American history in general is not especially interesting since it is mostly composed of political struggles between politicians with some moral relevancies here and there. Nevertheless, in reading the papers of some of the founding fathers, it is fascinating to see their differences, their likes and dislikes, but most interestingly – how they perceived current events. This is especially true of the French Revolution, which today is viewed as an unnecessary bloodbath conducted by extremists in the name of “democracy”. To many people – even today – the French Revolution was inspired by the American Revolution, but the only similarities are in the term “Revolution” and beyond that there is no similarity at all.
It is fascinating to read the papers of the Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson during this period and to see how the Americans viewed the French Revolution. Jefferson, like Madison and others saw the French Revolution as a natural result of the American Revolution. The French citizens were simply exercising their right of self-determination. But Jefferson was a Francophile and continued to make excuses for the French even as their excesses grew. He ignored the real meaning of their call for Liberte`, Fraternite`, Egalite` even after Citizen Genet arrived on the scene and Americans began calling themselves “Citizen” in the French Style. He ignored Genet's attempts to undermine the Administration until they became so extreme that even he could no longer ignore them. Eventually even Jefferson had to accept the fact that Robespierre, Danton, and Marat were out of control and were conducting an unnecessary bloodbath. But to criticize the French would have been impolitic since there was such support for the French among the American public. Plus Hamilton and others were highly critical of the French Directory and how they were conducting their affairs.
We tend to forget that the American Revolution was actually just one theater in a global war that had been going on prior to 1776 and raged off and on throughout the period and only ended with the exile of Napoleon. In fact this European War had been going on during the reign of Louis XV and then under Louis XVI as well. Wars cost money and this one was no exception and France was essentially bankrupt. Louis XVI was inept at almost everything and he had simply continued the policies of his father and grandfather without regard to the cost. Consequently the population was restive at first and then moved to rebellion. Whether or not the American Revolution had any influence on this is arguable but some certainly saw that it was possible to throw off the yoke of monarchy. Nevertheless, the country of France was effectively bankrupt and turned to America for the money owed to them by the American Government. Jefferson felt that a failure to support the French Revolutionaries would be hypocritical since they were attempting the same rebellion that the Americans had just successfully accomplished. Besides the French were still enemies of Britain and Jefferson essentially saw Britain as the arch enemy of America. The result was Jefferson recognized the money owed to the French as a legitimate debt owed to a legitimate government while Hamilton saw this as an attempt by an illegitimate group of thugs to get the money they needed to maintain their control over what was clearly a bloody purge.
It is worth noting that during this entire contretemps Washington remained above the fray. Generally his attitude was “the French be damned”. He never forgot nor forgave the way the French and British aristocracy treated him. He felt the Europeans got what they deserved and that the future of America did not lie across the Atlantic but to the West. His policy was always to grow America, to exploit our resources, and to let the Europeans stew in their own juice. This essentially became the cornerstone of American Foreign Policy up to the First World War when America became a world power that overshadowed the Europeans.
The fact is that during this entire period – in fact from the fall of the Roman Empire – the French and English were at war with each other and even today they detest each other. The French have never been able to establish a stable government and the French Revolution was really just another example of that inability. Once Louis XVI was executed and the son Louis XVII disappeared (or died your choice) the rise of a military dictator was inevitable. Napoleon just happened to seize the moment and ultimately the crown as well. However, unlike Washington, Napoleon was unable to relinquish power and establish a democratic government. Instead he succumbed to the intoxication of power and launched France on wars of conquest and thus betraying the revolution.
