I believe whenever there is a doubt, error on the side of Liberty, at any cost.
I believe "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is a natural right, and cannot be granted.
I believe taking anothers "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" should not be done through legislation of lifestyle, yet can be justified as a reaction to immediate threats.
I believe in all persons right to do what they want without causing harm to others.
I believe if you violate my rights, I can kill you.
I believe few are elite, and they do exist. That alone grants them nothing.
I believe in JUDGEMENT, act and you will be judged on your actions, nothing else.
I believe my children are the responsibility of my family alone, not the communities.
I believe there are some out to "control" others, and they must be fought.
I believe the States should govern themselves, and be accountable only to their citizens.
I believe the "federal government" should be nothing more then a mediator between the States.
I believe the current elections of regimes are rigged and a joke, we are granted the choice of paper or plastic, either way is an empty bag.
I believe one man can make a difference.
I believe the pen is only mighty when backed by swords.
I believe action is our payment for Liberty, and inaction is the price of yours.
I believe in the 3%.
I believe in you.
I hope I am right.
Jason
III
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Fair Warning
Armed minorities never fear the leviathan majority. History is not made by "democratic majorities" but, for good or ill, by determined minorities. George Bush has done us one favor, at least. He has destroyed his own party of big government lite and set the stage for The Raw Deal, much as the Weimar Republicans set the stage for Hitler. But in doing so -- by enabling the Great Lightworker's Nanny State -- he has removed any chance of redress of our grievances by political means. In the unholy trinity of Obama-Reid-Pelosi we have people who will attempt to make sure of it by attacking more of our Constitutional liberties. This is good. Finally we will be to the point where the masks are off and we will face each other without pretense. You, with your godless collectivism. Us with our faith, and our determination to maintain our traditional liberty as well as our property.
Read the whole post HERE
Vanderboegh strikes again with a clear warning.
Jason
III
Read the whole post HERE
Vanderboegh strikes again with a clear warning.
Jason
III
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Bases Covered?
From here, I love the satire that is abundant at his site!
A Great slide show covering the "recent" developments of the economy.
Jason
III
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Freedom Under Siege
In reading and commenting on some posts lately, I realized I have some views I need to verbalize before I can sleep. Our freedom is under attack, a wolf in sheeps clothing, as it usually is. I am not one for compromise or tolerance, call it a character flaw. There are many things in this world I see and do not hesitate to "judge" others. However for those who don't know me, allow me some background.
- I do not use alcohol or any drugs, "legal" or not. That is my choice. I do not support ANY legislation that restricts YOU from doing any drug YOU choose, but I do hold YOU responsible for your actions. Drink all you want, hit a family with your car in the process and I'll bring the rope to your final tree.
- I do own and carry firearms. Out of respect to you, if I choose to go to your home/business and you ask I do not bring them, I won't. But I will not tolerate you requesting me to remove them in my home/business.
- I do not care who or how many people you are intimate with, as long as it involves consent. If you flaunt your choices, I will not stop others from calling you whore, faggot, bitch, etc.. If you keep a low profile, so should others. However if they move beyond words I will stand by your side, and if needed crush them without apology or acceptance of your lifestyle.
These are but a few points, you get the general idea. I believe in three rights : Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Period. All other ideas flow from these.
Everything else we are told by politicians are a lie. It is your life, take some accountability and shape it to what you want. Crush the small obstacles, study the big ones. Look for an edge and NEVER violate the 3 rights of anyone, they are not yours because you are an American, but because you are human.
A free society guarantees freedom of movement and, above all, absolute
privacy. Moving our wealth in and out of the country would be of no concern to the
government. Complete privacy guarantees individual liberty. Our personal lifestyles,
as well as our religious lifestyles would be our business and ours alone. Instead of
the governments forcing contracts on us and breaking those they make with us, the
government would help enforce the contracts to which we voluntarily agree.
A free society offers the greatest chance for world peace. Free movement of
people, goods, and ideas across borders makes a lot more sense than the uncontrolled
sale and transfer of weapons across borders. A policy of neutrality and friendship to
all makes a lot more sense than subsidies to our sworn enemies and our rich allies.
Financing both sides of all the battles around the world, as we have been doing for
the past forty years, must come to an end.
Free markets, sound money, balanced budgets, no income tax, civil liberties,
and nonintervention in the internal affairs of other nations is the road to peace and
prosperity.
How can the American people reject it?
A free society guarantees freedom of movement and, above all, absolute
privacy. Moving our wealth in and out of the country would be of no concern to the
government. Complete privacy guarantees individual liberty. Our personal lifestyles,
as well as our religious lifestyles would be our business and ours alone. Instead of
the governments forcing contracts on us and breaking those they make with us, the
government would help enforce the contracts to which we voluntarily agree.
A free society offers the greatest chance for world peace. Free movement of
people, goods, and ideas across borders makes a lot more sense than the uncontrolled
sale and transfer of weapons across borders. A policy of neutrality and friendship to
all makes a lot more sense than subsidies to our sworn enemies and our rich allies.
Financing both sides of all the battles around the world, as we have been doing for
the past forty years, must come to an end.
Free markets, sound money, balanced budgets, no income tax, civil liberties,
and nonintervention in the internal affairs of other nations is the road to peace and
prosperity.
How can the American people reject it?
Freedom Under Siege – Ron Paul, 1988
(emphasis by me)
Vote and live Freedom, first and always. Fight taxation and legislation. Follow your beliefs but do not expect or rely on others to join them.
Jason
III
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Liberty?
The other day I had a moment with my son. Most today think that only the educated, politicians of our day under stand the "founding." Yet in the innocence of a 9 year old boy, Liberty was the ONLY thing he could comprehend. Freedom to breathe, freedom to choose, freedom to strike a deal based upon His will, not law. I hope I do not fail him and his brother, in leaving them with a place this is true. At least more true than the day I entered this world. They will be riflemen at a young age, may they never need to use that skill. They will be taught some lessons of Jefferson, Locke, Blackstone, King and others, may that knowledge never be tested. They will be shown that Liberty in any amount is worth fighting for, may they never have to fight for it.
