I have pondered at great length how I might write this particular piece without coming off like an arrogant ass.  I can’t, ergo accept my arrogant assness.

We are all familiar with the famous “dumbing down of America”, indeed, most of us see the evidence all around us (perhaps even in the mirror?).  We know that many of our young have no manners whatever, and no respect for anything, including themselves (have you read any Tee shirts lately?).  We know that our common value system has sunk to shocking lows.  For those who might consider that last comment a bit extreme, just yesterday several hundred of our fellow citizens thought a discounted TV more important than the life of a security guard, who was trampled as the horde rushed into a store, after breaking down the doors.  For sure, only a few of them actually knocked the man over and trampled him to death, but many others stepped over or around the body in their quest for a discounted price on a TV that will be obsolete in just a few weeks when the newer models hit the shelves.  The poor man’s dying body was, at best, an inconvenience to them.  Many of us have seen the continuing stories in the press of college students who can’t find Canada on a world map, who have no clue in which century the Civil War was fought.  I could go on until we are all nauseated but I think you get the point.

Why am I repeating what we all know?  Simple, because it drives the most perplexing questions I harbor right now.  I will start with the simpler of the questions:

Can an ignorant citizenry, unfamiliar with its own systems of government and economics, with no demonstrable values, be entrusted with the self government of a free nation?

I submit that the answer to this question is obviously NO and that the recent and current history of nations all around the globe proves this beyond rational argument to the contrary.

Which brings us to the harder question:

How do we allow freedom for all while, at the same time, denying the ignorant, the stupid and the indifferent the easy means to destroy our systems of government and economics?

I readily confess that I know no obvious or easy answer to this.  But I do think I know the cost of not finding an answer.  It is simply the end of everything we and our ancestors have worked for, fought for, and, all too often, died for.  True, the country has not ended yet, and may well survive the current crises… but I am less sure of that than I have ever been.  Like the guy once said “it’s not the end of the world — but, you can see it from here”.

I do know that a part of the problem comes from the fact that many in politics, in business, and in religions, prefer the ignorant because they are easy to control, especially if they can be made dependent on their controller(s).  How is this control exercised?  Usually through fear.  Fear that, if you don’t do as I say, the devil will get you and you will burn forever.  Fear that the world, as we know it, will surely end, if so-and-so is allowed (or not allowed) to do whatever (think gay marriage, prayer in school, conservative talk radio, etc.). And, most of all, fear that the handouts they so depend on will cease if those other guys get power.

As we see lately, the ignorant are also easy to manipulate through envy.  Isn’t it obvious that anyone who has more than you got it because they are evil, lucky, or both.  Never because they work harder or smarter.  Never because they risk what they have already earned investing in the future.

Is there any magic pill, any simple action, that will make all this go away?  Not a chance.  But, my instinct and my rational mind tell me there is a place to start.  That is by withholding the voting privilege from any and all who refuse to exercise it responsibly.  Do I mean by that, any who don’t vote the way I want them to?  Not at all.  What I do mean is the clueless and the “takers”.  By takers, I mean those who habitually depend on the state for their sustanance, and who use their vote to try to select people who will steal from the national treasury, and from their fellow citizens, so that they can have ever bigger handouts.  By clueless, I mean those who haven’t a clue who they are voting for, what their candidate(s) stand for, or, indeed, any of the issues in the election.

I think the “takers” can be handled by simply generating an annual estimate of the dollar value of the benefits a person/family unit consumes from a governing entity, subtracting that amount from the tax the person/family unit paid to that governing entity, then awarding a voting “ticket” to all who have a positive result.  Note that, under this scheme, people who pay taxes to multiple governing entities would get to vote in all of them for which they have a positive result.

I have not yet devised a fair, hard to manipulate method for handling the clueless.  As we move more and more into computerized voting, perhaps some qualifying question could be posed for each item on the ballot.  For sure, the straight party ticket selection should be removed immediately as should party affiliation for the candidates.  When choosing a person for office, all one should see on the ballot is a list of names of those who qualified.  Nothing else.