Washington set an example that has not been duplicated since. Instead we see revolutionaries like Lenin, Stalin, Castro, and Mao Tse Tung, seizing power for themself and failing to give up their power in favor of a democratic government. Only Washington was able to give up total power and step off of the world stage. This has set an example for the world and this example is repeated with every change in administration. Today the French and most European countries are democratic and are able to change administrations without killing each other, but they owe America and George Washington a debt of gratitude. The American Revolution stands unique in history and the French Revolution was typical of all other revolutions where the outs over threw in the ins and then proceeded to continue business as usual.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Save My Victims
Once again the liberals have raised their voices to accuse those who insist that every one is in a position they created for themselves of being “uncaring” and lacking in compassion. These are the people who wring their hands, shed tears, and demand that some one should do something to help all of these victims. Of course how these victims became victims is never really discussed and certainly their actions prior to their victimization, is never criticized, because that would be cruel. Naturally their demands that someone do something to help these victims never actually includes them, it is always the government – meaning the taxpayer – meaning the undeserving rich, because the poor should never be taxed because they are victims of capitalism and business, not their own poor decisions. The result is everyone is called on to sacrifice and help these victims of earthquakes, floods, drug addiction, AID’s, and whatever problem that can be blamed on “big business”.
The reality is that these victims are almost universally the result of their poor judgement and bad decisions. People flood into California and build homes on every piece of land ignoring the fact that the entire region is subject to devastating fires and earthquakes. But when these disasters strike somehow these liberals feel it is the responsibility of others to pick up the pieces and help these people rebuild – in the same place! Then we have the “poor’ and “homeless” and surely something needs to be done about that. The rich don’t deserve their wealth so we – the liberal elite—should take their wealth and give it to the poor and homeless. The fact that these people are poor and homeless is the direct result of their decision not to get an education, to not develop any skills, to not development any self-discipline, to take drugs, or to foolishly spend what they do have – these are never considered. These are poor people so the liberals think the rich should be robbed of their wealth without regard to the risks they took, the sacrifices they made, or the effort they expended to gain their wealth.
The rich are those people who receive compensation for what they produce. They do not get unearned rewards. No one is forced to buy their products or hire their abilities – this is called a fair exchange – compensation for an exchange of goods or services. This is simple fairness and it is not the responsibility of those participating in this exchange to share anything with others. If they choose to do so, that is called “charity” and is a personal choice and not something that should be forced on them by the government or some well meaning person who thinks something should be done. The happiness or the well being of everyone is their own responsibility and not the responsibility of the government. No one – especially the government – has the right to take by force the wealth of one person and to give it to another simply because that person is poor and unhappy being poor.
Naturally this assessment is viewed as overly harsh, uncaring, unfeeling, and by many as “immoral”. However, this does not mean that the rich should not give to the poor or that they should not share their wealth – quite the contrary – the wealthy can do as they choose with their wealth and many do use their wealth to benefit others. The point is that this sharing should not be foisted on them through legal force in the form of taxation or the use of public funds to alleviate the results of bad judgement. But what about the morality of those who stand around with their hand out and willingly accept the money that has been wrested from the rich through legal force. Is it moral for one to accept the gift of goods that have been taken from another? When this is done by an individual it is called stealing but when it is done by the government it is called “helping the poor” or “welfare” but the result is the same. Why is immoral for a person to want to keep what they have rightfully earned but moral for a person who hasn’t earned it to accept it from the government. What is really at play here is guilt. The liberals are actually plagued with guilt because they have more than someone else – by definition that person with a dollar less is poor in their eyes and the extra dollar they have is rightfully his. This guilt is translated into the continuing pressure to take those extra dollars and give them to the poor but in practice it isn’t their dollars they are giving but the dollars of those whom they feel are too rich. The result is a whole gaggle of people who think it is their “right” to have a job, to get food stamps, to consume more than they earn, and to take without regard for giving of for the source of what they are taking.
What is wasted on these liberals who feel sorry for all of these poor people is that their “love your brother” morality and “rob the rich to give to the poor” panacea’s don’t work and worse they are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. This “rob the rich” mentality is displayed daily in calls for the rich to pay their fare share without actually defining who is rich, what their fare share is, and what would be the fair share of the poor – are they free from giving anything back – ever?
We see any effort by those who earn and produce the wealth in this country to protect what they earn as evidence of how big business is destroying the country and something should be done to protect the little guy from the rapaciousness of these rich fat cats.
