All Terrain Thinking

A Compendium of things I think are Important

Consequences In Life, Often Unanticipated

 

25. HOW COULD IT ALL HAPPEN?

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Now you see why I said in the beginning, that it might already be too late. Some solutions are (briefly): Cleanse the voting rolls of those who shouldn't vote. Gradually eliminate the public schools. Return "federal lands" to whom they rightly belong. Sell the rest of federal possessions that are not authorized by the Constitution, and pay off the national debt. Pass a Constitutional Amendment requiring a balanced budget and national neutrality. All money is to be backed by, or made from, gold, silver, and possibly even platinum. Abolish the IRS, income tax, and 90% of the federal government. Bring all troops back to America, and stop messing in everyone else's business. Let the weak die if they are incapable of self-help, or can't find a charity to do it. Stop government at all levels from subsidizing anything. Return all social security deposits to those under 50, and let the rest either get a refund or continue...with no new entrants or payroll deductions. Eliminate all federal medical programs, and let the medical profession return to the free market. (There were no HMO's or "managed care" before the socialization of medicine. Before medicine's socialization, there was no nursing home industry.) Sell the freeways and interstates to the highest bidders, making them pay for themselves with tolls levied by their owners, be they states, counties, or individuals. Eliminate AMTRAK. (What a poor imitation of our once wonderful passenger trains!) Get the federal government out of all businesses. Establish tariffs to pay for what little federal government is left, thereby equalizing the prices of American manufactured goods with slave labor countries. Require every responsible citizen to own guns and ammunition, and I could go on and on.

America today, reminds me of the entrance to the huge, stone, "fun house" at Glen Echo Amusement Park, long gone, which I used to love to visit as a kid growing up in Washington D.C. The cost was 16¢ for all day admission. As you went in, a line of funny mirrors confronted you, which distorted your image into grotesque shapes. You've all seen those mirrors in various places. America is totally distorted today, similar to those mirrors, but it isn't funny, it’s tragic. Voters vote for the wrong candidates, don’t read or think, and spend their lives watching TV. The world watches America...and America watches TV.

Know of any way to accomplish the above? In America, it can only be done politically...without a revolution. A revolution is unlikely, because so many people get government checks, falsely believing they are getting "SFN," (something for nothing, remember?) and they aren't. They are merely transferring money from one pocket to the other, with half of it falling down the bureaucratic drain in the process. American thinking is so muddled; that people actually believe big brother has something to give, rather than only to take from them, with our obvious enslavement to government. We have declined so far, that few think logically, or know much about America. On the morning of July 15, 1996 in Denver Colorado, a TV reporter picked random pedestrians, asking each one a different question. What do the stripes on the flag represent? "The United Nations." Where is the capital? "The White House." When is Independence Day? "July 6^th." Who wrote the National Anthem? "Francis Ford Coppola." What are the three divisions of Government? No one knew the answer to that. In September, 1996 a seemingly bright 20 year old walked up to a store front of a building I then owned, which was temporarily closed for lunch, and it had posted one of those signs reading "will return at," with a clock face on it, set to 1:45. The kid looked at it, and said to me, "Man, what time does that thing say?" He couldn’t even tell time, other than on a digital clock. On a September 1996 morning, a CNN show was dealing with "ellicit drugs." One would think that CNN could spell "illicit."

Since the sixties, most colleges and universities have taken great pride in their ability to encourage students to spend summers registering to vote, every illiterate, poverty ridden, worthless person they can find, as they roam the slums and public housing units. Now all you have to do is be able to get a driver's license to register. You can register to vote when you go to apply for welfare! Proof of being a citizen is no longer required in order to vote, as was proven in several states during the 1996 elections. As the quality, education, and intelligence of the voters has declined, of course they make the wrong choices, voting for the candidates who promise the most handouts, 'programs,' and government interference. To reverse that trend politically, seems to be the truly impossible dream.

As if that weren't bad enough, the media is obviously on the side of larger government, and polls show most Americans today get their news via TV sound bites, similar to attempting to learn quantum physics from a Mother Goose picture book. Time-Warner, that former bastion of 'gangsta-rap,' has merged with CNN, Westinghouse has bought the largest radio chain, and already owns CBS. GE bought NBC, and Disney owns ABC. Do you really expect intelligent, accurate and unbiased news reporting from Donald Duck? Peter Jennings isn't even an American citizen.

