My Quest for Truth and Liberty
Politics
Favorite Videos
Jan 12th
I’m sure I’ve posted some of these before, but just wanted to do it again.
Here is Ron Paul’s “What If?” speech from Congress. Absolutely brilliant.
And here is a rather chilling history of Iran. Chilling because there is so much I didn’t know our government did. Chilling because everyone is saying we need to bomb Iran. Really? Don’t you know your history?
And every so often I watch this one, just to cheer myself up and get all excited about liberty again. It is so clear and so beautiful in the defense of self-ownership. Must watch.
Not such a bright idea…
Sep 3rd
Last week we had a salesman come into work…I can’t remember what company he was from, but they sell basically everything. He handed us a catalog that was about 3″ thick. We gave him a tour of the shop and he was about to leave when he said, “oh, btw, just so you know, the lightbulbs you use in those lights there won’t be available next year. We have lights that you can buy to replace them with, if you’re interested.” When probed further he said, “yeah…the government is making them illegal…but that’s another story,” and like it is treason to doubt the government he quickly added, “and the new bulbs are really much more efficient and…” I wasn’t really talking with him, just listening in, so I didn’t think it was polite to add my two cents, but I wanted to say, “if they are so efficient, why does the government have to force us to buy them?” Were people forced to buy cars instead of buggies? Did the government have to outlaw telegraphs when the telephone was invented? There’s this myth that people are stupid and are only interested in cheap, ugly, inefficient things and that somehow when some of these stupid people become government officials they are suddenly filled with a desire to make our lives better…but we’re just too dumb to appreciate their efforts.
This whole issue of lightbulbs came up the next day when I went shopping for a new desk lamp. There were no 60 watt lamps to be found. Either these 60 watt giant floor lamps or a dinky 40 watt desk lamp. Seriously? What happened to 60 watt lights? While I don’t have a source for this, I’m absolutely certain the reason for a shortage of 60 watt lamps is that the government doesn’t want them made anymore. Isn’t it for me (the consumer) to decide if a product is inefficient? Thankfully I finally found a decent 60 watt lamp at Target that is now giving me enough light to write this post.
If things keep going this way, the government is going to throw us back into the dark ages…literally…
Life = Busyness
Aug 19th
So far I haven’t done a very good job of accomplishing many things since returning from Mises U. Last week I worked 36 hours and this week was probably not too much less than that. And it is really work. Which means I’m pretty tired when I get home and just don’t have the mental energy to study. That’s frustrating because there’s so much I want to do but it just isn’t happening. I need to develop a new schedule that will hopefully help me get things done.
I’m really excited though because starting next week I’m going to be teaching at Classical Conversations, a sort of homeschool co-op that meets once a week. I’ll be teaching economics once a month and I’m really happy about that. At first I was a little disappointed that nothing had worked out for me to teach a complete class, but I think this is going to be much better. Considering how much else I’m doing, I don’t think I would have time to prepare a lesson each week.
I’m also so excited about Ron Paul and how well he did in Iowa, considering all who were against him. I was just talking to a friend tonight who was saying, “well, how is your man, Ron Paul, doing in his campaign?” So I started talking about the straw poll. My friend admitted that he hasn’t heard much from Ron Paul, most people commenting on him say, “he makes some good points and then he’ll throw something really radical and off-the-wall in there and that’s going to ruin his chance of winning.” And I just replied with, “well, Ron Paul is radical because he tells the truth 100% of the time and his voting record and consistent life is more than any other candidate can claim.” My friend said, “I respect your opinions and I know you’ve researched this, so I’m going to find out some more about Ron Paul.” That was a fun conversation 
All for now…I really wish I had more time for blogging and hope to revive this poor, neglected website eventually.
What the 4th of July Should Be
Jul 4th
I need to preface this with a confession, taken from my latest Facebook status. “I’m afraid I’m a hopeless introvert.” It is true. Probably part of my aversion to 4th of July parades, county fairs, and all those fun American things is that I just don’t like people much. I mean, there are particular people I like, and some I like very much, but I find the general population to be so insipid, close-minded, self-centered, and utterly boring that I don’t really care much for being around people. Under certain circumstances, I enjoy watching people, but I find it hard to interact with them. Anyways…I’m sure some people get a warm, fuzzy feeling when they attend a 4th of July parade, it just doesn’t happen for me.
So, today I was attending the 4th of July parade in a small town nearby, rather reluctantly. I think my mother worries about me sitting at home alone, happily reading a book while everyone else enjoys the festivities of the day; consequently, I was persuaded to attend. I got the most pleasure out of seeing my baby brother become overwhelmed with excitement at seeing so many tractors, trucks, and other loud motor vehicles. As in any small Midwest town, we had a super-abundance of tractors in the parade. Of course the parade started with the police. We got a lot of fire engines too. And some politicians. And several military/veteran groups. Eventually the businesses came around (and they threw more candy than any gov’t participant, I might add) and then the tractors and so forth.