"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." -The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
Jason
III
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Elect Independence
D. Martyn Lloyd-Morgan posts an EXCELLENT read on why the outrage he and others feel towards Barack Obama is justified here. I find it hard to believe that some still claim that contempt for the candidates is being tied to racism or sexism.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." - MLK
Content of Character... All four members of the 2 party candidate scheme (and even most if not all of the current "3rd" parties) have shown a drastic lack of content. I cannot and will not support them et al.
I understand those who still cling to the idea of a "lesser of two" evils, and voting that which is to them the lesser "evil." I simply cannot look at my self in the mirror if I was to betray my feelings and "agree" that McCain is the right man for the job. I take only my role as a father and husband more seriously than my role as an American, and it causes me physical pain to see my country hurting. Since I became of voting age the elections have been dubbed the "most important of our time" and the quality of politics has been shown to be the worst.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." - MLK
Content of Character... All four members of the 2 party candidate scheme (and even most if not all of the current "3rd" parties) have shown a drastic lack of content. I cannot and will not support them et al.
I understand those who still cling to the idea of a "lesser of two" evils, and voting that which is to them the lesser "evil." I simply cannot look at my self in the mirror if I was to betray my feelings and "agree" that McCain is the right man for the job. I take only my role as a father and husband more seriously than my role as an American, and it causes me physical pain to see my country hurting. Since I became of voting age the elections have been dubbed the "most important of our time" and the quality of politics has been shown to be the worst.
- 1992- Bush 41, Clinton, Perot= evil, lying, business tycoon. Each was only 2 out of 3 and that was enough?
- 1996- Clinton, Dole, 1/2 Perot= Lies, Lies, more Lies by persons now well entrenched in the career of politics. Was that enough?
- 2000- Gore and Bush 43= This was worse than watching a school student body election and debate cycle. Was that enough?
- September 11, 2001- Changed the face of the political spectrum for at least 1 generation, the following actions in Afghanistan and Iraq for maybe 2.
- 2004- Bush 43, Kerry= You have got to be kidding me, this is the best our country has to offer? Sadness starts to set in. Lesser of 2 brains seems to be the new context, the are both evil a naive. Almost enough yet?
- 2008- McCain, Obama, Barr- I cannot think of a single benefit for having either of these people as "my" president (de-emphasis intentional) and I have had enough.
While I am not ready to dictate the proverbial line in the sand, I am ready to withdraw my consent to be governed. I will choose my path day to day for now. I foresee a rough road a head for all Americans, and I do believe we can persevere. I do not believe we want to. Societies in America have become opposed and polarized on opposite sides of the coin, compromise has made us go backwards. Secession is a viable path to be looking at. The country was created by "consent" of the governed, it can be done again. If people agree with Obama let them have them, same for McCain. If others like a more libertarian, or even communist view there is room for them to. John Edwards said there are 2 Americas, he was almost right in context if not content. I say we go for 50 Americas. States United together in ideals of independence, free from federalist rule. But what do I know, I am just a carpenter who can't get a job swinging a hammer.
Jason
III
Friday, October 10, 2008
Now Planet of The Apes, Do They Not Watch Movies?
First there was the Terminator coming to reality, now we have to deal with the Apes?
What would Charlton Heston do?
People we need to pay attention to Sci-fi, seriously, we do.
Jason
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Terminator Series is "Real", No F'N Way!
For those who don't know I have the trailer that summarizes the "end" in Terminator Time.
-Skynet, the evil computer based system that controls "the machines" through man made technology. That is in the franchise, however, that foundation became REAL thanks to AT&T. AT&T then sold Skynet to Loral. It's true, read it here
-Cyberdyne Systems built the technology that allows "the Machines" to simulate, infiltrate and Terminate humans. Good thing that was fake, but what is this? Holy crap, good thing that was only a "suit". However check out what using HAL (another creepy sci-fi reference) as a base some "college group" came up with.
Check out their "latest version"
At least they don't have balance or route options,
Ah crap, but that was on 4 legs, I dare them to try that with 2.
We're dead. F'n robots, we're going to die from f'n robots.
Jason
P.S. I needed a break from the real threats of the day. Not as threatening yet, still creepy though, we should keep an eye on it.
Monday, October 6, 2008
MUST READ, Election Ad
Mindful Musings:My thoughts and whatnots.: VANDERBOEGH: Sipsey Street Ad Sounds
A great post of imagery to think about for the next 29 days. I SUPPORT this message.
Jason
III
A great post of imagery to think about for the next 29 days. I SUPPORT this message.
Jason
III
DOW Down, Again.
The Dow had been down as much as 800 points at 2:50 p.m. E. Had that level held, it would have exceeded its biggest one-day point loss -- the 778-point loss just a week ago after the House of Representatives failed to approve a $700 billion rescue package for the nation's financial system
From MSN
Good thing the Government pledged over $2600 from every man, woman and child to avoid this. (other estimates are double this)
At least now JoeBob can get that loan for a "NEW" F-250, and an ipod for little Jenny, and don't forget a new set of brests for Mary Sue. It's all covered in our "newly" liquid bank markets.
WTF is wrong with people?
Jason
III
Sunday, October 5, 2008
An October Lesson in Government "Deals"
In 1873, Chief Joseph negotiated with the federal government to ensure that his people could stay on their land in the Wallowa Valley as stipulated in 1855 and 1863 land treaties with the U.S. government. But, in a reversal of policy in 1877, General Oliver Otis Howard threatened to attack if the Indians did not relocate to an Idaho reservation. Chief Joseph reluctantly agreed.
