Here’s a list of things that are either ignored, misrepresented out of ignorance, or outright lied about in schools and the media. This should be no surprise; as Richard J. Maybury has said, “all tyrants try to keep an iron grip on their school systems.” Personal, Career, and Financial Security, p. 64 (2d ed., Bluestocking Press 2004). Children in government schools are taught the government-mandated curriculum. Do you think they will learn what the American Founders thought about government? More on this in a moment, but first, I want to disclose my own bias.
I am biased in that I consider government the enemy of liberty. It is the only institution in our society that has the privilege of exercising force against people who have done no one any harm. Knowing this, the Founders of the United States created a government that was severely restricted in the areas in which it could exercise its governmental powers. They listed in the Constitution only 18 powers for the federal government, although these limitations are now almost universally ignored by all three branches of the government, and we the people have lost many liberties as a result.
I am not the originator of these ideas; I freely admit that I learned them from others who believed that our liberties are given by God, not governments, and that governments might protect them only if they consider themselves subject to a law higher than themselves.
All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.
– Declaration of Independence
A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.
– Thomas Jefferson
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
– Thomas Paine
This brings up another issue I’ve been asked about many times. I get a lot of emails asking why I talk about politics and economics when my blog is called “Survival News Online.” They ask what this has to do with “survival.” The answer is simple. I don’t just want to survive; I want to thrive. I prepare to survive in hard times only because I think its an unpleasant necessity, and I resent those who make it more likely that hard times will come. Liberty is the very sustenance of prosperity. In the history of mankind, wars and poverty have killed many more people than natural disasters, and both are the direct result of tyranny.
In sum, the more I promote liberty, the more I fend off the need to activate my survival plans. But knowing the times we live in, I will continue to prepare for natural and man-made disasters, and I urge you all to do the same.
I know some of the following assertions will be challenging, but I urge you to consider them with an open mind. As Richard J. Marbury said, the best way to stop learning is to be certain we have the answers; “certainty stops inquiry.” Personal, Career, and Financial Security, p. 73 (2d ed., Bluestocking Press 2004).
The Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty’s torch is not a beacon showing the way for immigrants to come to our shores; it is a symbol of Liberty Enlightening the World (the official name of the statue). Liberty is rare in the world, and it is nearly gone even in America.
Socialism is worse than communism. Communism is a theoretical ideal that doesn’t exist and never has. It’s where there is no government and everyone voluntarily produces as much as he can and puts it into the community pot, then withdraw only what he needs. Socialism is government-enforced communism, where the government takes it from you under threat of force and imprisonment and gives it to someone else, like welfare, social security, economic “stimulus” bills, and nationalized health care.
Government services are an excuse to tax. The usual refrain is that the services are necessary, and so the taxes are necessary. But in fact government services are almost always better done voluntarily by charities and private civic organizations. The real reason governments tax is to exercise power over individuals, because power gives politicians a rush, and they’re addicted to it.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
– George Washington
I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature; and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and, like the grave, cries “Give, give.”
– Abigail Adams
Militias are the best national defense. The America that ratified the Second Amendment considered a well regulated militia to be “necessary to the security of a free State.” Switzerland is a shining example of this; its entire population is a militia, and this is the reason it has not been in a war in over two centuries, even though it lies in the center of the bloodiest region on Earth — Europe. By contrast, the United States has an offensive military which allows our politicians to “project” their force all over the world. Is it any wonder we’ve been at war for at least 25 of the last 90 years?
The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.
– George Washington
Political labels are variable. In most of Europe, a “liberal” is someone who espouses liberty in matters of economics, which is the opposite of an American liberal; the American liberal favors government control of the economy. In Europe an American liberal would be called a socialist, and in America a European liberal is called a libertarian. In Russia, “conservatives” want to go back to the way things were in the old Soviet Union, and we would call them “communists.”
Political “moderates” are the most radical of all. America was founded on principles of liberty, and anything that takes away liberty chips away at our founding principles. In 2010, America stands on a wobbly, moth-eaten foundation. Liberals want a large and powerful government so they can conduct a war on capitalism, while they want personal freedom to take drugs, have abortions, and assist suicide. Conservatives want a large and powerful government so they can conduct wars against drugs and for “national interests,” whatever those are, while they want freedom in economic matters. Both of these groups want power in some areas and freedom in others. But moderates are the worst of all — they want a large and powerful government so they can control everything. Whenever a politician tells you he needs power to do something, get very skeptical.
Our judicial system doesn’t do justice. Our judicial system used to practice English “common law,” which is the process of discovering the underlying universal principles of right and wrong that determine “justice” in a particular case. This whole concept has been swept away, and now the courts merely interpret laws enacted by politicians who are just responding to the political pressures du jour, with no regard to whether they are just. In most cases the politicians haven’t even read the laws they pass. In many cases they even exempt themselves from them; for a recent example, Congress exempted itself from the requirements of the 2010 health care law.
Inflation happens on purpose. Our government inflates so it can spend more money. Inflation is, by definition, an increase in the money supply. This causes the currency to become worth less and less. Governments go into debt and then print money to pay for it so they can spend money they don’t have without taxing you for it. A “gold standard” makes this impossible, which is why in the last century all governments around the world abandoned the gold standard of currency.
Social security doesn’t exist. All of the social security taxes have already been spent by the government, and there’s not enough money to pay out the money that’s been promised. The unfunded obligations of the federal government exceed $200 trillion, but there’s only about $50 trillion of private wealth in the USA. If the government confiscated all of everyone’s wealth it would only pay for one-fourth of the government’s obligations under the social security program. We’re broke, and it will never get paid.
Socialism causes low standards of living. Free markets in a free society inherently spread wealth. Capitalist economies have large middle classes with high standards of living. Socialist economies have small middle classes, very small rich classes, and very large poor, depended classes. This is by design; capitalism is based on liberty, but socialism is based on the dispensation of political favor. When socialists are in power they need a large voting group dependent on them; in exchange for political power they promise to take money from others and give it to those who vote for them. If the dependents become independent, they won’t need the socialists anymore, so the socialists deliberately keep them dependent.