A Case of Normalcy Bias

Romans did not believe Rome would collapse.  Hundreds of thousands of Jews refused to leave Germany by the mid-1930s.  There are hundreds of others examples throughout history where people were unable to process events and rationally conclude something they’ve never experienced is about to transpire.  This inability is called “normalcy bias” and Americans are infected with it.

For most, it is incomprehensible to believe the United States, the most powerful country on the earth, could self-destruct.  Everyone under the age of seventy has lived a relatively comfortable life.  The poor of this country are wealthier than 80% of the inhabitants on earth.  Most Americans work and provide a decent life for their family.  The modern incarnation of the banking system and the dollar is all they know.  A centralized government growing in size, scope, and power is all anyone has known.

This is what we know and all we know.  Our normalcy bias tells us that government must tax our income because it needs revenue.  Government must pass more criminal laws, statutory laws, rules, and regulations.  Government must use its power to take property from some people to give to others.  Government must borrow money to fund spending or the economy will collapse.  Government must print money to save the banking system.  Government must tell the people what to eat, where to live, what to drive, etc.  The list goes on ad nauseum.

Food, water, and relatively cheap energy are taken for granted.  Most people don’t realize the grocery store has a three day supply of food.  Most people are unprepared for any extended food or water shortages.  If there is any shortage of gasoline, food and water will not be transported to grocery stores.  People will become desperate.  Civil unrest will ensue.

Consider young adults that came of age in the post 9/11 era.  All they’ve known their adult life is the intrusive government surveillance state, the Patriot Act, the TSA, NDAA, Food Safety Modernization Act, Google and the NSA, and CISPA.  A single person having the power to decide whether or not an American citizen can be killed.  This is normal to them.  Sadly, it’s normal to most people.  This is extreme behavior and people have become immune to it.  What the founding generation considered extreme and declared independence against was this very behavior.

The country is faced with a $16 trillion debt, nearly $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, $70 trillion of outstanding debt (household, state and local govt, etc.) and a banking system based upon a fiat currency and fractional reserve lending.  Various monetary and fiscal policies destroy any semblance of savings, capital formation, or investment.  Growth occurs through monetary and fiscal stimulus rather than an increase in the production of real goods and services.  Producers that are able to save are penalized.  Government propaganda tells us all is well and things are under control.

The truth is the government cannot tax away the debt.  The government cannot borrow to pay off the debt.  Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable.  The criminalization of America and the surveillance state choke the very life and liberty out of what remains. Some say banks and the government are too big to fail.  The truth is they are too big to succeed.

Eventually, the banking system will collapse under a mountain of debt and obligations that can never be met.  Most likely, the government and central bankers will print money until they no longer have any ink left.  All wealth will be destroyed.  Other alternatives are possible, but the entire global monetary system is based on debt.  A complete reset of the entire monetary system is inevitable.  It’s just a question of when, not if.

Does this seem harsh?  Good!  I hope it is “in your face kind of harsh”.

When I explain this to most people they deny it.  They say I’m crazy.  They say there are smarter people that will figure it out.  They point to their lives and the home they bought and the life they had.  They are in denial because of their normalcy bias.

What we are witnessing is government nihilism.  Government is destroying precisely what it was instituted to protect.   Government has metastasized like a cancerous tumor destroying its host.   Those that support the status quo, the “just get my guy in mentality”, the sophomoric change are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

As my colleagues and friends Mark Kreslins and Joshua Lyons say “we can’t be nibbling around the edges”.  They mean we can’t simply cut some spending here, lower taxes there, and believe all is well.  We need mature adults discussing big ideas.

A serious discussion of ALL possible solutions and alternatives is necessary.  We must discard our normalcy bias and recognize the clear and present dangers and act accordingly.  Otherwise, we will suffer the same fate as the Romans and the Jews.

Understanding Money and the Taxing Authority under the Constitution

Taxation was an essential aspect of the Colonists disagreements with the British Crown.  A long list of taxes imposed upon colonists was one factor leading to the United Colonies declaring independence and separating from Britain.

The federal government is one of specific limited powers delegated by the people through their states by ratifying the Constitution.  Below are the relevant sections of the Constitution related to money and the government’s taxing authority.

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.  Note this was modified by the 14^th amendment.

Article 1, Section 8 (General purpose of the section, Clause 1, and Clause 4)

Introduction to Section 8:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

Clause 1:

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

Clause 4:

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standards of Weights and Measures;

Article I, Section 9, Clause 4

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

Taxing Authority under the Constitution

One of the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation was the federal government’s lack of any taxing authority.  Under the AoC, the federal government had to request funds from the several states.  In some cases states would comply and in other cases states would not comply.  The federal government was entirely dependent upon each state to contribute to the federal government.

To address the AoC shortcoming the states delegated powers to the federal government  to lay taxes in the form of duties, imposts, and excises.  This was the primary method the federal government used to raise revenue.  The introduction to Article 1, Section 8 is one of the most abused and misunderstood parts of the Constitution.

The introduction provides a description as to the purpose of the section.  At a high level it describes the taxing authority and the limitations on which those taxes may be used.   “Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises” is used to introduce the reader to the powers the section contains regarding taxing authority.  Also, when a power is granted in the Constitution the word “To” is capitalized.

It then goes on to describe the limitations of the taxing authority “to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general welfare of the United States”.  These are restrictions on how taxes could be used. Note, the word “to” is in lowercase because it’s not a power rather it is the object on which the power would operate.   Also noteworthy, this section of this clause is what is referred to as the “general welfare” clause and is often cited by living-breathing constitutionalists as a plenary grant of power to spend on anything that may be considered general welfare.  While it’s beyond the purpose of this article to explain the purpose of the general welfare clause, you can read a detailed article here.  Briefly, I’ll say this is a restrictive clause meant to ensure that any of the enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8 are not used to benefit one person, group of people, a specific geographical area, etc.  In other words, it must benefit all of the United States.

Lastly, what is known as a provision (provisio) is included as well.  The provision reads “but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;”.   The provision requires that any taxes laid and collected as a Duty, Impost, or Excise must be uniform throughout the United States.   The provision prevents Congress from indiscriminately laying a tax.  For example, the federal government collects an excise tax on every gallon of gasoline.  The provision prohibits Congress from collecting an excise tax of 20 cents per gallon of gasoline from those in the Northeast and a tax of 40 cents per gallon of gasoline from those on the West Coast.