As they began their journey to Idaho, Chief Joseph learned that a group of Nez Percé men, enraged at the loss of their homeland, had killed some white settlers in the Salmon River area. Fearing U.S. Army retaliation, the chief began a retreat. With 2,000 soldiers in pursuit, Chief Joseph led a band of about 700 Nez Percé Indians—fewer than 200 of whom were warriors, towards freedom—nearly reaching the Canadian border. For over three months, the Nez Percé had outmaneuvered and battled their pursuers traveling some 1,000 miles across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
By the time Chief Joseph surrendered, more than 200 of his followers had died. Although he had negotiated a safe return home for his people, the Nez Percé instead were taken to eastern Kansas and then to a reservation in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). In 1879, Chief Joseph went to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Rutherford Hayes and plead the case of his people. Finally, in 1885, nine years before his death, Chief Joseph and his followers were allowed to return to a reservation in the Pacific Northwest—still far from their homeland in the Wallowa Valley.
As they began their journey to Idaho, Chief Joseph learned that a group of Nez Percé men, enraged at the loss of their homeland, had killed some white settlers in the Salmon River area. Fearing U.S. Army retaliation, the chief began a retreat. With 2,000 soldiers in pursuit, Chief Joseph led a band of about 700 Nez Percé Indians—fewer than 200 of whom were warriors, towards freedom—nearly reaching the Canadian border. For over three months, the Nez Percé had outmaneuvered and battled their pursuers traveling some 1,000 miles across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
By the time Chief Joseph surrendered, more than 200 of his followers had died. Although he had negotiated a safe return home for his people, the Nez Percé instead were taken to eastern Kansas and then to a reservation in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). In 1879, Chief Joseph went to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Rutherford Hayes and plead the case of his people. Finally, in 1885, nine years before his death, Chief Joseph and his followers were allowed to return to a reservation in the Pacific Northwest—still far from their homeland in the Wallowa Valley.
From Here
The"Federal Government" has a long a documented past of breaking deals, and lying to its people. Why should this contract not be considered yet another lie? Chief Joseph had witnessed atrocities I can only imagine, that led him to say famously "I will fight no more, forever," I am yet not at that point, and hope I never am.
Jason
III
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Doctor Says
"With deposit insurance increasing to $250,000 and banks able to set their reserves to zero, we will undoubtedly see future increases in unsound lending. No one in our society seems to understand that wealth is not created by government fiat, is not created by banks, and is not created through the manipulation of interest rates and provision of easy credit. A debt-based society cannot prosper and is doomed to fail, as debts must either be defaulted on or repaid, neither resolution of which presents this country with a pleasant view of the future. True wealth can only come about through savings, the deferral of present consumption in order to provide for a higher level of future consumption. Instead, our government through its own behavior and through its policies encourages us to live beyond our means, reducing existing capital and mortgaging our future to pay for present consumption."
Ron Paul
Ron Paul
1929, Just Practice or Prophecy?
Bailout passes, country is DYING
The problem today is that we have substantially more credit created than ever before, and it isnt tied up in the development of new technology, or in fact anything that might pay off and better the economy in the future thereby offsetting the inflation it causes. Nope, its tied up in houses, ordinary homes all over America bought up by an artificially induced housing bubble. 3 trillion dollars worth of debt tied to houses that in reality arent any more usefull than the ones you or your parents grew up in. So where does their real value come from, to generate such an increase in price? From the market, houses were selling so often that they were deemed more valuable as a virtue, but now that the market has chilled, where is that desirability? gone, along with any real increase in value that the house had with it. Unfortunately, the mortgage debt is still tied to the old value, and the banks, are being forced to pay for defaulted loans on houses that they couldnt sell for what is owed on them, and that no one could afford without taking out another mortgage.
Text from the Reverend
Jason
III
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The Eleventh Hour?
Speech Before the Arizona Libertarian Party Convention
by Claire Wolfe
Libertarian Activist
April 19, 1997
April 19, 1997
In November, 1995, I sat down and wrote the words, "America is at that awkward stage; it's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." That's a line a lot of you have become familiar with, and to the extent that other people have also become familiar with it, it has a lot to do with Arizona libertarians pushing that message.
Well, I wrote that a year and a half ago, the book was published about six months ago, and now here we are, April 19, 1997. Is it time to "shoot the bastards" yet? This is a question a lot of us have been pondering.
We signed our oath, most of us, we signed our pledge not to initiate violence. We're the good guys. We know that. But I have heard so many people — good, responsible, ordinary people — talking about whether we might be reaching the time that we should "shoot the bastards".
I think one of the best comments on this came from Vin Suprynowicz, who interviewed me when the book was published. Actually, of all the things said in the interview Vin made the best comment; he said that we have reached the time when it is morally right to "shoot the bastards", but it is not yet practical to do so.
I do believe that a fight is inevitable, whether that's a fight in the streets or the trenches, or whether that is some sort of confrontation that may not involve arms but may nevertheless involve violence and head-to-head action. I think that's inevitable, and I think more and more people are coming to the conclusion that it is.
April 19th, as you all know, is a day in history when many people have taken up arms, when they have been forced to take up arms. Peaceable people in Lexington and Concord, desperate people in the Warsaw ghetto. Even when they had no hope, or little hope, they took up arms. But here we stand, and although a lot of us have arms with us, or not far from us, we're not ready to "take up arms" yet. But I hope we're preparing ourselves. I hope we're at least thinking about it. In the last year and a half, since I originally wrote those frustrated, angry words, things have gotten a hell of a lot worse. And it's almost scary how little the disaster that we're in the middle of has been acknowledged.