Note that I did not mention serious repair of our educational system.  I agree that we desperately need that, but that is a long term solution.  Before we can tackle those, we have to stop digging the hole ever deeper.

Now the last question in this set:

Do the able citizens of a free, self-governing country actually have the right to be ignorant, indifferent, and/or dependent on government?

I have written this as if they do, but I am not sure that is really correct.

I am very interested in other ideas.  Do we really have the problems I suggest?  If so, please offer some ideas for addressing them equitably.

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Just a short snip at Emperor O before I get back to serious blogging…

In his almost daily press conferences, Obama is usually standing at a podium with a shield (seal if you prefer) that says “Office Of The President Elect…”

As usual, I consulted my handy copy of our Constitution to see what it had to say about this office.  Those of you who are way ahead of me already know there is no such “office”, it is a status, a state of being.  What you may not have realized is that Obama is NOT officially president elect either.  That status is conferred after the Electoral College has voted, presented the outcome of said vote to the Senate, and had it confirmed by the President of the Senate, the current Vice President.

If Obama insists on having an interim title, prior to the coronation, I suggest “presumptive president elect”.

Neal Boortz, on his syndicated radio program, has been making much the last few days of the fact that some number of our elected officials took the citizenship test and got an average score somewhere in the 40’s, if memory serves.  What was even more distressing is the nature of the questions they missed.  (Please go to www.boortz.com for details, should this interest you that much.)

Those of you who have visited Monticello know that Thomas Jefferson designed his own grave marker and the inscriptions on it which say:

Here was buried
Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of American Independance (sic)
of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom
& Father of the University of Virginia.

Note what it does not say and, in doing so, realize how far backward, toward kingship, we have gone.

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Like many Americans, I have been watching the drama unfold at the “Big 3″ auto makers.  Will they survive?  Will those who hold our purse strings use our money to prop them up again, hoping the inevitable happens on someone else’s watch?  Will they take bankruptcy and re-emerge lighter, meaner, and ready to compete?  Nobody knows for sure.  It seems to be no secret that most of us object to our tax money being used to prop them up.  It is also no secret, to those who pay impartial attention, that the much problem here is the unions, just as it was with the airlines like Pan Am and Eastern.  Remember them?  They too were once the indisputable leaders of their industries.  The generation coming of age today will know them only from history books.

Yet, interesting as the fate of the domestic auto industry might be, that is not really the point of this bit of mental wandering about. No, what worries me most is the degree to which the state of these companies reflects the state of our entire economy, and, our very nation.

In the 1950’s, Charlie Wilson, then CEO of GM, was (incorrectly) credited with saying that what was good for GM was good for the country.  More recently, Lee Iacocca is credited with saying “As goes General Motors, so goes the nation.”  I am sorry to tell you that both were more right than they probably realized at the time.

The problems we face have so much in common:

• In al cases, making promises for futures payments that would require unprecedented, unrealistic growth to meet.  The auto companies did this through commitments to salaries, pensions and benefits; the government did it through commitments to Social Security, Medicaid, and a plethora of entitlement/safety net programs;  the average American did this through credit card and consumer debt, often for things they did not remotely need, and through mortages, often on houses much larger and grander than required for safe, comfortable living.
• In all cases, once realizing there may be a problem, putting off acknowledgment and corrective action.  Instead, “whistling past the graveyard”, propping things up and hoping for a miracle.
• In all cases, once denial and propping up failed, trying to blame everyone and everything except what we all know were the causes.

Now, I don’t know how long Ford, GM or Chrysler can last.  Nor do I know how long the United States of America, as we have known and loved it, can last.  But, this I do know.  No problem ever got solved by denying its existence, by blaming the innocent, by praying, braying or any other plea to the invisible and the non-existent.

Problems get solved when people step up to them, take responsibility (and take the lumps) for their own contribution, figure out the best thing for all involved, then get on with doing it.  Not just for a few elected officials that damn well knew better, not just for a few business leaders that damn well knew better, not just for the deadbeats who damned well knew better, but for the people who have, and continue to apply their sweat, their minds, and their talents to making this a working enterprise.

I am totally convinced that there is ultimately NOTHING that free, rational people cannot accomplish.  The recent histories of America and Western Europe prove as much.