Besides duties, imposts, and excises the federal government was delegated the power to lay direct taxes under Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3.  In this section, both representation and taxation are tightly coupled for reasons that should be obvious.  Article I, Section 9, Clause 4 requires all direct taxes to be laid according to census or enumeration.   Direct taxes were not imposed on the people directly.  Instead, direct taxes were determined based upon representation (which is based on the census) and the states were levied the direct tax.  If one state had 10% of the representation that state would be assessed 10% of the direct tax.  Likewise, if another state had 1% of the representation that state would be assessed 1% of the direct tax.  Every state retained the autonomy to determine how to collect that tax from the citizens of the state and then remit payment to the Treasury.  Throughout the history of the United States direct taxes were levied on the states on five occasions.

At the time of ratification the state conventions and the framers intended to use duties, imposts, and excises to raise revenues to support the government.  Direct taxes were generally understood to be necessary in special circumstances.  In both cases, the Constitution limited the power of Congress to lay these taxes uniformly.

Money (currency) under the Constitution

An understanding of how the founding generation viewed and understood money is necessary to better understand how money is viewed today and the relationship with the taxing authority.  During the revolutionary period the Continental Congress was the operating authority amongst the United Colonies.  While there was an Articles of Association, a government wasn’t actually formalized until the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781.  The Continental Congress had no taxing authority and could not borrow money.  The Continental Congress printed money called Continentals.

The Revolutionary War was funded by the printing of Continentals which was done frequently throughout the war.  The value of the Continentals declined in value because they were being printed out of thin air.  In 1779, George Washington wrote a letter to John Jay, president of the Continental Congress, saying: “In the last place, though first in importance, I shall ask, is there anything doing, or that can be done, to restore the credit of our currency?  The depreciation of it is got to so alarming a point that a wagon-load of money will scarcely purchase a wagon-load of provisions.”  The continual debasement of the currency led to the saying, “it’s not worth a continental”.

Under the Articles of Confederation states did emit their own money.  There were competing currencies in each of the states whether these were struck coins or paper money.  Some states debased their currency while others acted more responsibly.  For instance, Rhode Island debased their currency to the point where creditors would not accept it.  The state passed debt-currency laws requiring creditors to accept Rhode Island currency under penalty of the law.  These issues with debt, payment, currency debasement, etc. were the primary drivers behind the powers delegated to the federal government under the Constitution.

The three primary money related issues were; borrowing money, emitting paper money, and striking coins (coined money).  Under the Constitution, the Congress was delegated powers to borrow money against the credit of the United States and to strike coins.  The states did not delegate powers to Congress to print money.  Fresh in their minds were the experiences with the Continental and with state issued paper money.  In fact, in Madison’s notes on the constitutional convention there was debate on this very issue.  In the original draft the power to print money was included.  Debates on this topic happened on August 16, 1787.

The vote at the convention on the issue to strike out the words “and emit bills” was 10 for and 2 against.  Madison was opposed to this change initially but acquiesced.  The reason Madison acquiesced was “Mr. Madison was satisfied that striking out the words would not disable the Govt. from the use of public notes as far as they could be safe & proper; & would only cut off the pretext for a paper currency,  and particularly for making the bills a tender either for public or private debts.”

It is important what Madison said:   This would cut off the pretext of a paper currency and for making the paper a tender either for public or private debts.

In fact, currency debasement was a vitally important issue to the founding generation.  So much so, that the first Congress under the Constitution passed the Coinage Act of 1792.  A link to the full text of the act can be found here.  The act established the grains of gold and silver in coin, the value of gold and silver and the ratio between the two metals (bimetallism) and the punishment for debasing coins.   This is from the actual law itself “every such officer or person who shall commit any or either of the said offenses, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall suffer death.”  The punishment for debasing the currency was death.  The Coinage Act of 1792 was repealed under the Johnson administration in 1964.  The next year’s coins (think silver dimes, dollars, etc.) no longer contained all silver to the specified weights in the coinage act of 1792.

If the Constitution prohibited paper currency, how do we have paper currency today and how did paper money become legal tender?   The Legal Tender Act of 1862 was passed to meet currency needs during the civil war.  The law authorized the issue of $150 million Greenbacks that was not backed by any specie.  The currency was backed by government bonds.  Overall, roughly $450 million of Greenbacks were issued.  The currency depreciated over the course of the war and after the war debts could be paid with this cheaper currency.  A case reached the Supreme Court which ruled the Legal Tender Act unconstitutional as it violated the 5^th amendment.  President Ulysses S. Grant was angered by this and increased the size of the Supreme Court from 7 justices to 9 justices and appointed two justices to the court to overturn the earlier case.

The entire concept of money and taxation has been turned inside out by the Supreme Court in the legal tender cases, the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the sixteenth amendment, and the removal of gold as backing of the federal reserve note (domestically in 1933, and internationally in 1971).  The very reason the states delegated powers to the federal government to coin money and to regulate the value thereof, and prohibited the federal government from printing paper money was to ensure the currency wouldn’t be debased like it was with the Continental or by various states of the Union.

The ultimate contradiction comes into play when you consider the government’s new found authority to print paper money without the backing of specie and the government’s taxing authority.  If you recall, the intent of the original taxing authority was to raise revenues through duties, imposts, and excise taxes.  Direct taxes were generally understood to be necessary in cases of emergency (i.e. to pay off debts or fund wars).  Why does the government need the power to tax, to borrow, and to print?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Why does the government need the authority to tax citizens if it can simply print money at will?  Why does the government need to tax and print?  There is an answer to this question that is not obvious to most people.  Pay attention to The Forgotten Men’s Facebook page as this will be a topic of discussion and we’ll see if you know the answer.

If we remove the ability to tax then the government can only print which is merely the situation under the Continental Congress in 1776 when they had no taxing authority and could only print money.  We know that was a failure.  We know the states printing money was a failure.  So, why does anyone believe the currency can survive if the government prints money?  The only reason why the Constitution granted the authority to tax and to prohibit paper money was to ensure the government could raise revenue not just create money out of thin air.  Remember the slogan, “it’s not worth a Continental”.  Well today’s slogan should be “it’s not worth a dollar”.

