Gary Johnson speaks at the Stop Watching Me Rally last Saturday. I wish I could have been there. Gary Johnson should have had the chance to speak during the last Presidential campaign, but like Ron Paul, he was shut out by the mainstream media and their bosses in the Democrat and Republican parties(y). Too bad. He has lot of GOOD ideas. Listen for yourself…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1iljZltuc_w
The Phony ‘Fight’ And The Real Story : Personal Liberty™.
Another good article from Bob Livingston and Personal Liberty. This one is discussing the events of the last few weeks, the fight over the budget and Obamacare. The scare tactic to ‘shutdown’ the government, as if that is a bad thing we would never want. As usual, the politicians caved in for bigger government, more money and more power for them. 🙁
I agree completely with Bob on the idea that there is really only ONE party in this country. We might as well just call it the ‘statist’ party since every piece of it (every so called ‘independent’ party), whatever it’s called, is for BIG government.
As the latest vote in congress just proved once more, BOTH the Democrats AND Republicans are for BIG government and completely against the limited government this country is supposed to have according to our Constitution and all the rest of our founding documents!
ALL of those politicians are breaking their oaths of office to uphold the Constitution. EVERY ONE OF THEM, FROM BOTH PARTIES! The Libertarians are the ONLY political party (unless there is an anarchist party I’m not aware of) who is NOT statist and is for the limited government our Constitution calls for.
The latest ‘shutdown’ was just one more farce. The latest show put on for us by ‘our’ leaders to trick us into giving up even more of our power to them. 🙁 I just keep wondering just WHAT is it going to take to get the American people to wake up? To put a stop to this?
I managed to piss off a good friend of mine tonight. He’s a die hard Obama fan and just couldn’t take any more of my ‘ranting’ about how Obama (and all of our previous ‘leaders’ for the last few decades) has been ruining this country.
Well, sorry to him and anybody else who can’t/won’t see the truth. I’m no Tom Paine, but I think the more people put it out there (shout out for freedom/liberty), the more people will come to their senses.
I’m thankful to all the other people in this country and around the world who are fighting for Liberty. In any way. Thanks to the Libertarian Party, to all the small L libertarians, to the Free State Project, to the Advocates for Self Government, to the International Society for Individual Liberty, to the Young Americans for Liberty, for Ron Paul and all his supporters, for the ACLU, for the Gun Owners of America, for the Institute for Justice, for ALL the people fighting AGAINST statism and FOR liberty!
I’m thankful to WordPress, Facebook, Twitter and any other platform I have to spread the word. To get MY voice heard, out there to compete against the mainstream media who keeps on NOT doing their jobs. Dianne Feinstein can go to hell! Here’s to me and the rest of the (‘non-journalist’) bloggers out there!
Keep up the good work!! 🙂
Hard to believe he still hasn’t been charged with anything, he’s done a hell of a lot more to hurt this country then Nixon ever even thought of. He swore an oath to uphold the Constitution (or he SHOULD have) and he has done nothing since he’s been in office but work to destroy it. 🙁
He should have been MORE than impeached over this illegal spying. Don’t even try to tell me he didn’t know about it. He knew. Therefore he was complicit. As the leader of the Executive Branch, he was ultimately responsible. Since he was a ‘constitutional law professor’, he KNEW every bit of every one of those programs was unconstitutional (and so illegal) and it was HIS duty to destroy ALL of them! Period!!
Instead, he chose to destroy the constitution. He should be drug out of the White House on his ass, tarred and feathered and then thrown in a (regular) prison for the rest of his life! And yes, Bush should have had the same treatment for Iraq and the PATRIOT ACT. (But Obama has done NOTHING to get rid of that horrible ‘law’, and our people are STILL in Iraq and Obama could have brought ALL of them home years ago!)
I can’t think of ANY other reason he’s still in office and has evaded the trouble that even Clinton had except that Obama is ‘black’. Yeah, I know, I’m going to be accused of racism. Well, accuse away…
I know I’m not a racist and that anyone who brings that up is only doing it because they have nothing else to say. They have NO rational argument to make, so they start calling names. All those high hopes for our first black president from so many people. Obama has sure given the shaft to the next few dozen blacks who might want to run. It’ll take a LONG time to get rid of his ‘legacy’. I only hope this country can survive the rest of his term. 🙁
I am SO sad to see what has become of my once great country. ALL of our presidents for the last few decades (at least) have been working overtime to destroy that history but Obama is the one in there now and he needs to GO before he’s allowed to do any more damage!
The Founders Understood The Dangers Of Welfare And Redistribution Schemes : Personal Liberty™.
Along with my last post, here is one more example of how the meanings of the words have been corrupted and now we are basing our political system on misunderstandings.
I have had discussions with a lot of people who say that the ‘welfare clause’ in the Constitution authorizes the federal government to do what they do. That they can continue to spend any amount of money on any program they choose to invent as long as it is intended to ‘help’ somebody.
I disagree. I disagree vehemently!! This article has some direct quotes from Benjamin Franklin and James Madison proving that my interpretation of the word welfare in the Constitution is the correct one and anyone who uses that term to justify ANY of the welfare (for rich or poor) today is just plain WRONG!
Alienable Rights = Glorified Privileges.
Very good article by Kelly Diamond! I have been noticing for a LONG time that most people don’t have any kind of idea of what ‘rights’ are. This article does a good job of explaining what they are.
People now a days seem totally confused. They don’t seem to understand that there is a BIG difference between natural rights (which belong to everyone regardless of whether any person or even government recognizes that fact) and those ‘rights’ we enjoy because of the society we live in.
Because of this confusion, we are losing more and more of our natural rights. Our government, which was expressly created for the sole purpose of PROTECTING those rights is instead intent on chipping them away to nothing.
Diamond makes some good points about the ‘freedom of the press’ guaranteed to us by our Constitution and how Dianne Feinstein (and others) are working right now to restrict that freedom even more. As a blogger (and hopefully one day able to do more), I am NOT happy with the arrogance of ‘our leaders’ latest attempts to decide who can and can not be considered a journalist re: freedom of the press.
ALL of us should be considered able to publicize whatever we feel is news. That is what the internet has done for ALL of us! Who the hell does Feinstein think she is, to decide what can and can’t be published? Who can/can’t be considered a ‘real’ journalist? What information is OK or NOT OK to be publicized?
The reason the founders included ‘freedom of the press’ in the Bill of Rights was to ensure that we could always get information that the government might prefer to keep secret! The mainstream media has not been doing their job at all for the last few years (at least). Thank goodness for the internet and ordinary people posting to the internet!
NOAA announces end of traditional paper nautical charts – Professional Mariner
Oh NOoooooo!! As a navigation officer, I have used both paper charts and a few different kinds of electronic charts. I MUCH prefer paper!
There are so many things I can think of where paper charts would be better. Especially for small boat operations. Especially for sailboats. First of all, they are very limited in the available power on board. What happens when the power goes out? At least with paper charts, you could still make your way safely to a port of your choosing. With only electronic charts, you would be lost (literally). 🙁
Lots of people do like the electronic charts, they’re easy to use (sometimes), but I personally think they can be dangerous (not ONLY when the power goes out). For one thing, its not as easy to get a good overview, to see the big picture, as on a paper chart. For another thing, its harder to make sure what you set it up for is still what you wanted when you are using it. For another thing, it’s very easy to become complacent using them.