For instance, just four — I don't want to call them laws or acts of legislation — four abominations that Congress has come up with in the time since I originally wrote those words. We've got a federal database of all employed people, or, that is, all people who get conventional jobs. That's been done in the name of "tracking deadbeat dads". However, you might be a single mother with five kids you're taking good care of; you might be a single guy who never intends to get married. You're going in that database. Why? What does that have to do with "deadbeat dads"? I don't know. I can't figure it out. Along those same lines, we now have pilot projects being started, under which you cannot get a job unless your employer first gets permission from the Social Security Administration by scanning your card through a reader connected to a database in Washington, DC. Isn't that cute? Some Social Security bureaucrat decides whether or not you can ever get a job in this country.
We've also got a medical health care database that will be on line in about a year. This was part of the "moderate" Kennedy-Kassebaum health care act — you'll be pleased to know that this is "moderate". Everything about your medical history will go into this database, including speculation on the part of your doctor, who may observe that you're an "armed and dangerous wacko". He's not going to tell you that, but it goes in your records and goes in the database. (NOTE: Please see comment at the end of this transcript.)
The fourth one that is really for me the "line in the sand" issue is the national ID card that we have just begun to hear about in the last couple of months. Has everybody heard something about that? Well, for the few who haven't I'll just review quickly.
At the end of the 104th Congress there were about two paragraphs added into several hundred pages of legislation that requires that by October, 2000, all states will be issuing driver's licenses that you must have your Social Security card to get one, and they will have certain "security features". These are not defined in the law, but they may include: retinal scans; fingerprint scans; other data on your driving history, health history, criminal history, so on. (NOTE: The U.S. Secretary of Transportation is currently in the process of writing the regulation on this.)
And by October 2006, you will not be able to get any government service at any level without having one of these driver's licenses. You will not be able to get a passport. If your local utility company is the government you will not be able to get water to your house, or electricity to your house, and so on. My Christian friends, of course, are calling this the "Mark of the Beast", and I don't think they're wrong. I think they're right.
So those four things, among many, many others, have all been snuck in on us lately. But the reason I pick these four is something that a friend pointed out to me. This friend says, "These four are slave laws." Many other laws that have been imposed upon us recently are bad laws, but these are slave laws. They all enable the federal government to track its property — you, and you, and you, and me — its property.
They can monitor our health just the way that farmers monitor the health of their cattle. If they don't think we're being properly productive they can deny us the jobs, or they can make sure that we're in a job that they like. It's here, now, that we have to stop this. I hope we can stop it without violence, but we do HAVE to stop it.
What I'd like to focus on today are some things that I think we as individuals can do, and some of the things that I think that libertarian party organizations can, or perhaps should, do to prepare for the hard times that are going to come when the day arises that we say, "No! It stops here! It stops now!"
I wish for just this little moment that we were all a bunch of Marxists, or Democrats, or something, because then I could say, "Comrades! You must do this! Comrades! You shall do that!" But we're libertarians, and it's only, "Hey! You'll do what you want to do; I'll do what I want to do. You'll do what fits your personality; I'll do what fits my personality." And that is the way it has to be. That's our strength and our weakness.
But there are a couple of things that I would say that I think everybody here, and everybody who professes to be a libertarian should do. One is to get the income tax out of your own life, however you have to do it. Get it out! In every other presentation I've ever given before I've said, "Oh I understand that if you have a regular job, or if you have children, or if you have a lot of nice possessions it's riskier for you to do it. But I'm coming to the point where, I'm sorry, we can't feed the beast. We've got to stop feeding it. That's all there is to it. All of our great professions of principle in the world are nothing if we don't stop paying the ATF, paying the FBI, paying the IRS.
The other thing that I hope everyone will do is resist this national ID in some way or another. Refuse to get the driver's license, drive without it, whatever you have to do. Refuse to give the information, protest, scream, rescind your social security number, whatever.
Rescinding your social security number is another thing that I would have said a year ago, "OK, it's an option, but it's a grandstanding option. It's waving and saying, 'Hey, hey, I'm a troublemaker. Put me on a list.'" But I am going to be rescinding my social security number formally, writing to the Social Security Administration and saying, "Nope. Not my number, folks." It may be a grandstanding gesture, but that number is a slave's number, and I'm getting rid of it, pure and simple.
Now a lot of people — a lot of people here — are doing these things already. I know people right here in this group who haven't paid taxes in years. I know people in this group who don't have a driver's license, who have rescinded their social security numbers, or whatever, and I think that's great. In fact Rick White came up with a really good term the other day when we were talking. He talked about "individual secession" as a means of combating the government. We were talking about ways of avoiding violence, and he suggested "individual secession" as a means of accomplishing that. I think it's great, and I think we all need to do it.
But I also think that the result of quiet secession — of just quietly withdrawing your consent, your support, your participation in the system — the result of that is something like what happened in the Soviet Union. Eventually the system collapses, but what's left? You have black markets. We like black markets, because they're free markets. But they are corrupt markets that are run by gangsters, eventually. We need free, open markets. We need to declare freedom and live it publicly, instead of by hiding.
I think individual secession is good, but we need to make noise doing it. And not polite noise. We libertarians are very polite people, very well-mannered. We sign our little pledge, and we do the right thing, because that's the kind of people we are. But we need to make noise. We need to say, "I'm withdrawing. I'm withdrawing, and here's why, and come get me."
And that goes against everything I personally believe. One reason you never heard of Claire Wolfe until six months ago was that although I've been an activist, I have tried to keep a low profile and tried to be really quiet, because I didn't want the IRS knocking on my door, or kicking it down as the case may be. I didn't want the ATF coming in to say hello at four in the morning. But I don't care any more. I do not care any more, and I think we're coming to a confrontation point anyway, and if that's what happens, so be it. I think there are a lot of other things that you can all do and probably all are doing; probably a lot of you are ahead of me. That's why I like coming down to Arizona; I learn from what people in Arizona are doing. But certainly, withdraw to the extent that you can from the banking system.