Libertarians, or the Republican Liberty Caucus, seem to be the only ones who see the problems and solutions with any clarity, and I strongly disagree with them on free trade, and open borders. They are the only ones that have it right at least 90% of the time. If the Libertarians ever achieved a position of power, America could be restored. For that matter, if the Liberty Caucus Republicans ever got strong enough, and captured the Grand Old Party (GOP), there might be a glimmer of hope. Operating through an existing major party, at least gives one a voice. It's more fun to work with a live body, (Libertarians) than to try to resurrect a tired old corpse! (Republicans)

As the title of this book says, America's problems are the result of "consequences." Consequences of violating the spirit and letter of our Constitution. Consequences of weakening the citizenry, in an attempt to control and equalize all things, thereby destroying the productive sector in the process. Consequences of inflating the money supply, ruining its value. Consequences of shipping troops everywhere, and arrogantly telling other nations what to do, rather than setting good examples at home. Consequences of doing things not authorized by the Founding Fathers in our wonderful Constitution, which envisioned a land where people took pride in relying upon themselves, not government. America has declined, not because we have too few laws, too small a government, taxes that are too low, or not enough regulations...but exactly the opposite.

"Nothing of importance happened in the world today." - Diary of King George III, July 4, 1776. Oh really?

222 years ago, our Founders announced their independence from England in a most stirring Declaration. In reference to King George, that Declaration stated, "(his) is a history of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States, erecting a multitude of new offices, and sending hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance, imposing taxes without our Consent," and hundreds of words accusing the Monarch of the grossest of conduct. Substitute the words "federal government," "Washington D.C.," or "bureaucracy," for "king," and you have the situation in which we find ourselves...two centuries later.

"This country was the only country in history born, not of chance and tribal warfare, but as a rational product of man’s mind. This country was built on the supremacy of reason---and for one magnificent century, it redeemed the world." - Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Back then, we had an infant Congress that was made up of statesmen. A statesman is one who votes for what is right, rather than what is expedient or vote getting, which adequately defines a current politician. If every Congressman voted for freedom from government and regulation writing bureaucrats, and for liberty, even though it cost them their office, we might be saved. Were that done, the results would be so obvious, they might not lose after all. There seems to be an invisible line when one crosses the 'beltway,' and enters Washington D.C. as a politician, no matter how pure the intentions might be. They instantly seem to want to be "one of the boys," rather than statesmen, voting for their individual re-elections, rather than for what is right for the entire country. If the Supreme Court ruled that handouts and subsidies were unconstitutional, as they are, politicians might be tempted to become statesmen!

In 1776, there were plenty of Loyalists who wanted nothing to do with being independent. The Loyalists had a personal stake in America continuing to be owned and operated by England. Benjamin Franklin's son William, was a devout Loyalist, much to the chagrin of his father. Current "loyalists," would be those millions benefiting from governmental redistribution of wealth, who wallow in a fools paradise of false security. Fortunately, two centuries ago they were in the minority. Today, maybe 95% of Democrats, 50% of Republicans, and an unknown number of independents and non-voters would have to count themselves as 20^th century "loyalists." Loyal to unconstitutional wealth redistribution, welfare, criminal coddling, huge federal government and its bureaucracy, and other assorted outrages, as detailed in this book. The ones realizing our problems are in the minority; perhaps the Libertarians, populists, tax protesters, militia members, and in general, people capable of thinking rationally, who are alarmed by the current state of our once glorious union. In other words: Too few.

The non-thinking, non-voting, non-reading, recipients of government handouts and employment, are like an animal in the woods that is gravely injured. He licks his wounds, drinking his own blood, believing in ignorance, that everything will be O.K., until he dies, his blood having been transferred from his arteries to his stomach. Welfare and big government is one copious, continuous transfusion from the veins to the mouth, and the eventual results will be the same as with that dead animal.

The largest sector of the citizenry is the non-voters, amounting to 51% in 1996, and a bit less in 2000. Some are just apathetic couch potatoes, mesmerized by the sitcoms. Others, who stay away from the polls, are saying with their absence, "A pox on all your houses."

It is easy to see problems. I hope I have helped to explain some of the causes. Probably my hankering for retrogression is unattainable. To offer a solution, other than political or revolutionary, I am at a loss. I worry and think about it almost continuously, but have no magic formula to restore America to a land of prosperity, free from oppressive government, with a proud and self-sufficient citizenry, not only as it was envisioned by our Founders, but as it worked superbly for 150 years. Most of our mess has happened in the last 65 years, an incredibly short time to commit national suicide.

"I didn’t know how heavy my luggage was till I stopped carrying it." - Robert Schuller

We have decayed mightily in 65 years. The most tragic part of it, is that even with that rapidity, on a day-to-day basis, it is not noticeable enough to foment a revolt...even at the polls. If America could suddenly be freed from the heavy weight of the IRS and the federal government, with its assorted bureaucrats, regulations, rules, laws, and mandates, we would feel like Dr. Schuller when he lay down his luggage. We have been carrying it for so long, most don't even realize how heavy the load actually is. It might be like the overworked man who has a nervous breakdown. It had been coming on for years, but so gradually, that he just endured, until his mind and body gave way suddenly, unable to take it any longer. How much more devaluation of our money, how much higher can taxes go, how much more regulation, and harassment can we take...before we snap? I don’t know.

It will be noted that newspaper and wire service stories, quotations, plus other sources for this tome come from as far back as hundreds of years...to the present. As this went to press, the absurdities continue.

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