Yeah, it’s supposed to be so much easier to use electronic and especially to keep them all updated. I don’t think so. AND, we are still required to keep paper charts on-board if we don’t have a backup to an electronic chart.
I don’t even want to get into the whole thing of all the required ‘training’ that’s being forced on us because of the new electronic chart requirements (but I will since its such a big deal). 😉
We didn’t need to spend many thousands of dollars to get trained to use a paper chart. Or re-take that expensive training for every ship we might sail on that had a chart from another country. I could use American charts, or I could use BA charts and I would NOT have to take another expensive class to learn how to use the different style of chart.
That’s NOT how things work with electronic charts. The IMO in its ultimate wisdom has decided that we will have to be trained in a ‘ship specific’ ECDIS course! OK, call me a Luddite, but paper still has an important place IMHO and I still want some! SO, now what?
Will we have to go get BA charts from the UK now? 🙁
Dianne Feinstein And The NSA Versus James Madison : Personal Liberty™.
This woman has NO idea of what the Constitution says or means. She is just an ignorant, power hungry THUG that happens to wear dresses. She is one sick evil bitch and I’ll call her that to her face.
I can NOT understand why the people of California ever elected her, much less allowed her to continue her RAPE of the Californian people and their state for all these years. Anybody from California out there with some sort of explanation?
Is it just that you Californians all are screwed by the system just like the rest of us are in the national elections? Where the media refuses to do its job and inform us of ALL the candidates and instead only allows us to know about its favorites?
The ones representing the 2 favored (really only ONE) parties who have been vetted by the owners of those media outlets? The ones who pass the tests of being…
1. members of the same elite club,
2. willing to follow orders from the leaders of those same elite clubs,
3. NOT willing to do what’s best for the country and follow their oath to protect our rights and uphold the Constitution!
It’s hard to believe there was NO one on the ballot who wasn’t a better choice. Was there NOBODY else running against her? NO ONE ELSE was ever on the ballot against her? Not once in all those years??? Cause ANYBODY would be better than her, I mean REALLY!
I’ve been enjoying a blog conversation on The Culture Monk blog. It started with his post ‘Oreos & Cocaine…REALLY???'( http://culturemonk.com/2013/10/20/oreos-cocaine-really/). There’s been an interesting bunch of comments on his post and I’ve joined in.
I think its a neat coincidence that I got that article in my email that I posted on here yesterday about scientists who think they might have found a cure for addiction of all types (http://captjillsjourneys.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/is-this-chemical-a-cure-for-marijuana-addiction/). I got it in time to add to that blog conversation.
Now this morning, I saw another post on the mindhacks blog about how the original study that started the conversation was probably not really the big deal the media made it out to be (http://mindhacks.com/2013/10/17/scraping-the-bottom-of-the-biscuit-barrel/#comment-79421). Surprise, surprise. 😉
They had a link in their post to a post on Reason.com that really makes a lot of sense to me (http://reason.com/blog/2013/10/16/researchers-show-that-cocaine-and-heroin). I’ve subscribed to their magazine for years and I’ve always liked the way they approach things. This is just one more example of some ‘reasonable’ thinking on the issue of addiction.
I think it’s great how we can use all these resources to have a worldwide conversation about all kinds of things. News and research at our fingertips. Isn’t it great! 😉
Obamacare: A Parasite Intent on Killing Its Host | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.
This is a VERY good article by former Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. I have to admit, I LOVE Ron Paul! 🙂 He has been my congressman for years and he is the ONLY politician I’ve ever met who REALLY tries his best to do the job he was elected to do.
That job is to PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION! NOT to pander to the public (like most politicians think). Regardless of how many people do or don’t want to do one thing or another, he ALWAYS did the RIGHT thing and fought to uphold the constitution and our rights.
We would be in SUCH a better place as a country if he had been elected instead of Obama. Too bad the media refuses to allow any other candidates to be heard. 🙁
I’m sure if more people actually listened to what he has to say, they would LOVE it! Just look at the reaction he gets when he visits any college campus around the country. These kids are open to new ideas, they’re not completely brainwashed yet. He gets a HUGE positive reaction from young people.
Ron Paul is absolutely correct in everything he says in this article. I know a lot of people refuse to open their eyes to the truth, but you can NOT evade human nature or the laws of economics for very long.
Obamacare IS a disaster waiting to happen. It just makes me sick that we have SO many people in this country now who, for whatever reason, still support this legislation which is completely in violation of ANY sort of respect for individual rights. Those same individual rights this country was founded to PROTECT (not to give, since we had them already-but to protect!).
In fact, the ONLY proper function of OUR government is just that, to protect our rights, PERIOD! With Obamacare, we have turned that idea inside-out and upside-down. Everything about it is a violation of our rights.
Our right to decide our own medical treatments is violated in every way! We can’t choose the price we’ll pay for those treatments. We can’t choose who we want to provide those treatments. Our privacy is totally eliminated!!
How can that mean anything other than that somebody ELSE OWNS YOUR BODY AND SO YOUR LIFE! How anyone could even imagine that it could possibly do anything but corrupt completely the principles this country was founded to uphold, bankrupt and destroy this country is just beyond belief!
I just don’t get it. Do these people who support it have some kind of switch in their brains that shuts off any logical thinking whenever the subject of Obama or his latest SCAM comes up? Or maybe they just never could think logically about anything to begin with. Or maybe its just greed that’s blinding them, the thought of all that ‘free’ stuff is just too much for them to cope with and they overload their brain cells?
They keep talking about how ‘all the other democracies have socialized medicine’ and that is somehow supposed to justify destroying ours. I don’t understand why they don’t just go to one of those other wonderful countries if they love socialism so much.
THIS country is a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC! It is NOT a democracy and it is NOT a socialist country! If you want one of those, you have about 180 of them to choose from. Leave THIS one alone to continue to be free and an example to the rest of the world. It is only your socialism that has been dragging it down for decades now!
Let us return to the FREE country this used to be and we’ll be able to recover and prosper again. Keep pushing the cronyism, corporatism, populist and socialistic fantasies and we will just keep on whittling away at our freedom and everything that once made this country the greatest in the history of the world will go away with it. 🙁
Look to England for America’s Future | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.
Good post on some history from across the pond. I would certainly think it would follow that we would wind up the same way if we follow the same path. It looks to me like that’s what IS happening here. WHY can’t we ever learn from history, instead of repeating the same mistakes? 🙁
‘Captain Phillips’ Torn From the Headlines, But Tells an Old Story | gCaptain
I did go see this movie the other day. I thought it was pretty good. Maybe its because I’m a sailor but I REALLY don’t appreciate the way the article tries to make excuses for the pirates. Yeah, they’re poor, so are a lot of other people around the world. That does NOT in any way excuse the violence, kidnappings, beatings, theft, etc of the pirates!
I thought the crew of the Alabama deserved more credit for their actions. It seems Captain Phillips got all the recognition. The crew actually managed to capture the pirate leader and traded him off for their captain. Good job!!
Remember, in the Merchant Marine, we are not allowed to defend ourselves with anything but fire hoses against these thugs with machine guns and RPGs! They still managed to take down a couple of the pirates! Good! I salute them!
I am REALLY sick and tired of hearing about how we can’t be trusted to defend ourselves, we somehow don’t deserve any kind of REAL protection when our companies send us to work in these dangerous waters!