Set your political priorities — don't waste your time on things that aren't working. Like for me, I was always always sitting down writing stupid letters to my congressperson, as if my congressperson cared. I felt like I was doing something. But one of the things I've learned since those days is to do is prioritize. And that means don't even bother any more. Don't even talk to them any more.
I think everybody should be studying warfare, in one way or another. Whether that's the personal warfare of going up to Gunsite and learning how to shoot in combat situations or whether that's studying The Art of War, reading books by Mao, or Che Guevara, or Sun-Tzu. I think we all need to be doing that, even if we don't want the confrontation. None of us want the confrontation, but I think we'd better be prepared for it in those ways.
I think we should all be getting out of government jobs — with one exception. With one exception, and this is something I've just been thinking about. I've decided that over the last thirty years some wonderful libertarian has been running the IRS' computer system. And I say, "Thank you out there, whoever you are, and keep it up! Good job!" So anybody who's in a position to do unto the ATF or unto the EPA what has been done to the IRS, definitely go for it.
One of the things that we can do, whether we're looking for confrontation or not, is to establish some virtual communities. And here's where Michael Voth comes in. Michael of the Coconino libertarians, and Kevin Burt of the Laramie County libertarians of Cheyenne Wyoming, cooked up this notion of "cousin counties."
You know how we have "sister cities" all around the world? Well, we now have a "cousin countyship" between Laramie and Coconino libertarians. We don't exactly know what we're going to do with it yet, but we have our own "virtual community", and it is somewhat of an act of…well I don't think we care enough to defy the national hierarchy, but we're going to make connections despite the hierarchy.
Some day we may need a "safe house" in Coconino; some day they may need a "safe house" in Laramie County. Some day we may need to be stations on an underground railroad for getting patriots to safety. We may need to be stations on a supply line, and we have that connection established. We have a relationship with each other already, and we'll do what seems appropriate with it.
That, unfortunately, brings us to the national party, or higher-up-the-line parties. I think — and this is just a personal viewpoint — that the best thing that the state party could be, or the best thing that the national party could be for individual libertarians is a support group to help us establish networks with each other; to help us keep connections with each other; to help us learn from each other; what works and what doesn't work; what did they try over in Alabama that might work in Nevada, or that was a disaster and might not work anywhere?
Your state organization is great for that, I think, to the extent that I know it. Unfortunately you're one of the few that is. And unfortunately, of course, we have National. The national party. The commissariat of Washington, D.C. What is the national party? It is a top-down fund-raising organization that is into telling us what we should do, not learning from us and helping to spread it around.
And certainly some of the things that we should not do, according to National…we should not have people like L. Neil Smith at our gatherings. He has been declared "unfit" by the national party. And I hope you all recognize that. [Applause for Smith, who was sitting in the audience.]
Also, a year or so ago, those of us who got the "Libertarian Volunteer" got an issue that listed the "twelve most terrible things" that have ever been done at local party meetings. One of them was to discuss "Should There Be A Libertarian Party?" I mean, that's shocking. How dare we talk about such a thing?
So here we are at a time when we need individualism, autonomy, quick action and networking, being saddled with this sort of dinosaur with the little pea-brain up here in Washington, DC, trying to communicate down to us, thinking we're its tail or something. They are so busy trying to be like the other folks in Washington, D.C. that they are very quickly forgetting that they are libertarians.
But I'm sure they're quite good at fund-raising; I've hear wonderful tales about their fund-raising. In fact, something quite interesting that I heard the other day indirectly from Neil: Harry Browne is criticizing me as one of the people who was damning him for his fund-raising and odd campaign spending practices. Well, I never did. I would have. I would have been happy to, because of what I have heard from Vin Suprynowicz and Neil Smith and other people. But it didn't happen.
So, National is giving us enemies lists and fund-raising corruption, among other pleasures of politics. Heck, they're headquartered in the Watergate, after all! What are we going to do with these people? They think that success is raising a lot of money whether it goes to any good cause or not. They think that success is being invited to the cocktail parties with the Democrats and the Republicans. They think that success is having libertarianism favorably mentioned in the Washington Post.
OK, if I were favorably mentioned in the Washington Post, I would do everything I could to change my ways! Wouldn't you? Who wants to be favorably mentioned by people who think that every bit of dissent is hate speech? Who think that anyone who is not a Republican or a Democrat or in the mainstream is some sort of crazy? No. No thank you. Hunh-unh. No thanks.
We try very hard to be acceptable. The national party is trying to be acceptable and there's nothing wrong with that. It's human. I mean we want to be accepted from the moment we're born. But the question is, to whom do we want to be acceptable?
I don't want to be acceptable to the same people that the national party wants to be acceptable to. I want to be acceptable to you guys. And I want you to be acceptable to me, because we are going to need each other some day. I want to be with you when we prepare.
I don't care whether you're preparing even for the same eventuality that I'm preparing for. I don't care if you're a pacifist. There is room for many differences. But we've got a role to play, and it's we, not national, who are going to play that role.
Something is going to happen. I wish I could tell you what it was. I've been talking to people and everybody's going through the same thing — "Well, I think it might be this", "I think it might be that", "I think it might be the other" — we don't know. But it's coming. Whether it breaks with the suddenness of an earthquake, or whether it comes like a storm that you can see rolling toward you for hours, it is coming.
And the big question for all of us, when this hits, is, "Do I want to be polite and acceptable or do I want to be FREE?"
Free, of course! I mean, it's easy, right? It's easy! So let's do it! I have absolute confidence you guys are going to be able to do it. And when it all comes down, I want to be here, if not physically in Arizona, I want to be in your virtual community.
So thank you for your guts. And thank you for having me here. And thank you for being brave enough to talk about things that National doesn't want you to talk about, and to do things that National doesn't want you to do. My congratulations and gratitude to all of you.