The fact is that it is these “fat cats” that provide the jobs and generate the wealth for everyone, not those parasites who take and take and take as if it were their right. In fact, the liberals have convinced them that it is their right. If you can just sneak across the border then you are entitled to a job, to welfare, and to medical care at no cost to you because those undeserving rich people can share some of their wealth. The reality is that the liberals have created and perpetuate a society of victims, where no one is responsible for the result of their decisions because they are victims of some one else or some businessman – never their personal decisions. Without victims the left wing would have nothing to do so to exist they must perpetuate this fiction that business is evil and that personal decisions don’t matter.
The reality is that these victims are almost universally the result of their poor judgement and bad decisions. People flood into California and build homes on every piece of land ignoring the fact that the entire region is subject to devastating fires and earthquakes. But when these disasters strike somehow these liberals feel it is the responsibility of others to pick up the pieces and help these people rebuild – in the same place! Then we have the “poor’ and “homeless” and surely something needs to be done about that. The rich don’t deserve their wealth so we – the liberal elite—should take their wealth and give it to the poor and homeless. The fact that these people are poor and homeless is the direct result of their decision not to get an education, to not develop any skills, to not development any self-discipline, to take drugs, or to foolishly spend what they do have – these are never considered. These are poor people so the liberals think the rich should be robbed of their wealth without regard to the risks they took, the sacrifices they made, or the effort they expended to gain their wealth.
The rich are those people who receive compensation for what they produce. They do not get unearned rewards. No one is forced to buy their products or hire their abilities – this is called a fair exchange – compensation for an exchange of goods or services. This is simple fairness and it is not the responsibility of those participating in this exchange to share anything with others. If they choose to do so, that is called “charity” and is a personal choice and not something that should be forced on them by the government or some well meaning person who thinks something should be done. The happiness or the well being of everyone is their own responsibility and not the responsibility of the government. No one – especially the government – has the right to take by force the wealth of one person and to give it to another simply because that person is poor and unhappy being poor.
Naturally this assessment is viewed as overly harsh, uncaring, unfeeling, and by many as “immoral”. However, this does not mean that the rich should not give to the poor or that they should not share their wealth – quite the contrary – the wealthy can do as they choose with their wealth and many do use their wealth to benefit others. The point is that this sharing should not be foisted on them through legal force in the form of taxation or the use of public funds to alleviate the results of bad judgement. But what about the morality of those who stand around with their hand out and willingly accept the money that has been wrested from the rich through legal force. Is it moral for one to accept the gift of goods that have been taken from another? When this is done by an individual it is called stealing but when it is done by the government it is called “helping the poor” or “welfare” but the result is the same. Why is immoral for a person to want to keep what they have rightfully earned but moral for a person who hasn’t earned it to accept it from the government. What is really at play here is guilt. The liberals are actually plagued with guilt because they have more than someone else – by definition that person with a dollar less is poor in their eyes and the extra dollar they have is rightfully his. This guilt is translated into the continuing pressure to take those extra dollars and give them to the poor but in practice it isn’t their dollars they are giving but the dollars of those whom they feel are too rich. The result is a whole gaggle of people who think it is their “right” to have a job, to get food stamps, to consume more than they earn, and to take without regard for giving of for the source of what they are taking.
What is wasted on these liberals who feel sorry for all of these poor people is that their “love your brother” morality and “rob the rich to give to the poor” panacea’s don’t work and worse they are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. This “rob the rich” mentality is displayed daily in calls for the rich to pay their fare share without actually defining who is rich, what their fare share is, and what would be the fair share of the poor – are they free from giving anything back – ever?
We see any effort by those who earn and produce the wealth in this country to protect what they earn as evidence of how big business is destroying the country and something should be done to protect the little guy from the rapaciousness of these rich fat cats.