The country is worse off now because not only can the government tax anything, they can borrow money, and they can print money at will.  The very government instituted by the Constitution to eliminate certain pitfalls is empowered to partake in all these destructive acts.   A system that allows the government to create $16 trillion of debt, print money at will, and tax the people for everything and anything is a government that was not instituted by the consent of the governed nor is it a government that protects life, liberty, and property.

Political Paradigms are False Dichotomies

Political paradigms are simply dichotomies meant to categorize people into groups according to political or economic thought.  Most people, including myself, have fallen into this trap of elevating individuals into groups.  Political strategies are designed to leverage the group or herd mentality.  These strategies are powerful because people self-identify with others and the group reaffirms the mentality of its members.

Some of the more common paradigms are; left/right, liberal/conservative, progressive/conservative, big government/capitalism, democrat/republican.   Class, race, and gender discussions are framed similarly.  The one paradigm that is most prevalent this year is Romney vs. Obama.  The Anyone But Obama (ABO) or just get my guy mentality is common place.  Both candidates are presented as political opposites on a variety of issues.  However, one candidate is a Marxist/socialist presented as a centrist while the other is a centrist presented as a conservative.

Is there a really a difference between Romney and Obama.?

The answer is both yes and no.  Let me explain by looking at a short-term and long-term view.

Short-Term View

In the short-term government policies may – and I stress may – make some minor differences.  There may be reduced spending and lower annual deficits.  Perhaps taxes will remain constant or lower than today’s level.  Perhaps ObamaCare will be repealed.  Perhaps more oil exploration and drilling will occur in or around the U.S.  Perhaps there may be less regulations under Romney than Obama.  Perhaps the next president will appoint one or more Supreme Court justices.  I understand the logic and the argument.

Nearly every policy issue is presented as a dichotomy which is really a false set of choices.  Health care is presented as throw granny off a cliff or support government health care.  The government surveillance state is presented as we are doing this to keep you safe or terrorists will kill you.  Spending is presented as starving the children or increase spending, deficits, and the national debt.  These are false choices.  It is a form of propaganda.  It is meant to control your thoughts, invoke emotion rather than rational thought, and to submit to government authority.

Does the possibility of short term gains outweigh the long-term implications?  Ultimately, whether you are right or wrong on the short-term view is irrelevant.  A brief reprisal under a Romney presidency pales in comparison to the long-term implications.

Long-Term View

Romney and Obama, Democrats and Republicans ignore the 400 pound gorilla in the room.  The issue transcends this presidential election.  Our current monetary and banking system is in the winter of its life.  The dollar’s demise is inevitable under the current monetary system.  Our productive life is spent earning Federal Reserve Notes (a.k.a. dollars) which have no intrinsic value, are used to buy things of value, and any excess is our savings/wealth.

The national debt and the unfunded liabilities are also denominated in very same currency that we earn and save.  Economic growth is no longer predicated upon production of real goods and services.  Investment in productive economic activities is no longer funded through loaning profits or savings; it is done by issuing debt.  Economic growth depends upon credit expansion by the consumer and the government.   The central bankers print money to feed government’s insatiable appetite for deficit spending.  The base money supply is expanded without a corresponding increase in real goods and services which diminishes purchasing power due to inflation.  The immediate effect is higher prices for goods and services.  The longer term effect is the erosion of savings and wealth as purchasing power is reduced.

The national debt is nearly 16 trillion dollars.  The unfunded liabilities are estimated in the range of 70 trillion dollars on the low end to 200 trillion dollars on the high end.  Through the Ponzi schemes — better known as Social Security and Medicare — millions of Americans are dependent on the government for monthly checks and medical care while forcing younger people to contribute to a system doomed to implode.

Taxes do not provide sufficient revenues to the government to balance the current deficits.  If you increased the tax rate on all income above $250,000 by 20% it would result in an additional $300 billion in revenue.  A corresponding 20% reduction in spending would leave the government with a deficit of $400-$500 billion.  The national debt continues to grow.  By 2020, entitlement spending forecasts will exceed 4 trillion dollars a year.

The central bankers zero interest rate policy exacerbates the problem.  First, it sends a signal to politicians that deficit spending will be cheap because interest rates are suppressed.  In other words, the central bankers control the cost of money.  Secondly, it punishes savers because the interest rate on savings is below 1%.  Once real inflation is factored in anyone with money in a savings account is losing 4-6% annually in real terms.  As a result of this policy savers look to alternatives such as equity and bond markets, commodities, futures markets, precious metals, etc.  For most this means the casino known as the stock market.  Moreover, if interest rates returned to their historical average of 5-6% the interest payments on the national debt would quadruple from $250 billion annually to $1 trillion annually.

This is a losing proposition to the average person.  If you spend everything you earn you have no savings, no store of wealth.  You are dependent upon the government in your older years for social security and Medicare (which means you are dependent upon younger people working and having their money confiscated to continue the Ponzi).  If you are able to save you are punished due to the central bank’s zero interest rate policy or you must find alternative investments that carry more risk.  If you have managed to save money in some manner the purchasing power is eroded because the central bank prints money causing inflation.  For nearly every American there is not a viable alternative to escape the government and central banker monetary and currency death trap.

This brings me back to the dichotomies presented through political paradigms.  Both Republicans and Democrats perpetuate these paradigms.  They are false paradigms.  The political parties, the main stream media, and many of you shoulder responsibility for perpetuating them.  This is not a right vs. left, liberal vs. conservative, or democrat vs. republican dichotomy.

It is a dichotomy of liberty vs. slavery, freedom vs. oppression, natural rights vs. government granted rights, citizens vs. subjects, servants vs. rulers, free markets vs. centrally planned economy, consent of the governed vs. tyranny, the rule of law vs. the rule of man, the right to self-determination vs. arbitrary power, and hard money vs. fiat money.  These are the real paradigms that matter and nobody wants to discuss them.

If past is prologue, do you believe a Romney or an Obama presidency will address this issue?  If – and that’s a big if – you are better off under Romney, do you believe the issue with our currency, monetary system, national debt, and unfunded liabilities will be addressed?  Pay no attention to the 400lb. gorilla in the room.  Move along.

