Maoist in the White House – Media Is Silent

A current White House official explicitly endorses one of the greatest tyrannical butchers in the history of the world, and the main stream media is silent (surprise, surprise).  I think we had better move that moral doomsday clock forward.

It is now 11:57:00.

Maoist in the White House – George Reisman – Mises Institute.

My new blog: A Little Lower Than the Angels, alltta.wordpress.com

I have decided that Moral Midnight is a little too negative. I am not sure that such a perspective is helpful in dark times like these. I think it would be beneficial to take a more positive approach. With this in mind, I have created a new blog called A Little Lower than the Angels.

Why Obama won: The change that was coming to America.

Obama’s win last night was not a miracle, nor was it due only to Obama’s charismatic charlatanism.  It was due to a change that has been taking place gradually in America for 100 years–a change from individualism, freedom, and self-determination to an attitude of dependency and mutual plunder.  Americans now want the government to take care of them, and Obama, with his socialistic rhetoric and pseudo-religious emotional code words and socialistic philosophy, promised to take care of them.  And there is no doubt he will try.  But be not deceived, as the government takes more of your responsibility, it takes more of your freedom and you right to self-determination.

I know.  The people don’t care about such things.  Just make sure they are healthy and well-fed and comfortable.  They don’t care if there lives are controlled by the state.  They are no longer men, but beasts, begging for food from their masters.

I am saddened by this election, but not just because we have elected a pro-abortion, anti-gun socialist.  I am saddened because of the extent to which the American people have descended into servile depency on the government.  As long as this attitude prevails, the candidate who promises more government cash (redistribution) will prevail. 

And I have little hope that a change in this attitude will come soon.  Socialistic policies reinforce themselves in the minds of the people as the people become dependent on them, as we have on social security, welfare, medicare, etc.

But I will not join them in there frenzy to plunder each other through taxes and government programs.  I will not join them in their descent.  Let them all become beasts and slobber over the government bowl filled with food taken from those that earned it.  Let them lick their master’s hand as they beg for more.  Let them fawn as their master pats their heads and assures them he will take care of them.

They are no longer men, but beats.

Aragorn on socialism

I was watching The Return of the King with my kids last night, and I was encouraged by Aragorn’s speech outside the Black Gate:

Men of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.  A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day–an hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day.  This day we fight!  By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, men of the west!

I was encouraged because I had been lamenting the way our country is rushing headlong into socialism and the degraded state of man that implies.  I see the reasons, how men are becoming beasts, ruled by their appetites and looking for a master to feed and care for them, not caring for morality, freedom, and responsibility.  I had been filled with a sense of despair, for-seeing the final abolition of man as man.  But then I heard Aragorn’s speech, and to me, he said something like this:

A day may come when the courage of men fails, when all men lay down and resign to servitude under the yoke of socialism–but it is not this day.  A day may come when all surrender their arms and submit, like the beasts they have become, to their government masters.  A day may come when man as man is dead, when man is fully and finally reduced to beast, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day.  And we are not those men!  This day we fight!  By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand Sons of Liberty!

The sirens of socialism and the slide into serfdom.

Farewell, America, our serfdom is at hand.  But let us take a moment to lament.  Ah, we have come a long way from Patrick Henry’s famous entreaty, haven’t we.  It is painful to read it now:

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

Now we are selling ourselves as slaves to the government for comfort and “peace.”

Farewell, America!  It was a good try, anyway…  Yes…  Worth a try…

They always said, the founders of this once great nation, that we may not be able to keep it. 

And we couldn’t.  Seduced, we were, by the siren songs of universal peace and prosperity, guaranteed comfort and happiness.  The sirens of socialism have prevailed.  We failed to stop our ears, I guess.  Now swept helplessly toward the surf, we are, to be dashed upon the rocks of serfdom.

Farewell, my bothers.  Let us die like men.

The Bailout: Our Hansel and Gretel Country

Apparently, the majority of Americans value physical comfort over freedom and responsibility.  This is why they want the government to bail out the banks.  They don’t care that this entails an encroachment upon their freedom.  They don’t care that it amounts to the plundering of the responsible to feed the irresponsible.  They don’t care about the morality of it, or the morality of the government controlling the markets and the infringement upon freedom that this entails.  They don’t care that when the government takes away our responsibility, it takes our freedom.  Just give us our Ipods, cell phones, SUVs, and Lattes.  Just make sure we are well fed and entertained, and you can have our freedom and responsibility.  We are like Hansel and Gretel, fat, dumb and happy while the witch preheats the oven.

Should the Driving Age Be Increased?

Those who are calling for an increase in the driving age to 17 or 18 are well intentioned, but are contributing to the extension of childhood.  We underestimate teens.  We see irresponsible behavior and hear talk of brain development, and we think that a 16 year old is unable to be responsible.  But Alexis de Tocqueville observed in 1839 that “In America there is strictly speaking no adolescence. At the close of boyhood, the man appears.”  Eggleston observed that first generation Americans were still crippled by habits of dependency learned in Europe, but American young people, freed from the European social system, were free to thrive. Scientist Robert Epstein suggests “the tumultuous period we call adolescence is a very recent phenomenon — not much more than a century old.”  He notes that “adolescent” behavior is absent in most preindustrial societies.  Let’s stop treating our teens like kids.  They need cars to work, and they need to work to become responsible.