The fact is that it is these “fat cats” that provide the jobs and generate the wealth for everyone, not those parasites who take and take and take as if it were their right. In fact, the liberals have convinced them that it is their right. If you can just sneak across the border then you are entitled to a job, to welfare, and to medical care at no cost to you because those undeserving rich people can share some of their wealth. The reality is that the liberals have created and perpetuate a society of victims, where no one is responsible for the result of their decisions because they are victims of some one else or some businessman – never their personal decisions. Without victims the left wing would have nothing to do so to exist they must perpetuate this fiction that business is evil and that personal decisions don’t matter.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Death To America
Several things appear to be coming together at this point in time. Recent surveys show that the younger people – mostly of college age – are moving to the right in spite of everything their liberal and progressive professors are preaching to them. It seems that there is an upsurge of anti-multiculturalism, anti-political correctness, and anti-open borders. Assuming that these surveys are accurate (see South Park Revolution) then Governor Lamm’s speech takes on a less ominous tone. This is not to minimize what he says but intended to indicate that others see the threat and gradually our society will move to correct itself. With that as an introduction let’s address some of the salient points made by the Governor.
The learned author of Mexifornia has struck a chord with me for several reasons. First, I have lived in California off and on for many years and secondly I travel there frequently on business and what I see is how the state is being transformed into a third world country. The author takes the position that the root cause is immigration both legal and illegal but I’m not so sure of this. I think the root cause is the unbelievable hyper-sensitivity of the overly liberal population. The entire state is filled with a growing minority of white people (Caucasians ARE a minority there) who take up every cause and carry it to extreme. The result is a state where English is increasingly not spoken and the languages spoken consist of Spanish, Viet Namese, Chinese (various dialects), and Hindi. Signs are in Chinese and business is conducted in Spanish. The schools are bilingual thus assuring that the immigrants don’t “lose their culture”. Any attempt to correct this situation is viewed as “racist” with that word being used as an epithet hurled at anyone who dares think that America is a Christian and English speaking country. Unless something is done soon, California will be the most populous state with a huge voting population supplemented by illegal immigrants who are illegally voting everyone else’s pocket book. The result is a huge population of homeless, welfare recipients, under educated, and unemployable people who are simply parasites protected by the misguided view that all cultures and languages are equal and that everyone has a RIGHT to be in the US.
Toynbee is an interesting fellow and his theories on history are seen as controversial by many. His major postulation is that civilization moves from East to West with civilizations growing and then declining as civilizations to the West blossom with decline of those Eastward. He did not address the issue of multi-lingual impact although this is an interesting point. The Roman Civilization existed for a 1000 years but the official language of the Empire was Latin but there were hundreds of languages spoken throughout the Empire. So the real point might be not in the number of languages spoken but in fragmenting the government by conducting official business in many languages. Therefore, the idea of teaching school in multiple languages, multi-lingual ballots, and the multi-lingual governmental documents is the real issue. This is a strategy of fragmentation and not unification.
The issue of culture is even more serious because the Judeo-Christian culture is the cornerstone of America and to ignore this is quite dangerous. This is most obvious in observing the widespread growth of Islam whose very foundation is antithetical to Christian Society. Allowing this type of culture to spread into the society as a whole is dangerous because they are opposed to many of the fundamental concepts of our society – starting with the equality of women and the endorsement of violence. Multi-culturalism is in fact very dangerous and it is time we put a stop to this, because as the Governor points out once cultures are allowed to grow and perpetuate themselves within a larger culture they move for independence and the resulting conflicts – with Muslims especially – violent conflict.
The question of education is also a source of concern. As the “Mexifornian’s” lead the charge for not calling illegal immigrants illegal and according them the rights given to citizens, we are virtually assuring a growing group of unassimilated and under educated people whose inability to function lead them to violence and destructive behavior. Illegal immigrants are not “immigrants” they are criminals who have broken the law and should be treated as such by immediate deportation without so much as a hearing. If the Mexifornians and their captive 9th Circuit Court disagree then the illegal immigrants found throughout the United States should be immediately deported to Mexifornia. At the very least the border should be closed – by force if necessary.