NOTE on the health care database:
I have since been fiercely corrected on this point. I may have been overstating the present danger of such a database, though I believe the danger remains grave for the near future. The health care bill (available from the Library of Congress' Thomas web site as HR 3101 or Public Law 104-191) establishes a federal database for reporting medical fraud and abuse. I don't believe this is the problem, however it was part of the confusion. Later, in Sections 1171-1175, the bill outlines a plan for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to set standards for the electronic transmission of all health care data. These "standards" do not constitute a database, and I thank the critic who corrected me on that issue.
However, the secretary is directed to set one standard by which all medical data will be electronically communicated. The standard must include a "unique identifier" for every individual whose medical information is ever transmitted (Sec. 1173). In doing that, Congress is clearly allowing the Clinton administration to create a de facto single, nationwide system to which federal (and other) bureaucrats will have easy access, almost certainly via our social security numbers. If this does not rapidly become the feared federal database, it will nevertheless allow the government, researchers and others to run rampant through the various private or state databases that will use the federally defined standard. I regret any confusion. But I urge you to keep your eyes open and your heads up…not that it will do you much good when bureaucrats are secretly slurping your medical data — law or no law — into their computers.
© 1997 and 1998 Claire Wolfe. This article may be reprinted for non-commercial purposes, as long as it is reprinted in full with no content changes whatsoever, and is accompanied by this credit line. The article may not be re-titled, edited or excerpted (beyond the limits of the fair use doctrine) without the written permission of the author. For-profit publications will be expected to pay a nominal reprint fee.
Well, I wrote that a year and a half ago, the book was published about six months ago, and now here we are, April 19, 1997. Is it time to "shoot the bastards" yet? This is a question a lot of us have been pondering.
We signed our oath, most of us, we signed our pledge not to initiate violence. We're the good guys. We know that. But I have heard so many people — good, responsible, ordinary people — talking about whether we might be reaching the time that we should "shoot the bastards".
I think one of the best comments on this came from Vin Suprynowicz, who interviewed me when the book was published. Actually, of all the things said in the interview Vin made the best comment; he said that we have reached the time when it is morally right to "shoot the bastards", but it is not yet practical to do so.
I do believe that a fight is inevitable, whether that's a fight in the streets or the trenches, or whether that is some sort of confrontation that may not involve arms but may nevertheless involve violence and head-to-head action. I think that's inevitable, and I think more and more people are coming to the conclusion that it is.
April 19th, as you all know, is a day in history when many people have taken up arms, when they have been forced to take up arms. Peaceable people in Lexington and Concord, desperate people in the Warsaw ghetto. Even when they had no hope, or little hope, they took up arms. But here we stand, and although a lot of us have arms with us, or not far from us, we're not ready to "take up arms" yet. But I hope we're preparing ourselves. I hope we're at least thinking about it. In the last year and a half, since I originally wrote those frustrated, angry words, things have gotten a hell of a lot worse. And it's almost scary how little the disaster that we're in the middle of has been acknowledged.
For instance, just four — I don't want to call them laws or acts of legislation — four abominations that Congress has come up with in the time since I originally wrote those words. We've got a federal database of all employed people, or, that is, all people who get conventional jobs. That's been done in the name of "tracking deadbeat dads". However, you might be a single mother with five kids you're taking good care of; you might be a single guy who never intends to get married. You're going in that database. Why? What does that have to do with "deadbeat dads"? I don't know. I can't figure it out. Along those same lines, we now have pilot projects being started, under which you cannot get a job unless your employer first gets permission from the Social Security Administration by scanning your card through a reader connected to a database in Washington, DC. Isn't that cute? Some Social Security bureaucrat decides whether or not you can ever get a job in this country.
We've also got a medical health care database that will be on line in about a year. This was part of the "moderate" Kennedy-Kassebaum health care act — you'll be pleased to know that this is "moderate". Everything about your medical history will go into this database, including speculation on the part of your doctor, who may observe that you're an "armed and dangerous wacko". He's not going to tell you that, but it goes in your records and goes in the database. (NOTE: Please see comment at the end of this transcript.)
The fourth one that is really for me the "line in the sand" issue is the national ID card that we have just begun to hear about in the last couple of months. Has everybody heard something about that? Well, for the few who haven't I'll just review quickly.
At the end of the 104th Congress there were about two paragraphs added into several hundred pages of legislation that requires that by October, 2000, all states will be issuing driver's licenses that you must have your Social Security card to get one, and they will have certain "security features". These are not defined in the law, but they may include: retinal scans; fingerprint scans; other data on your driving history, health history, criminal history, so on. (NOTE: The U.S. Secretary of Transportation is currently in the process of writing the regulation on this.)
And by October 2006, you will not be able to get any government service at any level without having one of these driver's licenses. You will not be able to get a passport. If your local utility company is the government you will not be able to get water to your house, or electricity to your house, and so on. My Christian friends, of course, are calling this the "Mark of the Beast", and I don't think they're wrong. I think they're right.
So those four things, among many, many others, have all been snuck in on us lately. But the reason I pick these four is something that a friend pointed out to me. This friend says, "These four are slave laws." Many other laws that have been imposed upon us recently are bad laws, but these are slave laws. They all enable the federal government to track its property — you, and you, and you, and me — its property.
They can monitor our health just the way that farmers monitor the health of their cattle. If they don't think we're being properly productive they can deny us the jobs, or they can make sure that we're in a job that they like. It's here, now, that we have to stop this. I hope we can stop it without violence, but we do HAVE to stop it.
What I'd like to focus on today are some things that I think we as individuals can do, and some of the things that I think that libertarian party organizations can, or perhaps should, do to prepare for the hard times that are going to come when the day arises that we say, "No! It stops here! It stops now!"