Conclusion

In the short-term view perhaps some things may be better.  In the long-term view, there is no difference between Romney and Obama as neither has any intention to stand up to the 400lb. gorilla in the room.  Nobody wants to face reality and swallow the bitter pill.  Neither candidate is the answer.  Neither the candidates nor the American people have the will to swallow the bitter pill.  Instead, the fraudulent, corrupt system will be maintained and extended until it collapses.  Those dependent on government programs will demand their share right up to the very end.  The benefit pie will shrink and the dependents will fight over the few remaining crumbs while sacrificing anything and everything.  Most people will use the customary political paradigms to blame the other side.

This is not how free people live.  The issue transcends political parties and traditional left/right paradigms.

This story reads like Dickens.  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

We the people need to understand what is transpiring before our very eyes.  We are living through the destruction of our currency, the monetary system, and the economy.  Conventional wisdom and false paradigms must be discarded.

Managed Socialism

In rethinking the American Union I struggled with finding a term or definition that accurately describes government in the 21^st century.  Terms from a bygone era such as representative democracy, republic, or aristocracy miss the mark.  The term “inverted totalitarianism”, coined by political philosopher Sheldin Wolin, comes to mind.  But that too misses the mark in my opinion.

Our modern day government and political system is what I call “Managed  Socialism”.  This may change over time to Managed Totalitarianism or something else, but I think the current state of affairs is aptly characterized by the term Managed Socialism.  What are the key components of this system?  After much thought I’ve condensed the list to six specific components:

1)       Maintain the illusion of legitimacy.  This is done under the guise of elections and representative government.  If the people vote the government is therefore legitimate regardless of the laws or policies enacted.  Moreover, low voter turnout (i.e. 50%) ensures the people remain complacent and apathetic.  Representative government in modern times is a far cry from representative government envisioned by the founding generation.  Originally, there was one representative for every thirty thousand people.  Today, that ratio is one representative for every seven hundred fifty thousand people.  This is not representative government.  If the original ratio of representatives to people were adhered to we’d have approximately 10,333 representatives in the House of Representatives.  Now, if you apply today’s ratio to that of the founding generation there would have been 5 representatives in the House of Representatives.  In fact, there would have been less representatives than there were Senators. Undoubtedly, the founding generation would not consider this representative government.

2)      Propaganda and mass media control – Under the guise of an open system that supposedly advocates for freedom of speech, the government, political parties, and the main stream media corporations control information.  The content, messages, and meanings are either suppressed or managed for a desired effect.  Any attempt to speak out, protest or otherwise question the authority of the government is marginalized, trivialized, or demonized publicly as violent, racist, extremist, etc.

3)      Party Politics – Two political parties with opposing views and policies while working to protect their power and the status quo.  Neither party represents constitutionally limited government or federalism.  Neither party protects unalienable rights.  Neither party protects property rights.  One party gives us Medicare Part D the other gives us ObamaCare.  One party gives us No Child Left Behind the other gives us Race to the Top.  Both parties bailed out the banks and the banking system and transferred the debt to the public.  Both parties continue the Ponzi schemes known as Social Security and Medicare.  Both parties support the TSA, and pass laws like NDAA.

4)      Maintain an illusion of freedom – Government centrally manages critical components of the economy (i.e. money supply and interest rates), enacts laws or implements regulations to restrict or constrain certain free market choices, or eliminates/subsidizes entire industries and businesses to advance their ideology, further entrench themselves in the political system, or to secure votes from some voting block.  Moreover, under the pretenses of a Constitution, the government itself acts as sole and final arbiter of its own powers through a judiciary claiming independence and fidelity to the Constitution, while blessing acts that are in conflict and violation of the Constitution.

5)      Intimidation and Fear – The mere threat of arrest, fines, prison, or indefinite detention is the powerful tool wielded by government to ensure compliance and obedience to any government law, act, rule, or regulation.  The TSA, EPA, FDA, FCC, ATF, IRS, etc. are agencies that use the brute force of government authority to demand compliance.

6)      Confluence of Corporate and Government Interests – A two-way street where corporations use the power of government and the law to further their interests, and where politicians accept donations in return.  Pay-to-play politics that pits government and corporate interests against the citizen.  Government bailouts, subsidizes (grants, tax breaks, credits, loans) are sweeteners to ensure a political outcome.  Rules and regulations are used to control and manage the economy and environment to ensure a political outcome.  The tight integration between the government and The Federal Reserve bank results in a top-down, centrally planned economy and banking system run for the benefit of a few and the detriment of society on the whole.

The illusion of a free society is more powerful than a totalitarian regime imprisoning or killing people.  The illusion of a free society that voluntarily enslaves themselves to their government masters is more powerful than traditional slavery.  Why use physical force on people when government provides the illusion of legitimacy through free elections and the people voluntarily enslave themselves.  Is there any better system of slavery than a voluntary system of slavery?

Those that are not compliant, obedient, or question their government masters find themselves threatened with fines and prison to force acceptable behavior.  Those that dare to exercise their unalienable rights to associate, assemble, or speech are marginalized and demonized by the media and government.  Those that dare to demand adherence to the Constitution – the rule of law – are mocked and trivialized as some sort of historical creature unable to adapt and cope with modern day society.  Those that stand up for individual rights, liberty, and property rights they are called selfish and greedy.

Those that refuse to comply with unjust laws are fined, imprisoned, or killed.  Does this sound a bit extreme?  Is my statement a bit over the top?  Try to do any of the following:

1)      Refuse a TSA pat down or screening.

2)      Refuse to pay taxes for unconstitutional government (which is most of the government).

3)      Refuse to pay property taxes (are you the rightful owner of your property or not).

4)      Refuse to comply with EPA regulations.

5)      Refuse to comply with FDA regulations.

6)      Try to produce or consume raw milk (you may get away with it but you are violating the law).

7)      Try to use the light bulb of your choice (you may get away with it but you are violating the law).

8)      Try to produce vegetables on your property and sell them at a roadside stand (this can be regulated).

9)      Refuse to buy government mandated health insurance (assuming ObamaCare is upheld).