The idea of “Victimology” I think transcends the issue of immigration and a malaise that has been introduced via our school system. Students are no longer held to any standard partially due to fuzzy thinking educators but also by parents and courts who do not think the schools have any right to discipline a student or even expel them. The result is students come out of school with very little self-discipline and even less respect for authority. Therefore, when something goes wrong it is never their fault – the fault lies with some one else – generally with deep pockets. Therefore, when some idiot slams a car door on his hand it is never his inattention or carelessness it the fault of the manufacturer for not putting some warning on the door indicating that slamming the door on your hand can hurt. Every public building in California has a sign – in some cases many signs – stating that the building contains toxic chemicals that can cause cancer. The chemicals in question are the cleaning supplies used by the janitors in cleaning the building. This cannot be fixed as long as jurors insist on rewarding idiots for their irresponsible behavior. Many times the victim is a victim of their own irresponsible behavior and it is time many of the victims are held accountable for their bad decisions.
Another serious problem is the tyranny of the minority. This is being played out every day in our Congress and in the court system. The fact that the vast majority of people in this country are Christian is ignored and their rights trampled by a minority of secularists. Every single day decisions are made that ignore the will of the people in favor of some small special interest group which has resulted in bi-lingual schools, multi-cultural celebrations, elimination of Christmas, and the list goes on and on. If these minorities find life too difficult and find they cannot function within the majority then they should either relocate or learn to live with their unhappiness.
The issue of jobs moving overseas is much more complex and the role played by unions, the World Trade Organization, and the insatiable demand by Americans for more and more is largely ignored. The fact is that most of the jobs going overseas are manufacturing jobs and these jobs are gradually dying out worldwide. Some high tech jobs are moving overseas but my research indicates that this is partially due to highly inflated salaries in the US. But the quality of the service provided overseas is generally lacking and many of these jobs are coming back. However, the demand for skilled labor is outstripping the world wide supply. Perhaps one of the largest culprits is the unions who have raised loafing to an art form. Plus their demands for benefits have grown to such obscene proportions that they cannot be sustained. For example if General Motors lays off a worker that worker still gets 95% of their pay for 2 years. Their health benefits are incredible and they either nothing at all or only pay 7%. No wonder it is less expensive to send work overseas. Of course the WTO is a sham that permits countries such as China to compete using slave labor. This should be addressed.
However, the points made by Governor Lamm do indeed outline the Death of America or at least the America that was founded in 1776. Since the mid-1950’s the courts and left wing have been chipping away at the American Ideal and the time is long past for the majority in this country to take back control because if we don’t then the Death of America becomes a real possibility.
The learned author of Mexifornia has struck a chord with me for several reasons. First, I have lived in California off and on for many years and secondly I travel there frequently on business and what I see is how the state is being transformed into a third world country. The author takes the position that the root cause is immigration both legal and illegal but I’m not so sure of this. I think the root cause is the unbelievable hyper-sensitivity of the overly liberal population. The entire state is filled with a growing minority of white people (Caucasians ARE a minority there) who take up every cause and carry it to extreme. The result is a state where English is increasingly not spoken and the languages spoken consist of Spanish, Viet Namese, Chinese (various dialects), and Hindi. Signs are in Chinese and business is conducted in Spanish. The schools are bilingual thus assuring that the immigrants don’t “lose their culture”. Any attempt to correct this situation is viewed as “racist” with that word being used as an epithet hurled at anyone who dares think that America is a Christian and English speaking country. Unless something is done soon, California will be the most populous state with a huge voting population supplemented by illegal immigrants who are illegally voting everyone else’s pocket book. The result is a huge population of homeless, welfare recipients, under educated, and unemployable people who are simply parasites protected by the misguided view that all cultures and languages are equal and that everyone has a RIGHT to be in the US.
Toynbee is an interesting fellow and his theories on history are seen as controversial by many. His major postulation is that civilization moves from East to West with civilizations growing and then declining as civilizations to the West blossom with decline of those Eastward. He did not address the issue of multi-lingual impact although this is an interesting point. The Roman Civilization existed for a 1000 years but the official language of the Empire was Latin but there were hundreds of languages spoken throughout the Empire. So the real point might be not in the number of languages spoken but in fragmenting the government by conducting official business in many languages. Therefore, the idea of teaching school in multiple languages, multi-lingual ballots, and the multi-lingual governmental documents is the real issue. This is a strategy of fragmentation and not unification.