Obama as King Arthur. Government as god.

One Obama supporter told me the other day that she believed Obama would create a new Camelot.  I was struck by such a frank admission of her belief that a politician could bring about a utopian society.  I was also somewhat surprised by her analogy with a kingdom.  Her view seems to be commonly held among liberals, who have pledged themselves to King Obama in “hope” that he will usher in a “golden age of peace and prosperity”.  Obama as king Arthur. 

This attidtude is evidence of Henry Grady Weaver’s analysis:  Throughout the ages there have been men who have believed that their lives were, and must be controlled by some greater power, the gods, or a king, or a government.  Then there were men who believed in the freedom of self-determination.  The former kept their societies in darkness for millenia.   The latter have always been more successful, having lived in accord with human nature itself, and it was these kinds of men who began this great nation a few hundred years ago.  In fact, as Weaver shows, the progress of humanity is correlated with the prevalance of the latter kind of society.

But the latter has not been able to cast off the former.  These priests of government always rise up from the ooze and clammor for their gods.  It is these that we hear now, crying as they swoon over Barack Obama, high Priest of Government.  “Obama, hear our prayer!  Save us!  Only you can save us from life!”  These fools trade their free lives for stale servitude under their “benevolent” king.

Why socialized medicine decreases freedom…

New York City has banned smoking and trans-fats in restaurants,  and according to a Florida News Channel,  “A growing number of companies in Florida are forbidding their workers from smoking not only at work, but also in their private lives.”  Ignoring, for the moment, the dubious science behind the trans-fats ban, let’s examine the implications of these measures. 

What gives an insurance company the right to fire employees who smoke at home?  What gives New York City the right to prevent New York citizens from voluntarily consuming trans-fats?   Many Americans, I am sure, simply accept such nonsense because it fits their view of the function of government–government is our surrogate parent, the great “Nanny State”.  Obama’s popularity and the text of his acceptance speech are evidence that a large portion of Americans believe it is the government’s job to take care of us.  But there is more to it than that.  In reality, health insurance companies have every right to dictate our health-related lifestyles.  After all, they are paying for our doctor’s visits and medical treatments.  If we smoke, they pay the bills for our emphysema treatments, so they have every right to deny us the pleasure of smoking. 

This is analogous to my relationship with my children.  As long as I am paying for their clothes, I will dictate certain guidelines for acceptable dress.  Likewise, I make sure that they eat healthful foods, and that they wash their hands and brush their teeth.  Of course, I do this because I genuinely care for them, but it would be perfectly reasonable for me to do out of pure economic considerations.  If they get sick, I pay. 

But how about New York City?  What gives them the right to ban certain foods and tobacco?   Their right comes from the same line of argument.  I do not know how health care works in NYC, but I do know that we already live in a society where a large proportion of our citizenry receives government subsidized health care, at least when they are old.   These programs are funded by taxpayers.  This means that I, as a taxpayer, have an vested interest in the health of other people.  If I am ultimately going to have to pay for some person’s lung cancer, then I have every right to snatch the cigarette out of their mouth today.

This, my freinds, is the INEVITABLE consequence of socialized medicine.  Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin.  If we yield our responsibility to another, then we yield our freedom.  As soon as it is government’s responsibility to take care of our health, then it will be their responsibility to make our health-related decisions, whether we like it or not.

Obama’s Speech: Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Health, wealth, and happiness.  That’s what my wife said when I showed her the beginning of the transcript of Obama’s acceptance speech .   She hit the nail on the head.  Obama has officially rewritten the Declaration of Independence.   Of course, such a view is of the essence of socialism, but Obama has stated it very well.  Here’s what I mean.  Obama said:

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart – that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

OK, not too bad yet, I like the “individual” part, but I’m not sure “dreams” was part of it all, and what does he mean by “but still come together… to ensure…”?

That’s why I stand here tonight.  Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women – students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors — found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments – a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

OK, how has it been threatened, and what does the economy have to do with it?

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less.  More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet.  More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit card bills you can’t afford to pay, and tuition that’s beyond your reach.

Hold on here.  I thought we were talking about the reasons this country was founded.  Now we seem to be talking about personal finance.  And “credit card bills”—O MY GOODNESS–have soldiers died so we can spend more than we earn and run up our credit cards?  But I’m sure that’s not what he means.

These challenges are not all of government’s making.  But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

Now we have it.  The redefinition of the Declaration:  Everyone has the right to “health, wealth, and happiness” , and the U.S. government has done a poor job of ensuring that we are all healthy, wealthy, and happy.  And he continues…

America, we are better than these last eight years.  We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he’s worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

I agree.  Americans are less compassionate than they used to be.  Good points.  But then he continues…

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Whoa.  Wait a minute.  “We are more compassionate than a government…”?  How subtly he has transferred the responsibility for compassion from the individual to the government. 

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land – enough!  This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third.  And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight.  On November 4th, we must stand up and say: “Eight is enough.”

So that’s it.  The American Promise is the so-called “American Dream”–material prosperity, and as we will see, socialism is the answer, according to Obama.  Unfortunately, even if material prosperity were the highest goal, socialism is not teh best path to that goal.  And in fact, material prosperity is not the highest goal.