Publisher’s Note: Just finished meeting with my accountant to do my extortion review and my target of owing my state and Federal occupation authority three digits each at the end of the year worked; in Arizona, we can send our money to a designated recipient so I sent mine to the only high school High Power Rifle Team in America at Wickenburg Indoctrination District.
The coproaches continue to behave in a fashion that convinces me their job code is free range prison guards in the land of the free.
Great new site I discovered on uncovering the malign thuggery that is government finance.
Our very own Village Armorer, Skip, did a bang-up job explaining collapsitarian ethos on Unshackled Liberty.
And, yes, fathers matter. Read the whole article.
Moynihan Report, 1965 money graf:
“From the wild Irish slums of the 19th century Eastern seaboard, to the riot-torn suburbs of Los Angeles, there is one unmistakable lesson in American history; a community that allows a large number of men to grow up in broken families, dominated by women, never acquiring any stable relationship to male authority, never acquiring any set of rational expectations about the future — that community asks for and gets chaos. Crime, violence, unrest, disorder — most particularly the furious, unrestrained lashing out at the whole social structure — that is not only to be expected; it is very near to inevitable. And it is richly deserved. “
Are you buying lots of guns and ammo and training? Big Igloo wants to know…
Train like your life depends on it. -BB
“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
– William Boetcker
“Indeed, in a free government almost all other rights would become worthless if the government possessed power over the private fortune of every citizen.”
-John Marshall
I issue a standard challenge to everyone within earshot: show me one government or nation state which became smaller and smaller over time and increasingly less injurious to the freedom and liberty of individuals. Again, I hear the bleating of the usual suspects on the alleged Right who claim that new-found respect for the Constitution will set everything right and we will all skip down the yellow brick road of the small government paradise known as America. I will not belabor the details here for I have covered the Constitution abundantly in both essays and speaking engagements (until my sabbatical from speaking in 20160 to show it for what it is: a doomsday machine designed to bring maximum government to bear against a helpless citizenry reduced to bondage to the same document.
It is the great centralizer and grants unlimited power of taxation to the overlords in DC at Mordor on the Potomac. I have championed the Articles of Confederation in the past but even those documents were flawed but certainly gave smaller government a chance. In the end, limited government and small government never exist for long before metastasizing into enormous machines built for one purpose: to extract unlimited obedience on pain of caging, maiming and/or death of all persons living within the acknowledged confines of the taxing jurisdiction known as nation-states.
Nothing less, nothing more.
Politicians are neither statesman nor public persons of noble intent; they are simply a self-selected class of psycho-/socio-paths whose only agenda is the monopoly of the power to enforce what I just described. Despite all the court historians and contemporary mouthpieces who sing paeans to government and the drones who run it, the agenda remains the same: the destruction of individual self-governance, direction and volition and the harnessing of the captured citizenry to the whims and will of the rulers. You have been lied to and civics class in the government education system then and now has been a descriptive mechanism to rationalize yoking individuals into the collective hive of the state.
You cannot have a government without willing or unwilling submission of the subjects to the will of the rulers. There is no historical antecedent or precedent for a government ever staying within the confines of its originating power.
None.
This speaks to my interpretation of the Western exodus in America in the 18th and 19th century. The court historians talk about the wide-open spaces and the frontier mentality. This was certainly a component but the main reason was a desire on the part of those sickened by the liberty-crushing Atlantic Constitutionalists to flee from that document and its strangulation of their freedom bit by bit. I can just imagine the two Celt brothers coming to a screaming halt at the beaches of California, looking over their shoulders and shouting: “Swim! The Constitution is right behind us!”.
Limited government is a quaint but lethal legal fiction, a chimera and a cruel and tempting illusion. It is the same as a belief in unicorns. Unless I fasten a narwhal tusk to a most displeased horse’s forehead, they have never existed nor ever will (barring genetic engineering advances). Judging from the behavior of the Grand Old Politburo in the unholy corridors of power of DC, they should ditch the Gadsden and hoist a unicorn bedecked flag.
Political action will never reduce the size of government. The same as eradicating cannibals by eating them.
