communist China for example. There, a lone rogue citizen isn't payed much heed. Dissent on a personal level doesn't warrant retaliation from the state. The act of retaliation would unite the people in a way the loan rogue is not achieving on their own. The goal is to keep people from uniting, not to unite them. To retaliate and draw a crowd is self-defeating. Now, if that rogue starts to unite people, then he becomes a real threat. Not that he is anything, but the united citizenry are something. Then a retaliation by the government is sure. A united citizenry is the greatest terror to a ferrel government.
And this gets to the point of this post - DO NOT LET THE GOVERNMENT DIVIDE YOU!! BE UNITED!!
When the government plays class-warfare, they divide people in their minds. Now it is no longer 'we the people, but 'us vs. them'. The unity is broken. A powerful government now has a less cohesive and united citizenry. You are no longer working for the common good but everyone against his neighbor. Government's ability to abuse power is greater. The people's ability to receive true justice is lessened. And by our own selfishness no less! DO NOT LET THE GOVERNMENT PLAY CLASS WARFARE! Your only hope of defense against tyranny is lost.
When a class of people allow the government to single out another general class for any form of sanction, then the government has become the greater evil. This includes "spreading the wealth". There is a way which seems right to a man, the ends of which are death. Now, instead of government being a neutral counterbalance to Big Box Store's robbery, you the divided and self-seeking people have turned government into a bandit and sent it to its own robbery of the citizenry. Instead of protecting you from robbery, it now engages in robbery. You have perverted justice! Now, government can turn and plunder you! And who will stop them? The upper class you say should pay for your mortgage and schooling? They won't help you. In fact, they will extract that money back from you in another way. Now you have TWO enemies! A graduated tax system may sound like a good idea, robbing the rich to feed the poor may sound like a noble idea, spreading the wealth may sound like a benign idea, but if all the people are not treated as one equal and undivided unit, then you are neither equal nor undivided. You will find that it is you who are conquered and a conquered person is nothing but a slave! You must choose to be satisfied with what you have and if you desire more you must be indistrious and work for it. IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, BE UNIFORM AND AMBIGUOUS IN APPLICATION OF LAW!
Any politician who says otherwise is not being straight with you.
Take levys for example. What is the point of levys? You see a levy on the ballot, it sounds nice, it promises to give children a place to hang out after school, and it only costs $5 per month. You vote yes. What have you done? You have said "I would like to contribute to that." But you have also said, "And everyone else will also be contributing right along with me, regardless of whether or not they want to or can afford to." The same is true for universal health care, retirement, welfare, right to this, right to that... what have you done?? Tyrant!
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage."
The United States is in apathy now, and slipping from apathy into bondage. The Fourth of July is not the name of the nation's birthday. It is INDEPENDENCE DAY! IN-dependence, as in, NOT DEPENDENT. Not dependent on what? On government!! Why do we choose to put on that yoke of bondage again? Who has bewitched you???
Who are you to reach into someone else's pocket and take what doesn't belong to you? Did you get up out of their warm bed in the bitter cold morning and kiss their children goodbyeto grow up apart from them and labor their life away as a wage slave and earn their money you just gave away? NO!! If you want to contribute then reach into your own pocket! If you can't afford to reach into your own pocket to the tune of $5 per month, then whom else will you expect should do it? There are people out there who can barely afford their homes. Foreclosures are at a record high. The American Dream has turned into a nightmare! And here we all sit saying "I need affordable health care. And I need toe government to give it to me." Have you ever considered that if taxes weren't so high, we could all afford our own health care? Have you considered if you would stop abusing tort law, stop all the frivelous lawsuits, stop using the law to unjustly extort money from those you perceive can afford it, then we could all afford healthcare?
The lawyers in government will not help reform tort law because they gain from it. They have divided you! The insurance lobbies in government will not support reform because they gain. They have divided you! The drug companies will not support reform because they gain. They have divided you! And the government is complicit in the wholesale fleecing of the citizenry because it gains the most. They have divided you! And they have all conspired to sell you a bill of goods called "universal health care" becuse when you vote to reach into someone else's pocket to steal their property to pay for your purposefully, artificially, and grossly inflated bills you have divided yourselves. You are divided and conquered!
When you vote, think about what you're doing first. CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS! Consider that you are about to nail another nail into the coffin of over 230 years of the most incredible incredible chance at freedom and independence ever known in the history of man. (We've beat the average lifespan of a free government, but not by much.) Think of who truly represents the nation. Why trade a few tyrants in Washington DC for 300 million tyrants right here?
As for me, I'm voting third party. Viva la Ron Paul Revolution!