10)   Use your property in any way you deem appropriate (i.e. put in a chicken coop, put in a pool, etc.).  Regulations prohibit activities and permits are required to build on your own property.

We are told where we can live, what we can and can’t do with our property, property is confiscated for unconstitutional purposes, we are told what we can and can’t consume (eat, drink, etc.), we are told what kinds of products we can and can’t use (light bulbs, shower heads, toilets, septic systems, automobiles – the list goes on ad nauseum), whether we can or cannot own a firearm or specific types of firearms, children are forced to attend government indoctrination centers (i.e. public schools), etc., etc., etc.  The money supply and the cost of money (i.e. interest rates) are controlled by central planners.  Disinformation and propaganda is disseminated to confuse and frustrate the people.  Television shows, movies, sports, etc. are used as the modern day bread and circuses to entertain and distract the people from the real issues.  Elections are held to provide legitimacy to the corrupt system now in place.

Because we are allowed a certain amount of freedom and choice people comply with unjust, draconian laws robbing us of our humanity, dignity, and unalienable rights.  This violates the ideal of popular sovereignty (the consent of the governed) as the people do not consent to unlimited submission to a powerful centralized government.  Self-determination and self-governance means the people decide how to best govern themselves.  Representative government does not mean one person represents 750,000 people.

Our free society is a cleverly disguised system meant to manage, control, and exercise dominion over the people under a veil of legitimacy.  And, I call it Managed Socialism.

Uncomfortable Truths or Comforting Lies: Life on the Government Plantation

Last week’s article provides the foundational constructs for the assertions and conclusions found herein.  If you did not read last week’s article, stop reading.  Read last week’s article first then come back and read this one.  This article touches on several topics; some loosely coupled and others tightly coupled.  While mankind has progressed tremendously since our founding, the country has regressed detrimentally in regards to natural rights, individual rights and liberty, property rights, consent of the governed, limited government, and the rule of law.

Who owns you?  Who owns your body?  Who owns your life?  Hopefully, everyone believes they are the owners of their lives and body.  To believe someone else owns your body or your life is to believe in some form of slavery.

Undoubtedly the word slavery conjures up thoughts and images of white plantation owners forcing blacks to work for them, treating them as property — chattel.  While race was the issue in slavery as we know it in the United States, race isn’t the only factor.  Slavery has been a worldwide issue for thousands of years.  Women and children have been forced into slavery.  Ethnic groups have been forced into slavery.  Certain religious believers have been forced into slavery.

Some dictionary definitions of slavery and the conditions of slavery are:

• Involuntary subjugation of a person to another or others.
• Severe toil; drudgery.
• A state of subjugation or captivity often involving burdensome and degrading labor.
• Submission to a dominating influence.

The one common thread across all forms of slavery is forcing a person to labor against their will for the benefit of another (or others).  It is a condition where a person or group of people have absolute power over a person’s life and liberty.  Certainly, if slavery is wrong when based on race, it must be wrong when based on ethnicity, gender, age, or religious beliefs.  There is simply no justification for slavery.

We can all conclude slavery is inhumane, immoral, vile, and disgusting.  Under no circumstances can civil society condone slavery in any form.

Last week’s article established every individual is responsible for preserving their life.  To preserve life one must produce.  What one produces is one’s property.  Therefore, the absolute right to property is fundamental, transcendent, and immutable as it is how every individual preserves his life.

The Law by Frederic Bastiat reveals the naked truth on property and plunder.  Bastiat wrote:

Man can live and satisfy his wants only by ceaseless labor; by the ceaseless application of his faculties to natural resources. This process is the origin of property. 

But it is also true that a man may live and satisfy his wants by seizing and consuming the products of the labor of others. This process is the origin of plunder. 

It is evident, then, that the proper purpose of law is to use the power of its collective force to stop this fatal tendency to plunder instead of to work. All the measures of the law should protect property and punish plunder.  But, generally, the law is made by one man or one class of men. And since law cannot operate without the sanction and support of a dominating force, this force must be entrusted to those who make the laws.  Thus it is easy to understand how law, instead of checking injustice, becomes the invincible weapon of injustice. It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people, their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds.

It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder. What are the consequences of such a perversion?  In the first place, it erases from everyone’s conscience the distinction between justice and injustice.  No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree. The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult for a person to choose between them.

The nature of law is to maintain justice. This is so much the case that, in the minds of the people, law and justice are one and the same thing. There is in all of us a strong disposition to believe that anything lawful is also legitimate. This belief is so widespread that many persons have erroneously held that things are “just” because law makes them so. Thus, in order to make plunder appear just and sacred to many consciences, it is only necessary for the law to decree and sanction it. Slavery, restrictions, and monopoly find defenders not only among those who profit from them but also among those who suffer from them.

French political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville’s seminal work, Democracy in America, makes several astute observations regarding individuals and the American political system.  De Tocqueville says:

Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom. Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.  When the taste for physical gratifications among them has grown more rapidly than their education . . . the time will come when men are carried away and lose all self-restraint . . . . It is not necessary to do violence to such a people in order to strip them of the rights they enjoy; they themselves willingly loosen their hold. . . . they neglect their chief business which is to remain their own masters.

It is above all in the present democratic age that the true friends of liberty and human grandeur must remain constantly vigilant and ready to prevent the social power from lightly sacrificing the particular rights of a few individuals to the general execution of its designs. In such times there is no citizen so obscure that it is not very dangerous to allow him to be oppressed, and there are no individual rights so unimportant that they can be sacrificed to arbitrariness with impunity.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Bastait and De Tocqueville share some common themes in their writing.  Both refer to justice and the law.  Both refer to the use of the law for legal plunder.  Both refer to the individual as the rightful master of their own destiny; the master of their rights, life, liberty, and property.

In 21st century America legal plunder is the new norm.  Not only is legal plunder acceptable, both political parties partake in the enterprise and benefit from it.  Under the veil of legitimacy, the illusion that the law is sacred, and that any law is the supreme law of the land the people concede, willingly or through ignorance and apathy, the very things that make us human and unique individuals.  The politicians use sophistry, deception, manipulation, and lies to consolidate power into one central authority consisting of a few hundred people.  They no longer function as a fiduciary, a public trustee, and an agent and guardian of the people.  Certainly, the cabal has no interest in preserving individual rights, life, liberty, and property rights.