The bigwigs sit in their penthouse air conditioned offices and debate how much we’re worth to them. Can they ‘afford’ to pay our ransom? The ransom payment is just another cost of doing business to them. It’s our LIVES on the line! We’re just out there trying to earn a living and should NOT have to put up with pirate attacks!
Seamen from all over the world are suffering severely from pirate attacks, even for YEARS AFTER they return home! There are HUNDREDS of them being held at this moment! According to the ICC International Maritime Bureau (http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre/piracynewsafigures), there have been 176 REPORTED incidents including 10 hijackings in 2013 alone!
No one is helping them. No one cares. The world depends on shipping. Over 90% of the worlds trade moves by sea, in the USA its over 95%! Yet, we mariners get a bare minimum of help from the worlds navies. 🙁
Where are the convoys like they had during WWII? Where are the marines who might be assigned to a ship to protect it? Where are the security companies and their trained armed guards??? WHY is there such an issue about giving us the protection we should have before we go anywhere near any pirate infested waters???
The ONLY reason the world even knows (or cares) about Captain Phillips and the Maersk Alabama is because it happened to be an American ship! There have been dozens of ships and HUNDREDS of sailors held in captivity by various pirate groups worldwide.
The pirates holding these mariners are NOT like Johnny Depp! They are mean, abusive, dangerous, desperate men! They have nothing to lose and they mean business!
WHY can’t we get some REAL protection? WHY can’t we at least arm our ships? It’s hard to believe but the powers that be expects us to be able to run away! If that doesn’t work (which it won’t most of the time since most ships are not very fast), then we are supposed to fight off the machine gun toting pirates with nothing but FIRE HOSES! If that doesn’t work (which it doesn’t), then we are supposed to run away and hide (again). The movie did a great job of showing just how effective those tactics are! (Totally useless! But they are the industrys’ ‘best management practice’).
I recommend the movie. It’s good entertainment if nothing else. I hope it’ll be more than that for the people who watch it. I hope it will help get people involved in trying to solve the problems of piracy. I hope it will give people ashore some idea of the things that are still going on out there in our world.
Is This Chemical a Cure For Marijuana Addiction? | Surprising Science.
Oh boy! Let the ‘authorities’ get ahold of this stuff and it’ll be all over. We’ll all be doped into shambling zombies with no ounce of joy left to our lives. All for our own good (of course). 🙁
I’m pretty damn sure marijuana is NOT addicting! It just does not fit the definition of addiction. It’s been around forever and there would probably be ZERO negative results if we weren’t on a prohibitionist rampage against it!
Remember, it WAS legal here and anyone who wanted to could and DID use it up until the congress fraudulently banned it starting in the late 1930s. There was NO problem with it until Nixon ramped up the War on (some) Drugs in the 1970s.
Throwing people out of schools, jobs, their homes, etc because a drug test found a few NANOGRAMS of THC is NOT proof of addiction!!! It’s a circular argument, ‘they’re addicted because they have a problem with pot (they lost their jobs, etc)’, NOT!! They do NOT have a problem with pot, they have a problem with the LAW!
I don’t doubt that some people are addicted to some things. Some people are actually even harmed by their addictions. Most people are NOT addicted physically to anything really, but it suits the people in charge to say so. Once again, they take away OUR responsibility and OUR choices.
But lots of people do have emotional/psychological addictions to all kinds of things. Love, sex, adrenaline junkies like skydiving or race car driving, food addicts, drug addicts, alcoholics, smokers, etc.
There are always so many people out there who just can’t stand to see anyone else having fun! WHY? Why the hell can’t I smoke some weed if I feel like it? What the hell is wrong if I choose pot over booze? We already had a hell of a fight over alcohol prohibition and we FINALLY came to our senses and ‘let’ people drink again.
WHY can’t we come to the proper conclusion that we need to do the same thing with all the other drugs that people choose to use? WHY do so many people think THEY know best?
Most of the people who are supposedly addicted are only classed that way because something ‘interfered with their life’. I’ve seen the AA questionnaire on ‘you may be an alcoholic’, yeah, we ALL may be alcoholics if that’s the standard!
I remember thinking about one question, do you ever drink alone? My aunt drank a glass of wine with her dinner every night, she lived alone, according to AA that meant she was an alcoholic!
I have been arrested for DWI. According to the standards, that means I’m an alcoholic. I have a ‘problem with alcohol’, well NO I don’t have a problem with alcohol, I DO have a problem with COPS!
Because of that supposed “problem” with alcohol, I have been held back from many promotions, even my ability to travel has been cut off! I was recently informed by the CBP that because of my conviction, I can not be considered “low-risk”. Now what the HELL does a conviction for DWI have to do with being able to travel through the fast lane at the airport?????
Now, those controlling type people will have one more tool to use against those of us who would LIKE to be able to enjoy our lives without puritanical interference. Scientists have found that ‘kynurenic acid’ can be used to basically negate the effects of dopamine.
Dopamine is associated with the ‘pleasure center’ of the brain. When you are enjoying yourself, your dopamine levels increase. They also increase when you are using alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, etc. They also increase while you enjoy a good meal, when you have sex, when you do ANYTHING pleasurable.
I don’t know about you all, but I think we should all be able to take our pleasures any way we can! As long as you don’t hurt anybody else, you should be able to do ANYTHING you want! That DOES include getting high, on WHATEVER you choose to do the trick!
I can just imagine the horror stories to come if/(when) they start using this stuff on people. We’ll all be doped up like a bunch of zombies to treat our ‘addictions’, this stuff will be used to block any pleasure from our brains. Tone us down just enough so we can keep on being good little workers, but we’ll never be able to go out and have a good time on Friday night again, we just don’t know what’s good for us (and THEY do).
WOW! 🙁 And I thought Brave New World was only science fiction. 🙁
Young Adults and Obamacare | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.
Another good article from Laissez-Faire. This one is another attempt to explain Obamacare. A simple explanation of insurance and markets and how Obamacare is not really either.
Personally, I think Obamacare is a purposeful attempt to screw up our health care system SO bad that everyone will soon be clamoring for a ‘single-payer’ system. Government health care in other words.
So, instead of paying attention to what really caused our system to become so totally screwed up, we just keep on proposing more of the same things that started the problem in the first place. We now have the most expensive and frustrating system on the planet. It didn’t used to be that way. We USED to have the best! It changed because of government interference in the market.
THAT is the ONLY reason our health care is so expensive, why people here fear losing everything if they get sick and don’t have insurance. Open your eyes to the true cause of the problem. Maybe then you will be able to see that Obamacare will NOT be any kind of solution. Neither will a complete government takeover!
Yeah, there are some places on the planet where government health care does (seem to) work. Costa Rica comes to mind. I haven’t been there, but from all I hear, it sounds like its a great system. Not so much the ones I hear more about: UK, Canada, even Sweden. They have serious problems with their systems too. So for getting taxed out the a$$, are they REALLY getting what they’ve paid for? Looks like that’s a no.
In case you didn’t know, Costa Rica does not have any army. We spend I don’t know how many BILLIONS on our military. So, that alone should tell you that we can NOT have anything like Costa Ricas health care system.
Somebody has got to pay the piper at some point. We can NOT just keep on printing more dollars and hope to be able to buy whatever we feel like it. Sooner or later the bills are not going to be able to be put off any more!