The issue of culture is even more serious because the Judeo-Christian culture is the cornerstone of America and to ignore this is quite dangerous. This is most obvious in observing the widespread growth of Islam whose very foundation is antithetical to Christian Society. Allowing this type of culture to spread into the society as a whole is dangerous because they are opposed to many of the fundamental concepts of our society – starting with the equality of women and the endorsement of violence. Multi-culturalism is in fact very dangerous and it is time we put a stop to this, because as the Governor points out once cultures are allowed to grow and perpetuate themselves within a larger culture they move for independence and the resulting conflicts – with Muslims especially – violent conflict.
The question of education is also a source of concern. As the “Mexifornian’s” lead the charge for not calling illegal immigrants illegal and according them the rights given to citizens, we are virtually assuring a growing group of unassimilated and under educated people whose inability to function lead them to violence and destructive behavior. Illegal immigrants are not “immigrants” they are criminals who have broken the law and should be treated as such by immediate deportation without so much as a hearing. If the Mexifornians and their captive 9th Circuit Court disagree then the illegal immigrants found throughout the United States should be immediately deported to Mexifornia. At the very least the border should be closed – by force if necessary.
The idea of “Victimology” I think transcends the issue of immigration and a malaise that has been introduced via our school system. Students are no longer held to any standard partially due to fuzzy thinking educators but also by parents and courts who do not think the schools have any right to discipline a student or even expel them. The result is students come out of school with very little self-discipline and even less respect for authority. Therefore, when something goes wrong it is never their fault – the fault lies with some one else – generally with deep pockets. Therefore, when some idiot slams a car door on his hand it is never his inattention or carelessness it the fault of the manufacturer for not putting some warning on the door indicating that slamming the door on your hand can hurt. Every public building in California has a sign – in some cases many signs – stating that the building contains toxic chemicals that can cause cancer. The chemicals in question are the cleaning supplies used by the janitors in cleaning the building. This cannot be fixed as long as jurors insist on rewarding idiots for their irresponsible behavior. Many times the victim is a victim of their own irresponsible behavior and it is time many of the victims are held accountable for their bad decisions.
Another serious problem is the tyranny of the minority. This is being played out every day in our Congress and in the court system. The fact that the vast majority of people in this country are Christian is ignored and their rights trampled by a minority of secularists. Every single day decisions are made that ignore the will of the people in favor of some small special interest group which has resulted in bi-lingual schools, multi-cultural celebrations, elimination of Christmas, and the list goes on and on. If these minorities find life too difficult and find they cannot function within the majority then they should either relocate or learn to live with their unhappiness.
The issue of jobs moving overseas is much more complex and the role played by unions, the World Trade Organization, and the insatiable demand by Americans for more and more is largely ignored. The fact is that most of the jobs going overseas are manufacturing jobs and these jobs are gradually dying out worldwide. Some high tech jobs are moving overseas but my research indicates that this is partially due to highly inflated salaries in the US. But the quality of the service provided overseas is generally lacking and many of these jobs are coming back. However, the demand for skilled labor is outstripping the world wide supply. Perhaps one of the largest culprits is the unions who have raised loafing to an art form. Plus their demands for benefits have grown to such obscene proportions that they cannot be sustained. For example if General Motors lays off a worker that worker still gets 95% of their pay for 2 years. Their health benefits are incredible and they either nothing at all or only pay 7%. No wonder it is less expensive to send work overseas. Of course the WTO is a sham that permits countries such as China to compete using slave labor. This should be addressed.
However, the points made by Governor Lamm do indeed outline the Death of America or at least the America that was founded in 1776. Since the mid-1950’s the courts and left wing have been chipping away at the American Ideal and the time is long past for the majority in this country to take back control because if we don’t then the Death of America becomes a real possibility.
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