I wish for just this little moment that we were all a bunch of Marxists, or Democrats, or something, because then I could say, "Comrades! You must do this! Comrades! You shall do that!" But we're libertarians, and it's only, "Hey! You'll do what you want to do; I'll do what I want to do. You'll do what fits your personality; I'll do what fits my personality." And that is the way it has to be. That's our strength and our weakness.
But there are a couple of things that I would say that I think everybody here, and everybody who professes to be a libertarian should do. One is to get the income tax out of your own life, however you have to do it. Get it out! In every other presentation I've ever given before I've said, "Oh I understand that if you have a regular job, or if you have children, or if you have a lot of nice possessions it's riskier for you to do it. But I'm coming to the point where, I'm sorry, we can't feed the beast. We've got to stop feeding it. That's all there is to it. All of our great professions of principle in the world are nothing if we don't stop paying the ATF, paying the FBI, paying the IRS.
The other thing that I hope everyone will do is resist this national ID in some way or another. Refuse to get the driver's license, drive without it, whatever you have to do. Refuse to give the information, protest, scream, rescind your social security number, whatever.
Rescinding your social security number is another thing that I would have said a year ago, "OK, it's an option, but it's a grandstanding option. It's waving and saying, 'Hey, hey, I'm a troublemaker. Put me on a list.'" But I am going to be rescinding my social security number formally, writing to the Social Security Administration and saying, "Nope. Not my number, folks." It may be a grandstanding gesture, but that number is a slave's number, and I'm getting rid of it, pure and simple.
Now a lot of people — a lot of people here — are doing these things already. I know people right here in this group who haven't paid taxes in years. I know people in this group who don't have a driver's license, who have rescinded their social security numbers, or whatever, and I think that's great. In fact Rick White came up with a really good term the other day when we were talking. He talked about "individual secession" as a means of combating the government. We were talking about ways of avoiding violence, and he suggested "individual secession" as a means of accomplishing that. I think it's great, and I think we all need to do it.
But I also think that the result of quiet secession — of just quietly withdrawing your consent, your support, your participation in the system — the result of that is something like what happened in the Soviet Union. Eventually the system collapses, but what's left? You have black markets. We like black markets, because they're free markets. But they are corrupt markets that are run by gangsters, eventually. We need free, open markets. We need to declare freedom and live it publicly, instead of by hiding.
I think individual secession is good, but we need to make noise doing it. And not polite noise. We libertarians are very polite people, very well-mannered. We sign our little pledge, and we do the right thing, because that's the kind of people we are. But we need to make noise. We need to say, "I'm withdrawing. I'm withdrawing, and here's why, and come get me."
And that goes against everything I personally believe. One reason you never heard of Claire Wolfe until six months ago was that although I've been an activist, I have tried to keep a low profile and tried to be really quiet, because I didn't want the IRS knocking on my door, or kicking it down as the case may be. I didn't want the ATF coming in to say hello at four in the morning. But I don't care any more. I do not care any more, and I think we're coming to a confrontation point anyway, and if that's what happens, so be it. I think there are a lot of other things that you can all do and probably all are doing; probably a lot of you are ahead of me. That's why I like coming down to Arizona; I learn from what people in Arizona are doing. But certainly, withdraw to the extent that you can from the banking system.
Set your political priorities — don't waste your time on things that aren't working. Like for me, I was always always sitting down writing stupid letters to my congressperson, as if my congressperson cared. I felt like I was doing something. But one of the things I've learned since those days is to do is prioritize. And that means don't even bother any more. Don't even talk to them any more.
I think everybody should be studying warfare, in one way or another. Whether that's the personal warfare of going up to Gunsite and learning how to shoot in combat situations or whether that's studying The Art of War, reading books by Mao, or Che Guevara, or Sun-Tzu. I think we all need to be doing that, even if we don't want the confrontation. None of us want the confrontation, but I think we'd better be prepared for it in those ways.
I think we should all be getting out of government jobs — with one exception. With one exception, and this is something I've just been thinking about. I've decided that over the last thirty years some wonderful libertarian has been running the IRS' computer system. And I say, "Thank you out there, whoever you are, and keep it up! Good job!" So anybody who's in a position to do unto the ATF or unto the EPA what has been done to the IRS, definitely go for it.
One of the things that we can do, whether we're looking for confrontation or not, is to establish some virtual communities. And here's where Michael Voth comes in. Michael of the Coconino libertarians, and Kevin Burt of the Laramie County libertarians of Cheyenne Wyoming, cooked up this notion of "cousin counties."
You know how we have "sister cities" all around the world? Well, we now have a "cousin countyship" between Laramie and Coconino libertarians. We don't exactly know what we're going to do with it yet, but we have our own "virtual community", and it is somewhat of an act of…well I don't think we care enough to defy the national hierarchy, but we're going to make connections despite the hierarchy.
Some day we may need a "safe house" in Coconino; some day they may need a "safe house" in Laramie County. Some day we may need to be stations on an underground railroad for getting patriots to safety. We may need to be stations on a supply line, and we have that connection established. We have a relationship with each other already, and we'll do what seems appropriate with it.
That, unfortunately, brings us to the national party, or higher-up-the-line parties. I think — and this is just a personal viewpoint — that the best thing that the state party could be, or the best thing that the national party could be for individual libertarians is a support group to help us establish networks with each other; to help us keep connections with each other; to help us learn from each other; what works and what doesn't work; what did they try over in Alabama that might work in Nevada, or that was a disaster and might not work anywhere?
Your state organization is great for that, I think, to the extent that I know it. Unfortunately you're one of the few that is. And unfortunately, of course, we have National. The national party. The commissariat of Washington, D.C. What is the national party? It is a top-down fund-raising organization that is into telling us what we should do, not learning from us and helping to spread it around.
And certainly some of the things that we should not do, according to National…we should not have people like L. Neil Smith at our gatherings. He has been declared "unfit" by the national party. And I hope you all recognize that. [Applause for Smith, who was sitting in the audience.]