If you’re REALLY interested in solving the problems in our health care system, then you had better start paying attention to history and the REAL cause and effects going on. Obamacare is a disaster waiting to happen. I’m sorry the Republicans caved, but I had no doubt that they would. Why did they sign the damn bill in the first place? Cause they’re all STATISTS, just as bad as the Democrats!
We need to get back to the LIMITED government this country was founded on! Government should NOT be interfering in ANY market and most certainly NOT interfering with something as important as health care! They do NOT have that power! In case you don’t know it, our Supreme Court has been wrong MANY times in the past and their decision on Obamacare is just one more instance of their ignorance of the true purpose of OUR government (to PROTECT our rights!).
I only wonder at this point how long it will take them to throw me in jail, since I won’t be signing up for Obamacare and I will be doing my best to keep my bank accounts empty and not getting any tax refunds so they can’t STEAL my money to pay for the ridiculously expensive ‘insurance’! I’ll probably get better health care in prison then I would under Obamacare. 🙁
Too bad I’ll be costing them 50 grand or so instead of them being able to STEAL that amount out of my pay. That’s what comes from FORCING people to do things they don’t want to do, have no good reason to do, and they’re principled enough to stand up for what’s RIGHT!
Actually, I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. If I can manage to escape to another country, I won’t be forced to submit to this scam! I’m doing all I can to get out, I just wish I could somehow move faster!! 🙁
Our World Through Thomas Paine’s Eyes | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.
Excellent article by Jeffrey Tucker! I guess I’ll have to re-read Common Sense again. I liked it the first time I read it. I liked it more the next time. I’m sure my attitude toward it hasn’t changed, since my love of individual liberty is stronger than ever!
I wonder what will it take for us Americans to stand up and take back our liberty again. We did it once back then when Thomas Paine’s essay managed to stir up the people. Do we have anyone now who could do that job? I know people are trying, the internet is a big help- but most people still aren’t interested in paying attention.
We are in a much worse off position then the colonists were then. Back then, they were fighting the most powerful empire in the world. So would we be. But they were a heck of a lot more evenly matched! The King didn’t have any drones, or NSA spy programs to watch your every move, or even nuclear weapons to threaten with…
Our only real advantage now is the fact that our IDEAS are the better ones. How many people can honestly support tyranny over freedom?
How has tyranny ever lifted the standard of living in a nation? Compared to systems with some freedom allowed? How has tyranny encouraged creativity? Compared to freedom?
Even with the limited freedom we started with here (re:slavery, women, etc), we STILL became the most productive country with the best standard of living on the planet.It’s only as we threw that freedom out the window that we started going downhill.
Get the truth out there to people and they will no longer support “our” government. It HAS in fact become a tyranny.
“Tyranny- arbitrary or unrestrained use of power- oppressive or unjustly severe government.”
As the founding fathers fought the American Revolution against King George for such trivial things like a tiny tax on a few items like tea, WE have a much larger tax on EVERYTHING. As they fought against no taxation without representation, WE have no representation either (or do you REALLY think your congressman does what YOU ask them to?).
As they fought against their treatment by the Kings soldiers, we put up with daily harassment by the TSA strip searchers, DEA and police theft/destruction of your property and NSA collecting EVERYTHING you do or say! How much worse is that then the Kings men occasionally looking through your (snail) mail? And yet no one today protests. 🙁
The government right now is in a ‘shut down’ which did not in fact shut down any of the things they use to oppress us (oh my wishful thinking that they would shut all that down!!). Things like the NSA, DEA, DHS, TSA, IRS are all still open for business (and NO, we do NOT need ANY of them!). They have only shut down the things that people actually ENJOY the use of from the government. Things like the National Parks and the WWII Monument.
They are ‘shut down’ in a fight over the budget and Obamacare. Obamacare is only one more HUGE violation of our rights and the budget is already TRILLIONS of dollars over what it should be! I just keep wondering: what in the HELL is it going to take for the main part of the American people to stand up and say ‘enough is enough’?
I’m sure not going to say I’m anywhere near as intelligent as Einstein (duh!), but these quotes of his at least let me know I’m not as stupid (or crazy) as a lot of people think I am. I would much rather know Einstein agrees with me than a few yahoos on Facebook! 😉
I think everybody on this earth is in general equivalent. NOT equal, but equivalent. There is a difference! We all have brains in our heads and our capacity to reason is what makes us special (or at least a large part of it). We all have things we’re good at, things we’re not so good at, things we suck at. No one is perfect. We all have to work together to make a well functioning society. Each of us has our part to play.
One of the things I really like about shipboard life is that it’s very clear there that we’re ALL there for a good reason. We’re ALL necessary for the proper functioning of that vessel. The lowest man is just as important in the scheme of things as the master.
I think that general attitude should be more prevalent in general society. We’re all born with the same rights. We’re all equal under the law (except congress it seems- who can’t understand that they are ILLEGALLY exempting themselves from the ‘laws’ they create for the rest of us).
Our educational system has been going downhill for decades. Have you ever seen that test that’s been going around online? I think it was a grade school graduation test. I’m running out of time this morning, but I’ll try and find it and post it here tomorrow so everyone can check it out. I’ve got 2 college degrees and I would have a hell of a hard time passing it!
If you look at the history of our educational system, you’ll find that we were doing just fine up til the 1960’s or so. It took that long for the ‘public’ educational system we borrowed from the Germans to really take hold and ruin OUR system. It was based on training people to work in an industrial society.
Schools became little more than babysitters where kids were told to sit down, shut up and DON’T question authority! Back in the old days (before ‘public’ schools), everyone who wanted an education could get one. We had TRUE public schools then, founded and controlled by the COMMUNITY. Back then, people were taught to THINK for themselves!
Most people did fine without a college education. Most people TODAY would probably do fine without one (IF they could get a decent grade school and high school education).
I really hate to see so many young people get themselves into such humongous debt loads, especially when they’re just starting out in life. It’ll take them years to pay off their college loans. For what? How many people go to college now and don’t get a job in their field of study? I’m one. I’ve never seen a job in any way relating to my degree (math) since I graduated in 2001.
Our schools no longer teach people to think. They haven’t for a LONG time. Maybe we should take a long hard look at our educational system and see if we REALLY want to keep on training our kids to settle for being a ‘cog in the machine’, to fit into the corporate culture? Or do we want them to be able to develop to their full potential?
Universal Subjectivism: An Ethical Theory for the 21st Century
This looks like a very interesting book. I haven’t read it yet but the review in Utne Reader makes me want to try and find a copy.
I read the review and of course I agree, it would be a wonderful thing to stop all suffering. I just don’t know how to accomplish that.
The author suggests that it would be simple to just pass a law and we could stop factory farming here and so end so much suffering. I totally agree, factory farming is really a sickening situation, horrible for the animals. But how ‘simple’ would it be for us to stop it?
First of all, I’m not sure it would be simple even to pass a law like that. Our political system here is SO screwed up. Our politicians pass laws every day, THOUSANDS of pages long, they never read them, no one understands them, special interests get their little favors hidden inside somewhere, we all have to wait until the shit hits the fan to find out that maybe SOMEBODY should have READ the bills BEFORE they passed them into ‘law”!