The incentives are so perverse to do otherwise that Buchanan’s Public Choice theories come to the fore with a vengeance. Buppert’s Corollary to Acton’s Axiom is that power attracts the corruptible and absolute power attracts even worse.
Let’s conduct a quick thought experiment: Washington said that “[g]overnment is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
Absent the ability to cajole, fine, cage, maim and/or kill, how can government get the voluntary obedience of its citizens? Would everyone pay the various levels of extortionate taxes imposed voluntarily? Would they stop for those flashing lights for a speeding violation if compliance were not mandatory? For without tax agents and police powers, no government would be capable of exacting obedience from the residents of their taxing jurisdictions. Without regulatory or tax slavery, a government could not function…at all. They are based on the threat or actual use of violence against EVERYONE. Because if one, just one individual, (outside of the DC nomenklatura) got away with not paying taxes or obeying even the most banal of the tens of thousands of laws imposed year after year by the wise men appointed and elected above us, the system would collapse in weeks or months.
Terrorism is defined by Caleb Carr as politically motivated violence against non-combatants and it just so happens that definition is coincident with government behavior at its root and as observed every day. The dozens of agencies that have a charters or sub-charters to deal with formal terrorism cannot even agree on what that definition is. The War on Terror is a nonsensical enterprise on so many levels but you would think a sober government analyst would realize an honest government would pursue this to self-eradication. We all know, of course, that an honest government is an impossibility.
If the sheeple got even a glimpse of the reality that is the mechanism that enslaves them, they may be rather upset that they no control over their own destinies.
The powers that be are fond of pointing to the worst government abuse historically on Earth and making claims of moral superiority, but in the end, while the Communist and National Socialist governments in the twentieth century may have harmed their respective populations and those they subdued through war, at least, we have the moral high ground. Of course, this is much like a getting an Underachiever Award at a serial killer convention. The entire system of governance is based on violence and nothing else no matter how noble it is portrayed or how many rose petals litter the dais of the King.
Government is de facto and de jure a violation of the non-aggression principle. It is based on initiated aggression and a hopeful monopoly (on its part) on the use of force. Witness the literal license to kill granted to cops across the fruited plain who rarely are prosecuted for murder where the apparent evidence is overwhelming. They must be protected because they are the Praetorian Guard that protects the privileges of the rulers to impose their will upon a humbled and frightened population whose right to self-defense against the armed tax-eaters is non-existent. Government, by its very nature, violates the most primal and almost instinctive edict of human behavior as codified in all the major religions and secular positivist philosophies: thou shall not murder. And as Georg Buchan so ably and succinctly pointed out: “[m]urder begins where self-defense ends”.
In essence, government makes war on its inhabitants on pain of death, ultimately, for non-compliance. No matter how one views it, it is a violation of everything man should hold decent and valued in a civilized society. Far from “civilizing” peoples, government is a barbarian meme that seeks to establish that Might is Right and any disobedience will be dealt with violently. Look at the present troubles in the Middle East and see the obedient government-media complex in America cheer-leading the use of force against protesters to restore order. Think of it. In Egypt, they receive the second highest foreign aid amount to include armaments next to Israel: tanks, aircraft, weapons, artillery, you name it. Why does Egypt have such value and what are they defending against? They have tanks for the same reason other Third World nations have tanks: to grind the disobedient into dust when the people rise up against the privations and abuses visited upon them by their governments.
I am often asked what would happen if government disappeared. Would we not all be in mortal peril? I am reminded of reading the Wilberforce antislavery debates in the English Parliament in the 18th and 19th century and the absolute terror in those august Parliamentarians of what would happen when slaves were no longer available to provide certain goods and services. Eventually, chattel slavery did disappear outside of Africa and parts of the Middle East (it remains there to this day) to be replaced by what some may view as a more refined notion of slavery through taxation and regulation. In the end, slavery and government are wedded as mutually beneficial devices to ensure each other’s survival.
Americans live in anarchy everyday and should embrace their inner voluntaryist. If you are a government supremacist, you are neither an abolitionist nor anti-slavery. The choice is yours and the belief in limited government is no more viable than believing in ghosts or the Loch Ness monster. Unicorns are a fiction and government thinks and knows that freedom is a fiction. Speak truth to tyranny and let government know that you know better and that the emperor has no clothes.