I am just as totally convinced that the ultimate fate of a bunch of dependent whiners and blame-assigners is to be slaves.  The recent histories of some other countries proves this as well.

We have a choice we all MUST make.  It does not seem nearly as hard a choice as choosing between two candidates almost equally unqualified and unfit to lead this nation.  This is a simple choice.  Will we be free, rational, responsible men and women or slaves?

And, we do NOT need a new government committee to study the situation.

From a governmental view, the whole thing was figured out and written down, about as perfectly as humans are capable of, over 200 years ago.  Lucky us, the actual, original documents still exist.  In fact, we go to great lengths to protect them from physical harm.  Supposedly, we even revere the ideas they espouse.  You see how that has worked out for us.  How about we actually read them, then go on to actually understand what they say and why?  Who can imagine what kind of country might be built on the blueprint they contain?  We all can because we have seen it, have lived it.

From an enterprise view, the whole thing has been figured out and proven over and over until you wonder how anyone could not understand.  Many of you probably believe in a tale about a guy in ancient Israel who fed multitudes from a few fishes and loaves.  While I, personally, have no doubt whatever that this did not happen, I have no problem if some of you choose to believe it.  What I do know for sure is that it is not the sort of thing that happens often, and that there are NO people alive on this earth who have ever seen such a thing.  Yet we all have seen, and most of us participated in, a free economy.

My friends, free, rational people practicing laissez-faire capitalism can do, before your very eyes, what the gods are rumored to do only in mythology.  It works.  End of story.  Why any people would try any other method of providing for the needs of mankind is a greater mystery to me than the origin of the universe.

Yet, many of you don’t believe this simple truth.  Indeed, a lot of you have probably been convinced that laissez-faire capitalism is what caused the current crisis.  For sure there are many who would have you think that way.  I ask you, stop and think… who are the people telling you such?  Could it be the very ones that will do anything, literally anything, to get and keep power over you?  Please read the previous 2 sentences several more times before proceeding.

Is laissez-faire capitalism perfect?  NO!  What is?  Is it better than any, I mean, any, other economic system in the history of mankind?  YES!  What more do you need to know?

There is a side of laissez-faire capitalism that many of those who would enslave you will bring up again and again: it is harsh, it is unthinking, it lacks compassion, worst of all, it is unfair. Lets examine these claims:

• It is harsh.  Totally true.  Those who don’t produce (and those who depend on them) do without, except for the willing generousity of others, or the unwilling confiscation and redistribution of the products of others.  And, I know that there will always be those few who will choose to be dependent slaves rather than free, productive humans.  What to do with them is the topic of another rant – but, I confess it is a real problem.  What happens when you put your hand in a fire is harsh.  What happens when you step in front of a train is harsh.  These things are called “reality”.
• It is unthinking, it lacks compassion.  Of course!  It is a system, not a living creature!
  
• It is unfair.  Of all the claims made against laissez-faire capitalism, this one bothers me most. Practiced without government interference, it is the fairest system ever conceived because it requires and promotes FREE participants.  Do we not all crave freedom more that anything other than life itself?  For sure, not everyone will produce, and be rewarded, at the same rate.  But, how is this unfair?  Is having the government, using its right of force to confiscate your products to give away to others somehow fair?  If so, someone please explain it to this ignorant fool.

So, there you have it.  A simple answer to government, a simple answer to the economy.  And, they both require nothing more than free, rational people who are willing to produce value.  That is all.

Please note that I did not ask for a $500 Billion giveaway for this information.  Freedom, and the means to ensure it, belongs to us all.  If only we will demand what is ours!

If I managed to insult your religious beliefs: I’m sorry but I would otherwise be lying to you.  More to come on that subject because there really is a relationship to the current crisis.

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While driving down the road, I saw a herd of cattle grazing in a field – not a really unusual thing here in Texas.  Anyway, I got to thinking about those cattle and their lives as such.  Seemed to me that this particular lot has a pretty nice life.  Good grass, enough shade trees, and a creek with fresh water.  I wondered to myself whether these cattle appreciated, or even realized how good they have it.