We’re fighting Obamacare right now because of that exact same situation. Our agriculture lobby is pretty powerful too. As powerful as the insurance/pharmaceutical/medical lobby? I don’t know. I DO know they would not want to have their profits hurt even a teeny tiny bit! They’ll fight tooth and nail, spend millions of dollars to riddle whatever law comes up with benefits to them and detriments to the rest of us. That is how our politics works now a days! They ALWAYS find a way to screw the little guy! 🙁
Besides the fact that it would be a huge political issue, MY objection to the whole factory farming thing is: would it REALLY be possible to feed everybody (without destroying even more of our land and resources)? I have seen SOME things that suggest that localized, organic type farming can be just as productive, even MORE productive than factory farming, (Farmaggedon-film- was one if I remember right). It just seems so hard to believe. I would really need to learn a lot more before I’m totally convinced that is true.
The author makes the point that people starve every day tho there is enough food to feed the population of today. I would agree with that, most of the people who are starving today are in that situation because of POLITICS and not because there isn’t enough food around. Corrupt and greedy ‘rulers’ find ways to work the system to benefit themselves and their cronies and screw everyone else! The issue is getting the food (or other aid) to the people who need it. Best way to solve that problem is to get rid of politics! Get rid of ‘rulers’!! They’re nothing but thugs wearing suits!
I have to admit, I really don’t want to change my lifestyle. I’m not a vegetarian now and I don’t really want to be one. I don’t want to learn to eat worms or insects either. I travel every chance I get and I don’t want to stop doing that either. So, OK, I am not very ethical according to this author, at least according to what I can get out of the intro to the book in the review. I don’t feel bad about it. I don’t think reading the book will make me change my mind.
How in the heck are we going to get everyone to change their mindsets to this kind of ethics? That question alone makes me want to get hold of the book and find out the authors ideas. I am curious to see what other people propose to solve these sorts of problems. I can’t imagine it ever happening by choice. I have a feeling people will eventually be using force, like they say about climate change, we don’t have time to THINK about the proper kinds of solutions, it’s time for ACTION. Same old, same old here. 🙁
As usual, MY solution to the issue of suffering is the same as it is for almost every other issue… start using some BIRTH CONTROL!!!!! We sure as hell can feed 9 million people on this planet a LOT easier than we can 9 BILLION!!! We MIGHT even have some land/water/resources left over for some of the OTHER creatures on the planet if we would use our big heads instead of our little ones for a change!
To me, that would involve a whole lot less suffering for everybody. I mean, really, how hard can it be to just take a pill every day? or a depo shot every 3 months? Everybody that can have a kid, gets ONE. Maybe that policy would even encourage people to appreciate their kids for a change. 🙂
Let the people who can’t have one adopt one that is already here on this planet (instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on artificial insemination, etc). Oh, you want your own genes? Too bad, life’s not fair, it’s YOUR problem, don’t expect the rest of the world to pay just to indulge your FEELINGS. If you have the big bucks to pay for the procedure all on your own (NO insurance should cover these procedures!), then fine, maybe we’ll consider an exception if you’re some kind of genius (maybe). Instead of giving incentives to HAVE kids, give incentives to NOT have kids!
Just do the same thing as China did, establish a one child policy (must CONVINCE people of the need- NOT force them!). It shouldn’t be THAT hard. After all, most people have been convinced that people caused global warming and they’e only been spouting that story since what, the 80’s?
After a while, the population will eventually start shrinking, human suffering will lessen (and animal suffering along with it) and we can start solving the REST of the problems we have created here, such as starvation, medical care, education, engaging and fulfilling work, improving the condition of our land/water/air, maybe even make a dent in climate change. 😉
Russia Dismisses Dutch Legal Action Over Greenpeace Activists | gCaptain
Did anyone really expect anything different? I’m not sure what people are referring to when they say Russia “unlawfully detained” the Greenpeace activists. They invaded the 500 meter zone (that is illegal) after repeated warnings not to. They tried to board the Russian vessel. Some of them were actually doing it and the rest of them were helping, those are acts of piracy! It is totally and completely illegal under every maritime law of every country as far as I know.
I’m absolutely positive the US would have done the same thing. We probably would have charged them with conspiracy and a dozen other charges, or maybe just terrorism. That seems to be our fail safe lately, anyone we accuse of terrorism is pretty much automatically guilty and they don’t get to have a trial. The actions they took does make them guilty of those crimes under OUR laws (not that I am saying our laws are good ones in this case, they actually suck pretty bad as far as terrorism and conspiracy goes, everybody can be charged for pretty much anything).
Under international law, those people illegally boarded the Russian vessel, the Russians were within their rights to do what they did and actually I’m surprised they have treated them as well as they have.
I admire the Dutch for trying to help their people, but they should have been more involved in trying to stop them from acting against the Russians in the first place. That probably would have been a lot more helpful.
Why We Test for Drugs & Alcohol.
This is the first study I’ve ever seen on IF these tests do ANYTHING. I think some of the premises are false. Such as: using the post accident rates to determine if any drugs or alcohol were involved in the accident.
Just like in the Exxon Valdez incident, these figures can be totally misleading. As found after that investigation, Captain Hazelwood had NOTHING to do with that accident, so even if he WAS totally wasted, the accident had NOTHING to do with it,( if he was or if he wasn’t drinking). The fact that he had a couple of drinks simply allowed Exxon to use him as a scapegoat and get away with the FACT that it was THEIR policies which REALLY caused that accident.
I REALLY hate the fact that we use the excuse that someone, somewhere might be doing (some) drugs, to strip away the rights of millions of innocent people. There is NO authority in the constitution for either the outlawing of (some) drugs OR any sort of random drug testing to be forced on us by the federal government!
Is it worth stripping the 4th amendment, the 5th amendment from the constitution to allow these tests? Is it worth forgetting about the 9th and 10th amendments to even allow the federal government to have ANY say-so about what we choose to put into OUR bodies?? I say NO, I say HELL NO!!!
It is NEVER worth it to give up our rights! Not for ANY reason. And the fact that they haven’t even tried to show any kind of proof that their stupid rules do ANY good at all up until this just shows that they could give a flying f*&k!
Why in the heck are they even in charge of licensing us in the first place? Who the hell gave the federal government the authority to tell me if I can go to work, who I can work for, what hoops I have to jump through in order to apply for a job??? I sure as hell can’t find anything about that in the constitution. It’s NOT there. So, in fact, every single licensing law is unconstitutional and void!
Lets get the companies and the sailors together on this and eliminate the government out of the mix! Now would be a great time since they are ‘shut down” (yeah, riiiight- I only wish they really were)!
Lets come up with a scheme that would actually be sensible and affordable to the people actually involved (instead of a bunch of clueless bureaucrats). Maybe we could stop all our ships from moving overseas and get some jobs back for American sailors if we did that.
Too bad now we have to deal with the IMO. Maybe ALL the sailors around the world should get together on this. I’m sure they realize there is no one in any governmental position anywhere worldwide that is actually on THEIR side. Its always all about the money and we (sailors) don’t have any. ;-(
Taxes: Man’s Inhumanity to Man | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.
Another great article from Jeffrey Tucker. I have to agree totally. Yes! The difference between voluntary co-operation and the use of FORCE to get your way (politics) is the difference between peace and war. It’s the same from small towns all the way up to nation states.