Choose.
Choose for yourself.
You children will thank you for paying it forward.
“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”
– Robert Heinlein
Mr. Bill, great stuff. I digress, the Constitution is the Only thing holding the enemy at bay. The doc was written by truly free men, whom had won their freedoms from the crown. ” freedom is truly never free”.
The founding doc, is not the problem it’s those whom are entitled to interpret the constitution, who have failed their oath of office, by creating ” Case Law” and politicized, it at every oppertunity. I know wrong minded, my friend I can live with it.
I drove 5 hours today to Reno, guess what? I saw a cop!. Had the audacity to wave at us. Rotten bastard, who did he think he was. In my life I have NEVER BEEN FREER, then I am right now. I’m retired, make fantastic money, my investments, went as planned. Actually lost 100s of thousands in 06, thought I was screwed. Nope, the problem addressed itself. I’m amused by our circle,letting ZeroHedge or the Richterts or those other loosers, manager your money from a doomsday point of view. Greatly amuses me.
I can’t live my life like that. I have to look to our future, and make the best informed choices I can. I don’t go to a witch Dr, to do my money matters. I research and determine who is the best to hire to care for, manage my doe.
I do what I want, when I want. Other then that nice highway patrolman I saw today, can’t recall the last time I saw the poo poo, or had an official talk with one, like 20 years. I tend to follow most rules, cuz it’s simply in my best interest.
Taxes, yea we’re getting jacked, as I see it two choices, pay, don’t pay.
I think,you taught me the word ” stoic” and I may have this wrong. I only worry about stuff in my world which I have control over. I don’t sweat the other crap, it’s just the way it is. Bill, I truly enjoy what you,pen, and I’ve learned a lot. Hopefully taught some aswell, will never know.
I’m/We are far more prepared for potential world events. Can live for years on stored goods, can protect what’s mine, yet will reach out to those I deem worthy of our charity, ” children” I could never not help, feed children.
And I have zero problems parking a 338lm in some turds cranium from 1000 y, if deserving. Won’t batt an eye. Goods will all that stuff.
Great article, as usual, that I see things from my prospective a wee bit different, is actually a healthy thing. Leaves the door open for me to try it my way, if I fail, I’ll give your complete way a go.
Dirk Williams
Ha constitution, I thought that till a few years ago. NRA, Ha ! Google. Reese family Fast and Furious scapegoats. Now President Trump has been a victim for over 3 years, by FBI, CIA and other agencies, including DOJ, I’d say US Code
is stronger than the constitution, Roger Stone and many others await their “constitutional rights”. Don’t hold your breath, folks. Property rights? Hmmm, seems like a little program called Search and Seize is now the law.
Good morning BAJA, I clearly understand your position, perhaps mine is a game I play in my head” ” Shall We play a game, Hal ” but it’s working for me. That’s what’s in my and my families best interests.
No denying the two headed snake in DC, created by design, to achieve their goals, taken from us.
We The People, have to date failed to do our part. We have allowed our founding doc, to be manipulated, abused, without a whimper, or a peep. Buck has to stop at the problem. I get it, some of the issues are gov trying to usurp,more and more power, away from the clear intent of the constitution.
Yet we cower and be good lil puppets. Pathetic!. NRA, another tentacle of the creation. FBI, CIA, NSA, are the most destructive force on the face of this planet, ” man made” I seem to,think Mother Nature would open a can of woop ass, when she’s grown tired of this mess.
We don’t have a govt, we have men/women behind the curtain, who are really pulling the strings. Money talks and BS, walks, never a truer statement has been uttered.
Every elected position is purchased, EVERYONE” goes to,the highest bidder, prime example as you recognize is this midget Bloomberg. This cats very sick between his ears. Most know it, but would sell their soul for an ounce of the kings gold.
Things will get much much worse, before things get better, go to the bank on that. If your not a prepper, gearing up for the immediate future, then your going to be a static, a mark in a column, on a piece of paper. It’s that simple.
Personally I’m ssssstuck on the shear amount of Socialist Marxist and Communists, supporting the NEW left, love the NEW name, Democratic Socilist party. Ain’t nothing democratic about that crew. I just pray that I’m able to,attend the trials and hanging of these sick folk. It’s after all in their best interests that We The People put them down.