Recall, the one common thread across all forms of slavery is forcing a person to labor against their will for the benefit of another.  It is a condition where one person or group of people have absolute power over a person’s life and liberty.  There is no justification for slavery.

If at any time someone or some entity forces you to work and then confiscates whatever you produce you are a slave.  If someone takes half of what you produce you are half a slave.  If someone takes one day’s worth of what you produce you’re a slave for a day.  That is the very definition of forced labor or slavery.

First through taxation, then through inflation government confiscates your work product –your property, which impacts your ability to preserve yourself and your family.  Excessive government taxation plunders property.  Monetary policy destroys property through currency debasement causing inflation and a loss of wealth and purchasing power.  Our money is plundered by wasteful and profligate government spending.

Those that work to preserve their lives, to produce, have the only rightful claim to their property.  Favored political organizations, private industries, individual businesses, and blocks of voters are the recipients of this plunder.  The government through the threat of fines, prison, or worse confiscate property from its rightful owners and redistribute it to those that have absolutely no rightful claim to it.  There are hundreds upon hundreds of explanations government uses in an attempt to justify their actions.

In the end, it is simply legal plunder and the government is the modern day plantation owner.

The abhorrent institution of chattel slavery was abolished 150 years ago.  Today, we are debt slaves to the masters running the government plantation.   If slavery is illegal and one person cannot force another person to work for them against their will, under what legal or moral authority does government possess the power to enslave generations of Americans?  Indeed, life in 21st century America is Life on the Government Plantation.

In one sentence Bastait captured the essence of our peril.  He said, “[t]he law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people, their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder.”

Just as a slave does not consent to unlimited submission to another, free people do not consent to unlimited submission to government.  Too often government shackles are placed upon the wrists and ankles of those turning to government for largesse, the property of others, or simply an easier way to preserve their lives then to produce.  How far have we regressed as a society if free men willingly surrender their freedom and liberty by submitting to government masters demanding compliance, obedience, and a vote.  There are none so blind as those that will not see.

One of my favorite quotes from Sam Adams rings true today as it did in the late 1700s.  “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace.  We ask not your counsels or your arms.  Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.  May your chains set lightly upon you, and my posterity forget that you were our countrymen.“

The uncomfortable truth is government has transformed itself into the modern day slave holder.  Government caused problems along with government based solutions are responsible for our condition.  Aided and abetted by a complacent and apathetic populace ignorant of history and our founding principles Americans are delivering society into perpetual bondage at the hands of their government masters.

Uncomfortable Truths or Comforting Lies: Life in 21st Century America

This is the first of a two part article on the state of American life in the 21^st century.  It is the prologue for the second part which will be next week’s article.

Instead of the comforting lies espoused by elected officials and propagated by the sycophants in the main stream media, this article explores the uncomfortable truths too many refuse to discuss or even comprehend.  Sadly, but unsurprisingly, Americans are deceived and manipulated, even lied to outright, by the very people that are supposed to represent them.  Nearly every elected official offer scapegoats and straw man arguments to deceive and manipulate the very citizens they were elected to represent.

These people are not statesmen nor do they qualify as leaders.  The statesmen and leaders of yesteryear have been supplanted by ideologues well-versed in the use of sophistry.

Property

If we are the sole and only rightful owners of our lives and our bodies, then we have an individual responsibility to preserve our own lives.  We preserve our lives through the use of our physical and intellectual abilities.  In others words we produce.  In the simplest sense each person would produce the basic necessities to sustain life; food, shelter, and clothing.  Beyond the basic necessities people produce goods or services desired by others in society.  Perhaps a blacksmith created tools and wares which were desirable by others.  The blacksmith exchanged his goods with the goods of a tanner that created boots, belts, saddles and other leather products.

The exchange of goods and services was done directly (barter) or indirectly through a medium of exchange such as gold or silver to the mutual benefit of both parties.   This is the essence of free markets.  Moreover, it is a natural extension of personal and economic liberty.

Today, most people do not produce any basic necessities.  Instead people choose to produce other goods and services desired by society.  In return people are compensated with currency (money) which they use in the free markets to exchange for other goods and services.  Typically, basic necessities are procured before all other wants and desires are met.

Imagine a society that functions purely on barter.  A farmer grows crops that his family consumes and he barters excess crops for other goods and services.  The farmer may store crops to use months or years later for barter.  Likewise, someone may clean houses and in return they receive real goods or services such as food or shoes, or their automobile is repaired in exchange for cleaning services.

What happens if the farmer’s crop is destroyed, stolen, or confiscated?  The farmer is unable to sustain his self or his family.  What he produced by his own ability is no longer.  This is true of anyone that produces a good or provides a service.   If someone steals the farmer’s crop it is a criminal act.

Now, what if government comes along and takes a percentage of the farmer’s crop for their own purposes?  First, the farmer’s ability to sustain his self and his family is diminished.  Secondly, the farmer has fewer goods available to barter for other goods and services of he desires.

Money

Instead of a barter system we use money to facilitate indirect exchange for goods and services.  Goods and services are exchanged for money which is used to procure goods and services we desire.  Money is what we have as a result of our work product.  Money is the surrogate for the goods and services we produce and the medium to purchase things we need or desire.

Money, in and of itself, has absolutely no value.    The only value money has is its ability to procure things of value.  In the case of the farmer he has a real good – food.  In the case of the shoemaker he has a real good – a shoe.  When you have money it is worthless unless you can use it to buy things of value.

Money also serves another purpose.  Money serves as a store of wealth or purchasing power.  In society there are three groups of people; net producers (savers), net consumers (debtors), and net zero (one that consumes everything they produce, but doesn’t take on debt).  Net producers have excess money which is typically saved through banks or investments.  This is no different than someone under a barter system with excess goods that are stored “saved” for future exchanges.  Money functions in the same manner.  It is saved and can be used at a later time to purchase things of value.

The one key difference between money and real goods and services is the former is controlled by a central bank and can be “printed” into existence.  Whereas the later comes into existence by producing something that society wants.  Real goods and services cannot come into existence at the whim of a central banker.