WHY do so many people think it’s OK to use force to get their way? Might makes right? Most people don’t bully their friends and neighbors directly, but they think it’s perfectly fine to have their stand-in (government) do the bullying for them instead. Why??? If it’s not right for an individual to do something, then its STILL not right for them to get someone else to do their dirty work for them!
The way I look at it is, if something really needed to get done, if people REALLY wanted something, then they would find a way to do it. They would be able to convince enough people to chip in and help WITHOUT having to hold a gun to their heads. Persuasion works wonders, IF something is really worth doing. If you can’t convince someone to do something with a good argument, then it’s probably NOT worth doing!
The fact that we ARE using the FORCE of government to accomplish so many things just means that most of those things are either unnecessary to begin with, or nobody really wants them much, or they’re just to lazy to do the things themselves, OR they think they can get others to pay for what they won’t pay for themselves.
Just think back 100 (+/-) years and all the things our government did NOT do for us then compared to what they do now. We still had everything we needed then, we just did it ourselves. We had a LOT more freedom and a LOT less government. That is what made this country the greatest ever in the history in the world- that FREEDOM.
That same freedom we’ve thrown in the garbage with our continuous abuse of the political way of dealing with everything. With the use of FORCE to get things done. We’re in another huge struggle right now and all set for another huge loss of our freedoms. 🙁
Facing Changing Climate, San Francisco Prepares to Share.
I can’t be sure just from reading this one article, but it is encouraging. FINALLY someone is doing something sensible! Taking care of themselves! Wow! What a novel idea!
As they say in the article, ‘it’s about knowing your neighbors, lending a hand, and sharing your knowledge’. Yes, that’s right. Why have we stopped doing that sort of thing and turning OUR responsibilities over to the government?
I disagree with their statement that we “should be able to count on government to respond”, we SHOULD already have learned that they’re NOT going to! We SHOULD have already been doing what they suggest now and helping ourselves and each other. We USED to do that years ago, til we let the government take over all that kind of thing.
In all sorts of disasters all over the world, the most successful ‘programs’ for actually getting the help where it’s needed and fixing things best, it’s been done from the bottom up. Neighbors helping neighbors. People who know what needs doing. People who just DO it. Sure, there might be some outside help, from either government or charitable organizations, but the MAIN driver for getting things done is the local people.
I get really sick and tired of hearing about New Orleans and Katrina. Nobody ever talks about any of the other communities devastated by Katrina, or Rita, or Ike, etc. It seems to me the major difference between what happened in New Orleans and all those other places was the total dependence on government to take care of everything.
Before the hurricane, everyone thought the levees (built by the Army Corps of Engineers) would protect them. But there had been reports for many years that the levees would NOT hold. People trusted the government anyway.
When Katrina was on the way, people counted on the government to take care of them instead of finding ways to get out of town like they should have. Then they depended once again on the government to take care of them in the shelters. How did that work out again???
Most people in New Orleans are STILL waiting for the government to “take care of them” in regards to their housing situation. From the f*cked up formaldehyde laced FEMA trailers to the totally screwed situation with them being able/allowed to rebuild on their properties, almost everything would have been better dealt with if they had just forgotten about any government and just found ways to do it themselves.
Junk Food As Addictive As Illicit Drugs : Personal Liberty™.
Oh yeah, they’re definitely working on it. Soon enough, they’ll be making all those fattening foods illegal too. Mayor Bloominidiot already tried it in NYC. 🙁
We are turning into a nanny state. No doubt about it. ‘Do what we tell you or we WILL find a way to punish you.’ Nanny knows best. 🙁
Yes, sugar is bad for you. Yes, it will make you fat. We’ve all known that forever. We REALLY don’t need anybody coming up with more stupid laws to keep us from eating it. We WILL find a way! Just like the idiotic war against (some) drugs, when people want something, they WILL get it. It’s not the ‘thing’ (whatever it may be) that causes problems, its the prohibition of it that does.
Just like with the war on (some) drugs, a war on sugar will turn into another expensive, destructive war on US. STOP trying to FORCE everybody to live the way YOU think is best!!! Leave us the hell alone! (NO, you should NOT have to pay for my health care when I get sick from eating fattening foods, just like you should NOT have to pay for me if I get cancer from smoking. The problem there is health INSURANCE, NOT my choices of how to live MY life!)
The only thing that would help this situation would be for the producers to label their products CORRECTLY instead of the way they do now (which is borderline fraud). Label foods containing HFCS as poison and maybe people will actually get to know what is in the food they’re buying. Label GMOs as just simply GMOs so people will know what they’re buying. What’s wrong with that??? Why don’t they already have to do that????
Obamacare: Is It A Divide-And-Conquer Distraction? : Personal Liberty™.
Is it? I really wouldn’t doubt it. Can ‘our leaders’ REALLY be so stupid as to think Obamacare can possibly be anything but a humongous failure? Failure if the intention is actually to do something to HELP our broken health care system…
I don’t know about that. Hard to imagine anyone could be that stupid, but I know plenty of people who are ideologically committed to socialized medicine. Somehow, their brains just can’t seem to process the basic laws of economics. That when you offer something to people for “free”, yes, they are going to take it!
Sorry to have to say it (again) but NOTHING in this world is free!!! Someone is paying for all that “free” stuff and those someones will not keep on paying forever!
SO, Obamacare is doomed to failure. It WILL leave our health care system even more broke and broken than it is now. It will break the country with it, since how much more in debt will we go trying to support it?
We are already broke, our debt is in the TRILLIONS now!! Add another few trillion??? Who is going to pay for that? You? Me?? Your kids?? We DON’T have the money! Where is the money going to come from? We’ll just keep on printing it up forever? You DO remember what happened when they did that in Germany, right???
Or, we could ‘raise taxes’? How??? I am already being taxed over 50% of my salary! Do you really think I’m going to stick around and have 75% or more stolen from me for something like Obamacare??? Hell NO! I’m already trying to leave! If it gets any worse, I’m just going to have to say the hell with it and take my chances somewhere else.
No, I’m not legally allowed to work anywhere else. That is the ONLY reason I’m still here. Watching this country go downhill is just so frustrating. So annoying. So sad.
I can’t do anything about it but get out before it gets any worse. So, I’ve BEEN trying. I wish the hell I did, but I don’t have enough money saved up to just retire. If I try to use any of the money I’ve managed to save, I’ll get a huge penalty and they’ll steal 30-40% of if! I might just have to suck it up and take that loss. 🙁 I do know that I sure as hell am NOT going to sit around here and LET them steal everything I’ve worked over 40 years for!
I wish someone who supports Obamacare would TRY to explain to me why they think its OK, why they think its a GOOD idea to STEAL from me (and everybody else who’s worked for it) what they’ve EARNED to support anybody else for any reason. That ought to be real entertaining at least. We’ve all been taught our entire lives that its WRONG to steal. Now, why is it right all the sudden???
More Shutdowns, Please: The Pro-Democracy Case for an Obamacare Crisis | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.
As usual the government is trying to scare us into going along with its desires. The fact that its desires are almost all completely unconstitutional is not something we peons are supposed to ever think about. The FACT that our government is ONLY authorized to do certain very strictly limited functions is never brought up for serious discussion. We are only here to keep on shelling out our hard earned dollars to pay for all the ridiculous things ‘our leaders’ decide is best for us.