Living on a mountain in southern Oregon, we just don’t see much of this crap. We are not exposed to these sick bastards, we don’t watch much MSM anymore, and search far and wide every morning starting at 05:00, to determine what the truth is. Our search is a world wide one, via many different source. Still a tainted view, but nuggets of truth do manifest in odd and unusual places.
Have great news, was exposed to three fellow vets here in Reno, who flew in from Vietnam yesterday. No idea if they have the funk. Had I known they were here, I’d have gone a different direction. Never forget, Don’t do Crowds!. Don’t do VA houses with folk who just flew in from a potential corona breeding ground.
O well their carriers or their not, nobody gets out alive.
Regards,
Dirk
Great essay as usual Bill. I began my journey of awareness many years ago, probably forty or so. Like my parents I was a republican early on in life for no valid reason other than I believed they favored less government. Over time I matured and morphed into a libertarian. Harry Browne and Ron Paul are the guys I looked up to. Then I had an epiphany: why the hell would these guys run for president or any other office? They didn’t really believe in less government, only government shaped into their own image. Over the last few years I have become militantly anarchist and grow more so by the day. I’m done with “minarchists” who worship the state regardless of size.
I’ve been boning up on negative rights versus positive rights and when I have an opportunity I draw people into discussions about them. Almost nobody has a clue to the distinction, how positive rights are the great enabler of tyranny. Most of the time their eyes roll up in their skull, confused by the facts. Jean Jacques Rousseau was the architect of positive rights in the western world. The more I read Rousseau’s writings the more I am convinced he is largely responsible for where the US is today. His concept of “general will” became the “the General Welfare” in that useless screed and used as an excuse to rule every aspect of our lives and rob us of every vestige of liberty.
Finally, yesterday I had yet another primer about the state. Because I turn 65 in April I have to enroll for Medicare. Talk about “positive rights”, there’s a great example of one gone amok. Now, I spent twenty five years in the healthcare industry before becoming so disillusioned that in 2010 I dropped out and rode a bicycle across the US to clear my head. I have some knowledge about the system. Medicare and all it’s intricacies is a bit of a mystery to me so I went to a workshop about it yesterday. For an hour and a half I sat dumbfounded and angry at the plethora of decisions I am forced to make. It is not as confusing as the US tax code but damned close. Now Bernie and Liz and others are pushing Medicare For All down our throats. Yeah, that’s going to be a giant cluster***k of ever there was one. Adding one hundred million plus people into that system… what could possibly go wrong. Our children and grand children are pretty much screwed.
Thanks David.
Per Medicare and the prospect of Medicare for All, no one has any idea what the expense will be but I really look forward to all the medical professionals from doctors to nurses and everyone in between becoming by Gods government civil service personnel, they are in for a shock..
I could not agree more Bill. Yesterday I visited Bernie’s website and read his “Medicare For All” drivel because I want to be informed on what he really believes. As someone who spent the bulk of his professional life in healthcare I can tell you…this country is doomed if it goes down that path.
You hit on something nobody has talked about when it comes to Medicare For All is this: effectively every healthcare worker in the US will become a government employee if it is implemented. Now some would say that is nonsense but if 100% of your income is derived from government by way of a massive entitlement program then you are an employee. This means every physician, every nurse, every technician, every paper pusher, every administrator becomes a de facto government stooge. Try that on for size.
People are in for a rude awakening before the end of Trump’s next term. The bonds backstopping Medicare will be exhausted and its real deficit exposed. Right now about $1 in 5 is funded which means it’s running an 80% deficit. The budget deficits will immediately double when that happens. Most people have no clue what is coming down the pike.
I shed all of the tags about 10 years ago and by doing so, a vow of poverty of sorts, created an environment wherein I obtained clarity and peace. Most are unwilling to take the necessary steps to disassociate themselves from the titles/labels, e.g., consumer, resident, person, citizen, taxpayer, voter, etc., etc., etc., and just be a man.
Anarchy – The word anarchy comes from the ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarchia), which combines ἀ (a), “not, without” and ἀρχή (arkhi), “ruler, leader, authority.” Thus, the term refers to self government.