Now I know that some of them had an unpleasant moment earlier in life when their prospects of being a breeding bull were suddenly, and unpleasantly ended.  But, since then, just look at their circumstances.  I’m sure they get free healthcare.  Hell, if they are like the average American cow, they get more antibiotics than the law should allow.  Literally.  Their owner/master makes sure they have all they need for a comfortable cow life.   I should be such a cow!

Then I realize there is a catch – there always is.  In a few short months, these cattle will surely face what I call the “Oh Shit” moment.

I raised some cows once and I saw them when that moment came.  It was as they were herded down the ramp from the truck that took them on their last ride.  You could see it in their eyes as soon as they smelled the fear and the blood of those who went before.  Then, and only then did they realize that everything has a price.  And an ending.

I now fear that many of the humans I care for, along with multitudes of others I don’t even know, are about to have an “Oh Shit” moment.

And there is nothing I can do but watch the fear in their eyes as they realize what is about to happen.  I could say to some of them that “I told you so”, but that has such a hollow ring to it now.  There are times that being right really sucks.

Now you must excuse me while I look for my Prozac.

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During the mortgage meltdown, it became blatantly obvious that Barney Frank, Democrat, MA, was one of those in Congress most culpable in the departure from common sense that precipitated the fiasco.  No secrets involved here, just publicly available films, speeches, Congressional voting records and the like.  A signed confession could hardly have been more damning.  Yet, Barney offered some nonsensical blather about it all being GW Bush’s fault.  No refutation of established facts, just some loud finger pointing.  The result?

First, Barney gets a major role in crafting the “bailout plan”.  For those of you not familiar with the plan, it is a system of rewards to the major financial institutions that participated in the meltdown.

Second, and worst of all, Barney gets re-elected with over 70% of the vote.  That is right.  Over 70% in an area that is known for the high quality of its educational facilities and for its sophisticated residents.

A similar story could be told about Christopher Dodd, the Senate version of Barney.

Never mind the evidence of outright wrong doing in the form of “favors”, campaign contributions, jobs for family and lovers, etc., etc.  The indisputable evidence in the public record was enough to condemn both these men.

Yet both were sent back to continue the good job they are doing for the country.

WHAT THE CRAP IS GOING ON HERE???

While I have no use whatever for the likes of Frank and Dodd, I find it hard to blame them for this travesty.  What can the voters who gave these crooks a vote of confidence and another shot at their wallets be thinking?  Indeed, is our condition so bad that major portions of our population simply cannot think at all?

Try as I might, I can find no rational explanation for such actions on the part of “we the people”.  But I have no problem whatever understanding where it leads.

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It is not the purpose of this blog to simply repeat the news but the latest updates from the world of “bailouts” is just too much to let pass.

It seems the original “plan” rushed through Congress over the objections of almost every American citizen, is not being “re-thought” by the Emperor of the Treasury, Hank the Bank Paulson.

To review: the original “plan” (read “load of crap”) was that the $700B, more or much more, would be “invested” in troubled paper with the expectation the taxpayers might one day get part or all of it back.  As noted, while the American people did not agree, our “representatives” in Congress bought it hook, line and sinker.  (Could they have been in a rush to repeat the periodic lies they use to get re-elected, over and over, no matter how sorry their job performance?  But, I digress…)

Well, now Hank the Bank has decided that buying that worthless paper was not such a good idea after all so, what the heck, lets just throw the money at anything that claims to be a bank and hope for the best.  Note further that he did not even bother to feed Congress a new set of lies.

Friends, we are talking about a starting figure of $700 BILLION, with the final figure not yet to be known.  Now tell me this: How many of you would just sit there doing nothing while a common thief stole a mere $700 from you?  Right.  Then why do we just sit here while these uncommon thieves steal our birthright?

At least, get mad.  Get really mad.  Whoops – you probably just recently helped send your thief back to the bank didn’t you?  Well, that’ll teach ‘em.