You ever notice that every time they talk about what will happen if they have to suffer any kind of minuscule budget cut (or even a cut in the rise in spending), they always threaten the people who need it most? It’s always the social security checks that won’t show up, never the funding for the ridiculous amounts of spending on mini-tanks for small town SWAT teams so they can continue to fight the war on (some) drugs. Never the pork projects they waste billions on every year. Never the corporate welfare they hand out like candy at Halloween to anybody that figures out how to ask.
I say, hell yes! Lets shut it down! NOW!! Let the people see once again that yes, they CAN function very well without all the things the federal government supposedly does for them. Too bad they won’t really be shutting down anything except what will cause you and me some inconvenience and probably major annoyance. They won’t even be laying off any federal workers, they’ll just get to stay home- WITH PAY!
How about lets get rid of Obamacare?! It’s nothing but a very expensive sop to the insurance companies. I guarantee you it will NOT be any benefit to the general public including me and you! It WILL eventually break the country! While we’re at it, let’s stop ALL the wars we are involved in, including the most stupid of them all… the war on (some) drugs!
Do those 2 things and we can all sit back with a sigh of relief. We can start over to maybe, just maybe, start thinking rationally about what would REALLY help solve our problems with health care (and everything else) in this country. Take some time to THINK about real solutions instead of having this crap shoved down our throats that ‘our leaders’ admit they never even LOOKED at it, much less took any time to think about it!
It is NOT worth trying to fix it. It can’t BE fixed. It is rotten at its core!! Best thing to do is stop wasting time, energy, money to save an obviously terrible program and instead come up with something that at least has a POSSIBILITY of working out.
Yeah, shut it down!
Beating Swords into Solar Panels – Politics – Utne Reader.
Well, there’s a lot in this article I disagree with, but I sure as hell agree that we can and should start dismantling our military-industrial(-prison) complex. It has become so big and bloated, it’s corrupting our politicians and its lobbyists have convinced “our leaders” that we MUST continue to spend billions to imprison people for decades for possession of a plant(??!!), or to blow up people in foreign countries rather than take care of our own people here.
We do NOT need to keep spending those billions- no,trillions!- of dollars to keep our country safe! There is no other country in the world today that can even come close to our military capabilities. WHY do we keep on building more, more, more???
It’s simple, the defense (at home and abroad) industries make billions (trillions) of dollars off our FEAR and ignorance. They will keep on spending millions to convince “our leaders” that they need to keep on spending our tax dollars on the military-industrial-prison complex.
Those ‘leaders’ will not ever think to actually CUT military (or prison) spending. Oh, NO!! They might lose a few jobs in their district. Those people who would be affected by a military operation closing down will be screaming bloody murder.
Maybe they might actually be better off if we weren’t spending trillions on military crap! Or locking people up for trivial BS! Their taxes might go down so they could have a better standard of living if we stopped spending so much on the military.
If people actually followed the suggestion in the article and converted that military spending to spending on something useful (productive) instead, they might actually be SO much better off, they might enjoy making something that HELPS the world instead of destroying it. They might enjoy having more peace and prosperity around the planet. They might enjoy having more money to spend when (if) the US ever gets around to lowering taxes like they should as a byproduct of cutting military spending.
I can’t even imagine all the fantastic things the people who work now on military projects could come up with if they were turned loose into the commercial/civilian marketplace. Wow! Just think of all the cool things they would come up with. These are intelligent, determined, educated people we’re talking about! How about all the good that would come from allowing all those people we lock up for victimless ‘crimes’ (possession, gambling, prostitution, etc) just get on with their lives instead of locking them up and so ruining their (and their families) lives forever?
The article focuses on environmental projects, stopping global warming, etc. Sure, they might eventually be able to make a dent in that. There is just SO much they could be working on to help make things better instead of finding more ways to destroy everything.
Yeah, I’m sure the military people (law enforcement too) probably think they’re out there fighting to save the world. I know they get told that they’re ‘fighting for our freedom’ here. All I can say to that is… why the heck do they always enlist YOUNG people to do all the dirty work???
Probably because by the time they grow up a little and spend a little time learning the truth, they won’t go fight someone else’s battles for them anymore! They finally figure out they’re only being USED to make money for somebody in the background. Anyone who really believes ‘our’ military is fighting for our freedom is surely needing to do a bit more thinking about things.
I could say a LOT more about that, but I’ll leave off by saying this: if they’re fighting for OUR freedom, they’re doing a pretty shitty job of it! We’ve lost a HELL of a lot of OUR freedom since 9-11!!! All those stupid wars (including the drug war) we’ve got involved in since then haven’t saved one tiny iota of OUR freedom! So, maybe, just maybe, all you cops and military people ought to just rethink your basic assumptions.
Russia’s Imprisonment of Greenpeace Freelance Photographer Crosses the Line | gCaptain
I wasn’t there so I can’t vouch for what really happened, but from reading the news I would think that YES, the Greenpeace activists could and should be charged with multiple violations.
Yes, the photographer/journalist has certain rights (here in the USA- maybe not in Russia!). I think he knew very well what he was getting into. Greenpeace has done this kind of stunt before (and not only on the Disco)!
The Arctic Sunrise violated ALL the rules of maritime traffic. There are 500 meter security zones around drilling operations. Greenpeace surely knew that. The vessel captain and crew absolutely must know that! They’re even marked on the charts! It is illegal for ANYONE to enter that zone without asking and being granted permission from the rig.
The Arctic Sunrise at the very least helped the Greenpeace activists in their attempts to board the Russian rig. That boarding can certainly be seen as piracy. It is of course illegal even if they did not intend to harm anybody or steal anything. It is a dangerous place and could have resulted in a major accident (which of course would have been blamed on the drilling company).
Of course I don’t want to see the Arctic ruined by oil spills either. But I can’t agree with Greenpeaces’ tactics. Either they fight to change the laws so that there will be no Arctic drilling, or they fight to change peoples minds.
The ONLY way we are ever going to not NEED the oil is for people to limit the growth of the human population. Either that, or come up with some miracle energy source that is cheap, efficient and can replace everything we use oil for today. There is nothing even close to oils ability to provide the things we NEED to survive now.
The Missed Opportunity For Medical Freedom : Personal Liberty™.
As stated in the article, freedom of choice in medical care is a RIGHT. Where we have become confused is over what is a right. Our ‘public’ schools don’t do a very good job anymore of explaining what is and what is not a right. They have completely confused the issue.
There are natural rights, those are the ones we had BEFORE there was a Constitution. Those are the ones we are all born with. They are part of what makes us human beings. ALL people all over the world have them, it’s just that the USA is the only country ever in the history of the world to base its entire purpose on PROTECTING those rights. (Too bad the USA no longer protects them but is intent on destroying them now).
Our schools now confuse the “rights” we get from government, like voting rights for example, with those natural rights. Now, most people think something like an education, or healthcare are rights. They are NOT. Yes, you have a right to seek an education, to apply for health care. But you do NOT have any claim on anyone else so that they must give it to you. That is the difference.
Obamacare supposedly turns health care into a right. That is impossible. You can not just SAY something is a right when at its core, it involves violation of other people. That is NOT a right! You can not ever justify raping or stealing!
That is exactly what Obamacare does. It takes the very lives (their TIME) of every health care provider and says to those people, YOU have no rights. You are now our slaves. You will only be allowed to do what WE want and we will only pay you whatever WE feel is correct. How many of them do you think will stick around for that kind of treatment?