Therefore, money as we know it is nothing more than an abstract view of real goods and services in the world.  Numerous problems arise due to monetary policy by central bankers.  First, bankers can print money at will.  To some this may not appear problematic.  But if real goods and services remain constant and the money supply increases then prices for goods and services rise.  More money chasing the same quantity of goods and services results in higher prices for consumers.  You can purchase less real goods and services with the dollar in your pocket.  If it now costs you two dollars for a loaf of bread when it used to cost one dollar, your purchasing power is diminished.  This is also true of those net consumers that receive money (property of a producer) via government programs such as public housing or public welfare (i.e. food stamps).  The purchasing power of food stamps is impacted by inflation as well.  If prices rise the purchasing power of food stamps is decreased.  Even the net consumers are impacted by the central planner’s monetary policy.

Simply stated, inflation makes people poorer.  Inflation is taxation without legislation.  Systematically, government can reduce wealth, savings, and purchasing power by simply increasing the money supply.  Printing money create a temporary illusion of wealth.  It cannot and does not create real goods and services and only real goods and services creates wealth and prosperity.

Debt

Deficit spending occurs when government expenses exceeds tax revenues.  Government borrows the difference.  Government has accumulated nearly sixteen trillion dollars of debt.   This debt is backed by the U.S. government which means it is backed by the people. Which means it is backed by our labor.  Which means it is backed by our property, our money.

Moreover, the government debt is denominated in the very same currency used to represent your work effort and your savings.  Your money — what you use to procure real goods and services and what you save as your store of purchasing power – is completely under the control of a few well-educated, egotistical, technocrats in Washington D.C.

Government bureaucrats and elected officials offer scapegoats to cast blame on anyone but themselves.  The rich don’t pay their fair share of taxes.  Greedy corporations are pushing wages down.  These are two of the more popular excuses used to influence thoughts and votes.  Since both the rich and corporations are a very small minority and the remainder of society represents a substantial voting block elected officials pander to the majority at the expense of the minority.

In 2008, the top 3% of income taxes filed had an adjusted gross income above $200,000.  That group paid 52% of all individual income taxes.  Moreover, corporate taxes are merely an expense item just like any other expense.  That expense is passed on to the consumer.  To believe that corporations actually pay taxes is absurd.  We as consumers of goods and services pay for corporate income taxes.

What isn’t discussed is the devastating effect monetary policy has on most Americans.  From 1800 to 1913 (year the Federal Reserve started) a dollar increased its purchasing power.  What you could buy for $1 in 1800 you could buy for 58 cents in 1913.  Now, from 1913 to 2010 the purchasing power of a dollar has decreased significantly.  What you could buy for $1 in 1913 would cost you $21.78 in 2010.  Another way of stating this is what costs you $1 in 2010 would only cost you 5 cents in 1913.

Real wages in constant dollars (i.e. adjusted for inflation) decreased from 1961 to 2011. In 2011 constant dollars, 1961 wages averaged just over $49,000 per person and 2011 wages averaged just over $47,000.  What cost you $1 in 1961 costs you $7.57 in 2011.

More importantly, people fail to understand that future tax revenue will be used for future expenses not to pay off past debt.   The debt will be paid off by past earnings that were saved by the net producers in society.  As a result of currency debasement inflation will erode, gradually, then suddenly, society’s savings and purchasing power.  In this manner, government can pay off the debt, save the system, and destroy the currency and everything else along with it.  Imagine those people that have worked their entire lives to save for their golden years and those that are currently working and trying to save, have everything destroyed, wiped out, eviscerated by decades of deficit spending and failed monetary policy.

The net effect of government intrusion into the banking system is that banks are now deemed too big to fail.  In real terms it means banks privatize rewards and socialize risks. Moral hazard is shifted from the bank to the people.  What follows are mindboggling explanations of how government acted to save the people by saving the banks.  Out of the other side of their mouths blame is placed on the banks, evil corporations, or the rich when it is simply the failed fiscal and monetary policy of the United States destroying the very fabric that holds society together.  The rich and corporations are sacrificed on the altar of rhetorical politics to avoid telling you the uncomfortable truth about the decline in real wages and purchasing power. Government circumvents their constitutional authority and violates private property rights, individual rights and liberties to simply preserve the Federal Reserve System and government itself.  Ultimately we the people shoulder the burden to pay off government debts.

Instead of telling you uncomfortable truths politicians tell you comforting lies. Government engages in extend and pretend nonsense that does nothing but exacerbate an untenable situation.   Instead of focusing on failed fiscal and monetary policy politicians distract a complacent populace with scapegoats and straw man arguments.

We have a front row seat to the modern day equivalent of Rome’s bread and circuses.

What is Your Line in the Sand?

You know the proverbial saying, the straw that broke the camel’s back.  What acts by the federal government would you consider intolerable, oppressive, or despotic to finally say, enough is enough?  How much of your personal and economic liberty, your individual rights must be taken through government acts for you to stand up and take action?  What is your line in the sand?

Economic Liberty and Property Rights

Today, the government takes what you earn through various taxes to spend on welfare, warfare, and thousands upon thousands of so-called federal programs.  Federal, state, and local income taxes are one portion of the total tax picture.  There is also social security (Old-Age Survivor and Disability Insurance) and Medicare.  There are property taxes.  There are estate taxes.  There are excise taxes (alcohol, tobacco, gasoline).  There are sales and use taxes.  There are fees (vehicle registration, permit fees, telephone fees, etc.).

There are corporate taxes which are not truly paid by corporations but passed on to the consumer to pay.  Corporate income tax expense is just another expense like payroll, electric, or office supplies.  Those are passed on to you.

Then there are regulations enacted by agencies that result in additional expenses by corporations.  Those costs are also added into the products and services you buy.  According to the Americans for Tax Reform tax freedom day occurs around the third week of August.  That means for 2/3rds of the year you work to pay for federal, state, and local government.  The remaining 1/3^rd of what you earn the government, through the good graces, allows you to keep.

Let’s suppose the government confiscated 100% of your earnings.  Government bureaucrats send you a monthly check for your living expenses.  Would you continue to work under these conditions?  What if you refused to work and government threatened to imprison you?  What if government physical takes you and puts you in a government work program and forces you to work?