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I will start this diatribe by stating several known, easily observable  facts:

• Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States.
• I am very disturbed by fact #1.  (Nov 8, 2998 Meet The Press, Valerie Jarrett, Co-chair, Obama-Biden Transition Team told Tom Brokaw “given the daunting challenges that we face, it’s important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.” for instance)
• I am a racist.  No, I don’t care what race Mr Obama claims as his own.  Nor do I put much stock in skin color.  However, I realize that “racist” has been redefined to mean anyone who disagrees with Obama, therefore I accept that label without further argument.
• The United States is not, never has been and was never intended to be a democracy.  In spite of this, there is an elitist element in our country that has pretty much convinced the uninformed that it is.
• There is no Constitutionally guaranteed right to vote in the United States.  Don’t want to take my word for it?  OK, ask the Supreme Court.
• The “dumbing down” of America has worked beyond anyone’s dreams or expectations.

Why do I mention these particular facts and what have they to do with each other?  Obviously, I intend to explain.

The United States of America was founded as a Republic.  Along democratic lines to be sure, but a Republic, nevertheless and most certainly NOT a Democracy.  Indeed, some of the Founders equated pure Democracy with a form of mob rule.

If this is true, why then why would any elite group try to convince the country that it IS a Democracy, and that every living citizen, along with a significant number of non-living or non-citizens, has the right to vote, no matter how hopelessly uninformed they might be?  Simple.  And, probably not the reason most of us would guess.  The United States was not only founded as a Republic, that Republic was bound by a written Constitution.   A Constitution that makes every reasonable attempt to limit the power and reach of the government it describes.  As if that were not enough, the Founders also made the Constitution very cumbersome to change, hoping to ward off frivolous changes.  Most especially changes made to favor the power of government, ergo the power of those who administer government over that of the people.

In recent years, it has been popular, among the elite, to have de-facto changes made to the Constitution by the courts.  A court system whose own lust for power has made it forget its true role in interpreting what is already there, rather than digging into the Constitution to find “rights” that were never there, never intended to be there, and, usually, not even in a area of Federal responsibility.  While this method worked well for a while, and with a particular Court, the more recent appointment of more traditional judges has hampered it.

So, if the elite are to continue to keep our Constitution “alive” through changes that would never have a chance of making it through the official process, then a new approach is needed.  For this, I offer you the notion of Democracy.  You see, in a Democracy, whatever the majority of apparent voter says, is the law, is it not?  And Constitution be damned!

But, is this really true?  Does one segment of the population actually have the right to impose a new form of government on another?  I refer specifically to current attempts to convert the United States to a socialist state.  I argue that it does not.

To begin with, I submit that our Constitution cannot possibly describe a socialist state.  It has too much to say in favor of our individual rights to person, privacy and property for that (in a socialist state, the state owns everything, ergo no such rights belong to the people).

If that is not enough, I raise another very fundamental matter.  Since the Enlightenment, a number of thinkers have refined a new concept, ultimately stated by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence… “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.”

Put as simply as it can be put, I, along with millions of other Americans, DO NOT consent to be governed by a socialist state.  Period.  End of argument!

Since I still may not have not gotten the point across, let me try another approach.  We (The United States) are a Republic, not a Democracy.  Fine, you say, so what and why do folks like me keep harping on this point – does it really make any difference?  It is as simple as this.  A republic is a rules-based entity while a democracy is not.  Imagine trying to play a game, a really important game, but one where the rules of the game are made up or changed as the game proceeds.  Winning could turn out to be very hard in this game, unless you are on the side that can make the most noise, can be the most intimidating to the other players,  or can overwhelm them with sheer numbers.  This, my friends, is democracy, pure and simple.  If it sounds a lot like mob rule, well…

Now consider playing that same game except, this time, the rules are set in advance, are tightly enforced, and can be altered only in the most extreme circumstances.  This is a republic.

It is obvious that the republican method does not improve any given player’s chances of winning the game.  What it does do is ensure the game is played in a fair fashion, per rules that can be known to every player, well in advance of the game (I say “can be” because one can still choose to be ignorant of them).

If the game being played is called “self rule” and is being played in a place called the USA, the rule book would be called the “Constitution”.