Also, a year or so ago, those of us who got the "Libertarian Volunteer" got an issue that listed the "twelve most terrible things" that have ever been done at local party meetings. One of them was to discuss "Should There Be A Libertarian Party?" I mean, that's shocking. How dare we talk about such a thing?
So here we are at a time when we need individualism, autonomy, quick action and networking, being saddled with this sort of dinosaur with the little pea-brain up here in Washington, DC, trying to communicate down to us, thinking we're its tail or something. They are so busy trying to be like the other folks in Washington, D.C. that they are very quickly forgetting that they are libertarians.
But I'm sure they're quite good at fund-raising; I've hear wonderful tales about their fund-raising. In fact, something quite interesting that I heard the other day indirectly from Neil: Harry Browne is criticizing me as one of the people who was damning him for his fund-raising and odd campaign spending practices. Well, I never did. I would have. I would have been happy to, because of what I have heard from Vin Suprynowicz and Neil Smith and other people. But it didn't happen.
So, National is giving us enemies lists and fund-raising corruption, among other pleasures of politics. Heck, they're headquartered in the Watergate, after all! What are we going to do with these people? They think that success is raising a lot of money whether it goes to any good cause or not. They think that success is being invited to the cocktail parties with the Democrats and the Republicans. They think that success is having libertarianism favorably mentioned in the Washington Post.
OK, if I were favorably mentioned in the Washington Post, I would do everything I could to change my ways! Wouldn't you? Who wants to be favorably mentioned by people who think that every bit of dissent is hate speech? Who think that anyone who is not a Republican or a Democrat or in the mainstream is some sort of crazy? No. No thank you. Hunh-unh. No thanks.
We try very hard to be acceptable. The national party is trying to be acceptable and there's nothing wrong with that. It's human. I mean we want to be accepted from the moment we're born. But the question is, to whom do we want to be acceptable?
I don't want to be acceptable to the same people that the national party wants to be acceptable to. I want to be acceptable to you guys. And I want you to be acceptable to me, because we are going to need each other some day. I want to be with you when we prepare.
I don't care whether you're preparing even for the same eventuality that I'm preparing for. I don't care if you're a pacifist. There is room for many differences. But we've got a role to play, and it's we, not national, who are going to play that role.
Something is going to happen. I wish I could tell you what it was. I've been talking to people and everybody's going through the same thing — "Well, I think it might be this", "I think it might be that", "I think it might be the other" — we don't know. But it's coming. Whether it breaks with the suddenness of an earthquake, or whether it comes like a storm that you can see rolling toward you for hours, it is coming.
And the big question for all of us, when this hits, is, "Do I want to be polite and acceptable or do I want to be FREE?"
Free, of course! I mean, it's easy, right? It's easy! So let's do it! I have absolute confidence you guys are going to be able to do it. And when it all comes down, I want to be here, if not physically in Arizona, I want to be in your virtual community.
So thank you for your guts. And thank you for having me here. And thank you for being brave enough to talk about things that National doesn't want you to talk about, and to do things that National doesn't want you to do. My congratulations and gratitude to all of you.
NOTE on the health care database:
I have since been fiercely corrected on this point. I may have been overstating the present danger of such a database, though I believe the danger remains grave for the near future. The health care bill (available from the Library of Congress' Thomas web site as HR 3101 or Public Law 104-191) establishes a federal database for reporting medical fraud and abuse. I don't believe this is the problem, however it was part of the confusion. Later, in Sections 1171-1175, the bill outlines a plan for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to set standards for the electronic transmission of all health care data. These "standards" do not constitute a database, and I thank the critic who corrected me on that issue.
However, the secretary is directed to set one standard by which all medical data will be electronically communicated. The standard must include a "unique identifier" for every individual whose medical information is ever transmitted (Sec. 1173). In doing that, Congress is clearly allowing the Clinton administration to create a de facto single, nationwide system to which federal (and other) bureaucrats will have easy access, almost certainly via our social security numbers. If this does not rapidly become the feared federal database, it will nevertheless allow the government, researchers and others to run rampant through the various private or state databases that will use the federally defined standard. I regret any confusion. But I urge you to keep your eyes open and your heads up…not that it will do you much good when bureaucrats are secretly slurping your medical data — law or no law — into their computers.
© 1997 and 1998 Claire Wolfe. This article may be reprinted for non-commercial purposes, as long as it is reprinted in full with no content changes whatsoever, and is accompanied by this credit line. The article may not be re-titled, edited or excerpted (beyond the limits of the fair use doctrine) without the written permission of the author. For-profit publications will be expected to pay a nominal reprint fee.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Nearing The End
Thanks to the senate, as a Nation we are on our way down."An aide in the office of Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said Wednesday that the senator has received more than 91,000 e-mails, calls and letters regarding the legislation. Ninety-four percent of the authors of those notes were against the bill." (Whole Story)
Nice to know "we the people" and a "government of the people" still mean something.
"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to capture the moment for posterity, calling this breakthrough “one of the finest moments in the history of the Senate. This is the kind of vote we are sent by our people to cast.” (Whole Story)
Who the hell is this cat listening to, not the persons who sent him there. Historical, maybe...Tyrannical, probably...Evil, definitely.
The original bill was just over 100 pages, we are now at over 450. 300+ pages added in 2 days. How many "read" the entire bill? Did the notice the more than $100 Billion earmarks? How many of our leaders are knowledgeable in economics? I don't know the answer to the last question so I will have to rely on logic. If the senate is so much better on economics than I, how come I can survive on a balanced budget, having only 1 income for a family of 4? My budget has a surplus every month, not a lot but it is there. I have had debt, and it gets paid down, their created debts increase by the second.
To my "reprehensibles" in the senate, I despise your existence, you will NEVER receive my good tidings.
Jason
III
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