Under any of these conditions are you not enslaved?  Today, if you work 2/3rds of the year to pay for government you are 2/3rds a slave.  Through the use of the law government takes whatever they decide they want.  They have no fear of reprisal.  The people foolishly believe that their government wouldn’t do this to them.  Even more naively the people cling desperately to the false hope of “getting my guy elected”.  Election after election the same strategy fails to reap any lasting rewards.

Moreover Congress’s abject abuse of the commerce clause and general welfare clause has restricted citizens by limiting economic choices.  Government tells us what light bulbs to buy, what cars we can drive, the amount of water we can use in our toilets and shower heads, etc.  In the latest attempt government has attempted to fundamental alter the relationship with the citizen by forcing citizens to enter into a contract for a product against their will.  That is the individual mandate in the Obamacare law.

Lastly, I will briefly mention government control of the economy through the Federal Reserve.  The Fed controls the money supply and interest rates.  As a result the Fed has substantial control over employment and unemployment, credit, liquidity, prices, and the value of a Federal Reserve Note.  Most importantly, the Fed and the government work hand in hand for their own ends.  Monetary policy and fiscal policy are related because annual government deficits of one trillion dollars and a public debt of fifteen trillion dollars forces the Fed to institute zero interest rate policies (ZIRP).  These policies keep the interest on the debt as low as possible but it also punishes the net producers (savers).  Since interest rates are below one percent and the real inflation rate has hovered between five and eleven percent for the past twelve years, savers are punished.  The real rate of return is negative.  People have no incentive to save.  People must either consume or they must increase their risk in other investments.

Ultimately, the problem boils down to the use of a fiat currency that serves two primary purposes; an indirect medium of exchange and as a store of wealth/purchasing power.  Government and banks need their dollars returned nominally.  Meaning they only need the dollar returned.  What the dollar can purchase is irrelevant.  We need our money returned in real terms.  That is after the real inflation rate is factored in.  Because government has run up such a large debt and continues to add trillions of debt every year, the Fed makes monetary policy decisions that favor government and the banking system while harming the saver.  The other critical factor is money itself has absolutely no value.  You cannot take a Federal Reserve Note to the bank and get anything of value. It’s only value is that it can be used to purchase things of value.

The Fed has to choose between deflation and inflation.  The Fed chooses to inflate rather than allow asset values to deflate (which increases our purchasing power).  When the Fed inflates our savings, our store of wealth/purchasing power decreases.  Just over four years ago the base money supply was roughly 800 billion dollars. Today that is roughly 2.7 trillion dollars.  There is roughly 70 trillion dollars of claims on money today.  The debt to money supply ratio is 27 to 1.  It is in the government’s best interest to inflate, but it is not in our best interest.  Eventually, this rate of inflation will accelerate as the Fed must continue to print money (directly, or by purchasing Treasury securities outright).  The current graph of the base money supply since 1913 is in the upward portion of an exponential trend.  This is the 400 pound gorilla in the room nobody wants to talk about.  This will continue to accelerate at a pace Americans have never seen in their lifetime.

Here are some revealing and salient facts.  Wages in constant dollars have dropped from an average of $49,000 in 1971 to $47,000 in 2010.  What cost $1 in 1971 costs $5.32 in 2010.  What you could buy for $1 in 2010 would have cost you only 18 cents in 1971.  From 1961 to 2010 the S&P returns were 3100% on a nominal basis.  On a real basis the returns are negative 2100%.  In real terms and constant dollar terms wages are falling, prices are rising, and our savings(store of wealth/purchasing power) is declining.

What is your line in the sand?  Precisely how far will you allow government to go before you stand up for your economic liberty and property rights?

Personal Liberty

Over many decades we’ve had a front row seat to witness the bureaucratic herd in Washington, D.C. run roughshod over our unalienable and civil rights.   Just since the 9/11 attacks the government has formed a massive security apparatus under the guise of keeping us safe.  Parts of the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act are two primary examples.  A bill was signed into law authorizing the government to arrest and detain you if you are within a certain distance of any government official under Secret Service protection.  Congress is considering a bill that would require every automotive vehicle to have a black box device (like what is in airplanes).  Congress is considering a law that would revoke your passport if you owe more than $50,000 in taxes without even a trial or a hearing.  Then of course there is the dreaded Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Government dictates what food we can grow or consume.  The Food Safety Protection Act was passed two or three years ago which creates new regulations particularly harmful to small farmers.  Now, government has invaded our personal choices by dictating our diets or other eating habits.  The past year we’ve seen assaults on trans-fats, salt, sugar, junk food, fast food, etc.  The heavy hand of government is felt in elementary schools where student’s lunches are confiscated and children are forced to eat foods prepared at school.

Through programs like Agenda 21 and under the auspices of some phony environmental crisis like global warming or climate change our freedoms are violated.   This impacts everything from food and water choices, to transportation, housing, land use and disposal, septic systems, etc.

Government indoctrination centers, a.k.a. public schools, force children to attend failing schools.  Parents have no choice in the school their child attends.  Curriculum is dumbed down to the point that a high school education is essentially worthless.  In Carroll County, 59% of high-school graduates attend Carroll Community College and 70% of that group requires remedial English and Math.  The mere mention of anything related to God or religion is taboo.  Everything from the clothes you wear, to all aspects of behavior are regulated.  Lifestyle choices are forced into the school systems.  Children are taught how to put condoms on cucumbers.

What is your line in the sand?  How far must government intrude on your personal liberty?  Does government have to take 100% of what you earn?  Does government have to control all property?  Does government have to tell you how many children you can have, force abortions on people, or sterilize people?  Does government have to jail people without cause and deny them a right to a jury trial?  Does government have to confiscate your firearms?  Does government have to cause enough inflation to destroy your savings/purchasing power?  Is it when you have to beg the government for food to sustain you and your family?

What act(s) by government need to happen for you to finally say, enough is enough?

This is a difficult question to answer.  Experience has taught us that mankind chooses to suffer rather than alter or abolish their government.  Experience has taught us that all countries and empires that continually consolidate power into one central authority and debase their currency don’t survive.  History has a 100% record.  For some the answers may be self-evident.  For others the answers may not come easily.

Take some time and think about it.  What is your line in the sand?