I don’t know any way to make it more simple, yet the majority of our people still cannot seem to grasp the concept.  And, it is killing us as a nation.  But, on to other thoughts…

I have stated elsewhere in this blog that my philosophy of life is Objectivism.  While I have no intention of teaching a mini-course in Objectivism, I will tell the uninitiated that the most basic principles of Objectivism are:

• That I own myself.  Not some God, not some king, not some dictator, not some head of government, however chosen.  Nope.  Just me.  I belong to me and me belong to I.  From this simple notion I can go on to say that, if I own me, then I must also own the products of me.  Particularly, the fruits of my thoughts and my labor.  I can further surmise that since I own me and what I produce, I also have a responsibility to myself.  That responsibility is to act in my own self interest.  That is to say, I should live my life for me.
• That man’s rational mind is his only hope.  That is to say, success in life is based on thinking, using reality as the fodder for our thinking mill, not emotion, superstition or other such childish notion.  It then follows that if rational thought is the basis of a good life, teaching our young the basics of rational thought must be our most important responsibility.
• That each thing is what it is.  That reality is real, not the result of anyone’s imagination, wants, fears, etc. Further, that reality can be known and understood by a rational mind.

Almost immediately, one can see a chink in my armor.  If I have only my own self interest at heart, what could be better than a socialist state that can give me anything I want or need at little or no effort to myself, leaving me free to enjoy myself to the fullest?  Well, if you are a sucker (or emotion driven), then, for you, this may well be true.  For the rest of us, truly knowing what is in our own self interest might be the hardest thing we will ever try to learn.

Now, being a practical sort, I want my own self interest to be served for the entire length of my life, which I want to be as long as reasonably possible.  And, I want my self interest served at a minimum cost to myself.  I want it to be relatively easy and totally sustainable and long lasting.  This pretty much lets out simply taking whatever I want from others.  Indeed, this means that the method I choose for my own satisfaction must be agreeable to others!

But, even this will not discourage me because:

• I have a rational mind.  Something that, to my knowledge, is possessed only by humans, even if used by the few.
• I know of a game we can play that will allow all the players to win, at the same time.  In fact, it is the nearest thing to magic that the human mind can conceive.  No, it is not a secret.  The game is called Marketplace.

So, equipped with a rational mind and a game where everyone can win, is there anything I cannot accomplish?  No.  But only so long as I am free.  Free to exercise my ownership of myself with all that entails.

Free.  What a concept.  Does this mean I can do anything I want?  No it does not.  What is means is that I can do what I want with ME.  Why?  Because the only way I can be free is to allow everyone else to also be free.  In doing that, I allow them to exercise their ownership over themselves, and their products, just as I do over me and mine.  To do it any other way would simply mean that only the most powerful could be free.  Since “most powerful” is a concept that must be proven over and over again, all it ensures is constant turmoil.  Just mentally picture a country (of your choosing) that currently practices “strong man” government.  Enough said.  I am sure I don’t want that and I doubt you do either.

So, where are we now?  Oh yes, we all have to be free and we must all exercise our ownership over ourselves in a rational fashion and we have a marketplace to play in.  So far, so good.  Now, shouldn’t we all also be equal?  Funny you should ask.  There is a secret, evidently known only to those who actually use their reasoning ability.  For the rest of you, the “secret” is this… free and equal are opposites.  To have one, you must give up the other.  Bummer of a choice, but that is just the way it is.  If people are left free, they simply refuse to remain equal.  Likewise, to ensure people remain equal, their freedom must first be taken from them.  But, you say, didn’t Mr. Jefferson himself claim that “all men are created equal”?  Yes, he did.  But note that tricky word “created”.  What he did not say, imply or even hint at was the notion that “all men are created equal and must remain that way forever and in every respect and in every outcome”.  Indeed, the scope of Mr. Jefferson’s idea was only as applied to the laws men mutually agree to.  Simply put, if we are to be a nation of laws, said laws should apply to us all, equally.  Somehow, we have allowed that simple idea to expand into areas where it simply cannot apply.