It ALSO violates the rights of everyone who uses it. Who may think they’re getting a good deal. Hey, they’re finally getting to screw the system. Yeah, riiiiight. It doesn’t quite work that way. Besides the fact that ALL your medical data will be digitalized and available online to anyone who wants to spend a minimal amount of effort, YOU will not be the one deciding anything about your own medical care anymore. There will of course be rationing. There is no way around that! There is only a certain amount of resources and so those resources will have to be managed. YOU will no longer get any say-so about HOW they are managed! You will lose any semblance of privacy and don’t forget about the huge increase in risk of identity theft. 🙁
Obamacare is just another scam. It will never work. It is probably intended to fail, just so they can move us into a (totally) government run system. It’s just simple economics. When something is ‘free’, more people are going to use it than if it has a cost to it. Our health care system is already broken. How in the world can that help it? (It can’t).
More and more people are going to use it for more and more stuff. That is a large part of what caused the prices of our health care system to get so high in the first place. Government wage and price controls after WWII encouraged corporations to pay their employees with health insurance instead of wages.
That insurance encouraged people to spend more on health care (to use that insurance!). Since no one paid any attention to prices (insurance covered it), the price naturally went up. Add in medicare and medicaid and the problem only got worse. So, now how in the heck can adding even MORE people to the insurance scam make prices go down???? Simple, it WON’T!
Just Who Are We Radicals And Reactionaries? : Personal Liberty™
Originally posted in the Dollar Vigilante, this is an EXCELLENT article. I couldn’t have said it better so I won’t try. Please take a look, it makes some important points.
Yes, I am a libertarian. 🙂
I have been against Obamacare from the beginning. I am against it in principle and in practice. I do not believe it is in anyones interest to FORCE people to buy anything.
Insurance is usually a scam and no one should have to buy it for ANY reason. Not for property, not for car, not for health. A person should be able to CHOOSE whether they want to take the risk of being financially wiped out or not.
The problem here is that we have decided as a country (not really since we have NEVER had any kind of discussion about any of this) that we are going to spread the risk. We are NOT going to let anyone choose to take any real risk of anything. We will take over all such decision making, since we know best. We can not allow anyone here to fail.
I could go on and on and on about all the multiple reasons why Obamacare WILL fail and will take the entire country down with it. But I’ll limit this post to just the very basic issue of responsibility.
Who the hell decided that ‘our’ government was now going to be the responsible party instead of the individual??? When did that happen and WHY??? There is SO much to discuss on those issues. I really can’t get into it all right now. I’ve been traveling all day and I’m just too tired.
I’ll give you a hint. Think back about the Civil War. Think about the issue of states rights and the peoples rights. The 9th and 10th amendments. Think about how that whole thing went down. How did congress legally declare war and how did they re form afterwards. There is SO much involved in that history. I don’t even understand all of it myself but I’ve learned enough that it REALLY makes me think.
Check out the table, I don’t see even 1 state where you’re not going to wind up paying more for your insurance. Most of them are at least double (+100%) and many of them are more than tripled. These are for the young, healthy people who will now be paying for the old sick people. Its just another SCAM! It will not and CAN NOT work. You can try, but you can not succeed at breaking the laws of economics!
This is a link to an article on the Utne Reader site. Janelle Orsi is a ‘sharing lawyer’ from California and coauthored the book Policies for Shareable Cities.
I think the whole idea of sharing things we aren’t using all the time is a great idea. Rent my truck from me while I’m offshore and I can’t use it anyway. Or I’ll rent you a bedroom if I’m going to be home for a while. People are doing more and more of that sort of thing. Airbnb is just one example. Of course, the officials want to step in and ruin it before it even gets a chance to get started.
The problem Orsi seems to have with it is that the firms who are getting into this now are all just the usual types of business. She seems to be fixated on the issue of the corporations and their owners (shareholders) getting rich(er). I do get the idea of the rich getting richer, that is true- for sure! No argument. But why is it always assumed by the left (Utne Reader is definitely on that side of the aisle), that to get rich you MUST be raping the poor?
Yes, in this country, at this point, we DO help big business get bigger and stay that way. We DO use all kinds of tax dollars and incentives from the public (the poor financing the rich) to help a bigger business over a smaller one. That is WRONG and should not be allowed to go on! There is nothing in our Constitution that allows for that sort of thing and so it is illegal as well as just plain wrong. We are supposed to be for the FREE market, NOT helping some businesses at the expense of others!
The fact that we do those things is NOT an excuse for saying that any kind of business but a co-op, (or another kind that is owned by the employees and customers), is unacceptable. It is only a reason to go back to our founding principles and STOP providing welfare to big business! STOP picking the winners and losers in the business world and allow the process of creative destruction to function properly. Try allowing the free market to work for once (which of course does include co-ops).
I’m not sure that any kind of co-operative won’t eventually deteriorate into exactly the kind of thing that the left is always crying about. Read George Orwells’ Animal Farm. Somebody has to run the thing. Whoever is in power eventually gets corrupted. It seems to be an unchangeable part of human nature. 🙁
I admit, I would need to do a whole lot more studying to try to figure out how something like what Orsi suggests would work in practice. The idea seems to be very much in line with the ideas of personal liberty and empowerment, voluntary actions, etc. I like that. Yes, co-ops can work. The ones I’ve seen have been on a pretty small scale. Fishermen co-ops in one small area. Farmers markets. All very small in scale. How would a large scale one work? One involving hundreds of thousands or millions of people?
The idea has some merit, I would just like to see some details of how to make it work in reality. I would like to see it work. I would like to see the sharing economy compete with the corporation based economy we have now. I just don’t see how it could be made to work in the real world with real people. Maybe she explains it in her book on shareable cities. I haven’t read it yet. One more for my list. 😉
Functional Medicine for Autoimmune Diseases – Mind & Body – Utne Reader.
This is a book review from Utne Reader on the new book The Immune System Recovery Plan. Dr Susan Blum MD MPH recounts her own experience with immune disease (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) and how she has been able to cure herself and even repair her body using functional medicine rather than the usual type we get now a days. They sound like totally different fields of endeavor.
I like how she describes the ‘new’ field of functional medicine as an approach that looks at the person as a whole, not as a collection of symptoms. I would really like to find a Dr that treated me like that. I’ve always had a hard time with that, most Drs I’ve had take one look at me and blame everything on my weight. My arm could be half chopped off, I’m spraying blood all over the place, and they would tell me I needed to go on a diet and that would fix it. 😉
Yes, it would be ideal to live in such a way that you stay healthy all the time, never get sick or come down with a disease. I just wonder how HARD will it be in reality to be able to do that? I do have to admit, I’m lazy. I don’t want to go on a strict diet. I don’t want to have to exercise for hours every day. I don’t want to take pills every day for the rest of my life either. So, is there any hope for people like me?
From reading just this article, it looks like there actually is. I have a couple of friends who swear their lives have been totally changed by ‘simple’ changes in their diets (and have lost a lot of weight). A couple of friends who’ve had their hormones adjusted and say they’ve been feeling SO much better. I remember my dad had such bad arthritis, but then he started using apple cider vinegar and it just went away. I guess I’ll have to try to find a copy of the book when I get off.