I maintain that the concept of “equal” is best left to mathematicians and kept as far from governance as possible.  So, doesn’t this allow one person or group of persons to have an advantage over other persons or groups of persons?  Yes it does.  And, there is no rational remedy for this.  The gal with the better voice is more likely to end up a musical star.  The guy with extra long legs is more likely to end up a sports star.   The person with the big brain is likely to contribute more than the rest of us. The guy or gal born into a rich family is more likely to get into the best schools.  Indeed, the babies most healthy at birth are more likely to even live.  Personally, so long as we don’t use our natural advantages to harm others, I see no real problem with this.  It is simply part of the kaleidoscope we call life.  I say, get over it and focus on things that really can be changed!

So, again we ask, what can we do?  The truth is, I am not sure.  That is why I am soliciting your input.

My first thought was secession.  Let the socialists have their section of the country and let the free individualists have another.  While this does seem simple, in actual practice, it splits states, communities, even families.  The good side is that those who want a state that caters to their every whim would surely get the fastest, cheapest lesson in the history of mankind.  For that reason alone, I still tend to favor secession.

At some level, I suppose I have always favored secession.  I think it was the correct remedy the last time (e.g. Civil War).  The problem then was that the people on the states rights side of the argument chose perhaps the worst possible cause on which to bring their complaint – that of slavery.  Not only did this taint cause the states rights people to lose everything, it still hampers a rational discussion of states rights, due to the residue we have yet to purge from our system.

Good news though!  The secession I propose has everything to do with one’s view of freedom and government and nothing whatever to do with one’s view of another’s race.  Indeed, were we able to implement a rational secession, I would very much hope that any remaining racists end up on the other side (I refer to real racists, not the artificial kind I confessed to, tongue-in-cheek, at the start of this rant).

So, there you have it.  I am proposing a new country, built out of part of the old.  I further propose that we base it on the “original” Constitution (the base document and the first 10 amendments).  I propose that we call it the United States of America, since we will be using a Constitution that already calls it that.

Some may wonder whether an attitude such as mine is not somehow unpatriotic.  Quite to the contrary, I consider myself the ultimate patriot.  The America that prior generations fought to create and to preserve is exactly what I want to see again.  For totally selfish reasons.  I have lived a wonderful life in this land and I wish nothing less for my children, grandchildren and so on.  And, to openly reject being ruled, reigned over or otherwise subjugated is perhaps the finest expression of patriotism one could exhibit.

In fact, I contend that no actions opposing the actions of our current government can be considered unpatriotic for the simple reason that the government described by our Constitution, the one to which we extend our patriotism, no longer exists.  That is right my friends, the United States of America that we fought for, that we love sometimes more than life itself, has been destroyed.  Yes, the final collapse might take a while but it is inevitable.  Just look about you… and you will see:

• A so called “government” that has destroyed its country’s economy and that hasn’t a clue what to do about it other than go on a spending/bailout spree using money that simply does not exist.  This alone will seal our fate.
• A system of “education” that turns out hordes of functional illiterates, many if whom can’t find Canada on a map.An uninformed horde that knows nothing of  our intended system of government, of our economic system, yet are given the power to choose the future direction of the country.
• A business community that is, increasingly, devoid of ethics.
• A president elect who openly, vocally calls for a “Civilian Defense Force”, every bit as powerful as our military.  And the listeners cheered.  Not a single member of the so called “free press” bothered to ask who this force is intended to defend and from whom.  Before you let emotion get ahead of rational thought and accuse me of being extremist, please consider that Adolph Hitler published a book (Mein Kampf) in which he described his whole plan for the future.  Millions bought it, a few probably read it.  And still, these same people would gather by the hundreds of thousands to cheer madly over their own impending destruction.
• A president elect who embraces a “spread the wealth” philosophy. Indeed, who embraces most every Marxist theory of economics.
• A government that exists for its own benefit, not that of the people it presumes to govern.
• A republic trying to behave like a democracy.

And on, and on it goes.  Much more could be said but this should suffice to make the point.

So, here we are.  All I need now is for all of you to tell us how to get back to the world of the free and the rational.  Really – I am actively soliciting your input as well as your comments on what I have said.  All I ask is that your input be rational rather than emotional and serious rather than frivolous.

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