I really think that the 4th of July parade should be made up entirely of tractors, businesses, and other forms of free market contributions. Instead of the 4th being a celebration of our government, it should be a celebration of our culture and our heritage. Having just finished a book that took place partially in the Midwest, it was very inspiring for me to see the antique tractors and farm equipment that has shaped our community. The technology and resources are all a result of voluntary interactions of the free market. We should celebrate those who sacrificed present consumption so we might enjoy better farm machinery and therefore cheaper, more abundant food. We should honor those who risked their fortunes and life to improve society with a more efficient method of planting, harvesting, or processing crops. We should celebrate those who instead of sitting back and collecting unemployment, toiled long hours in hot, dusty fields to earn an honest living. Such was my great-grandfather and great-grandmother, who even after their children were grown and married, moved to the Rockford area and bought a farm. My great-grandfather had a manufacturing job, and my great-grandmother spent her days working the 160 acres of our farm…only to come inside in the evenings to lay the beautiful hardwood floors that are still in our house today. And this was in the midst of WWII, with all the uncertainty and fear surrounding it. So many Americans just plodded on, growing food, raising animals, and keeping the lifeblood of the country flowing.
This morning we had a discussion about patriotism. I was explaining to my sisters that patriotism implies loyalty to and love of your government. That’s why I don’t like the word patriotism. I wish there was a good English word for loyalty to and love for your society, your culture, your community, your heritage. We could only come up with, “I love the geographical area of North America known as the Midwest,” which is, admittedly, very clumsy. But that’s what we should celebrate and appreciate, not the acts of violence, aggression, and force which our government has been committing since 1789.
Review of “Taking Chance”
Feb 21st
This isn’t really a proper review, just my own rantings on the subject.
I was all excited to watch Inception tonight…but it was a little too chaotic for my parents, so we watched Taking Chance instead. It is the story of a Marine who volunteers to take the body or “remains” (as they say in the movie) from the East Coast to a little town in Montana.
As I said on Facebook, it was a heartbreaking movie. Why? Because the message was so clear: War is good. War is noble. Go sacrifice your life for the “greater good,” give up your individuality, your uniqueness, and join the ranks of others who must give all, for our “interests.” And when you die, you’ll come home a hero and everyone at the airports will pause as your coffin is being carried by. And the VFW groups will hold parties in your honor. And hundreds of people will come to your funeral. Everyone will admire your courage and bravery.
What really annoyed me is how they never showed the Marine’s face. Now, come on…Hollywood has no qualms whatsoever when it comes to obscenities (I’m using this in the classic Greek sense, of things that ought to stay “off scene” because they are too graphic or violent) and moviemakers never flinch when it comes to portraying blood and guts and gore. But no, when it is a soldier we can’t do that! We’ll only give some beautiful shots of his crisp and bright uniform, his shiny buttons and pure white gloves. But not his face, because after all, the government said it was not recommended for viewing. Since when does Hollywood care if things are too terrible to be viewed? But no, if young people saw the ugliness and the violence, they might not want to join the military! And then what good would the movie be?
So throughout the whole movie, every time the casket was being transported, people would stop and put their hands over their hearts. Airport workers stopped. Passengers on the planes stopped. Cars slowed down for them on the road. Come on? Really? That’s not realistic, it doesn’t seem. It is like everyone “sensed” something special and stopped. Since when does that happen in real life? Now I know, I don’t exactly get around much, but it just doesn’t seem right. Everyone was bending over backwards to honor this Marine. It seems that in real life people would just tend to ignore a person in uniform, treat them like everyone else, or say something negative to the Marine…if they were one of those awful leftist anti-war people (just being sarcastic…).
And none of the military officers seemed to understand the futility and tragedy of the war. Oh yeah, this is based on a true story of a soldier in the War in Iraq. That’s the specific war we’re talking about, Bush’s war. Anyways, either everyone was proud of their “service” or regretted that they had not given more to the cause. I think that in real life veterans come back either haunted by their experiences or disillusioned by the reality of war. There was none of that in this movie.
And I don’t think the government gives each fallen soldier such elaborate and detailed attention. It was really quite ridiculous to think of the all time spent on one body and coffin, when you multiply that by all the deaths that occur each month in the war. No wonder we’re not winning the war, everyone is too busy escorting caskets home!
However, I don’t want this to sound harsh or ungrateful. I have deep respect for anyone who is willing to give their lives in any way. I’m not that brave. The tragedy is that these poor souls got caught up in this great net of power struggles and government interests. This trap is deadly for many. And for those who live, the scars haunt them forever. The tragedy is that anyone has given their life for such a futile purpose. I mourn with the family of those who have fallen. I mourn so much for the dead that I wish to find a way to keep others from that fate. Instead of saying, “It is a terrible tragedy that Chance died. He was a good young man, he will be deeply missed. Now I’m going to go over there too” (in the movie Chance’s sister and her fiancee were both in the military) I say, “It is a terrible tragedy that Chance died. He was a good young man, he will be deeply missed. Let’s keep others from dying there as well. Let’s not go on repeating this tragedy ad infinitum, but stop the killing and stop the hatred.”
There is a very fine line between government-worship and disrespect for those who have died in the war. I wish to maintain a balance between opposing a pointless war and respecting the individuals who gave their all, no matter what their cause.
So I told my dad we need a good Ron Paul speech (I was thinking of the neat remix of his speech to Congress, “What If?”) to straighten things out again.
Thoughts on Egypt
Jan 31st
I know that everyone is suddenly saying, “oh…I’ve got some thoughts on Egypt” or “I’ve always had a feeling about Egypt…” but hey, if you’re here reading my blog it is because you like what I say, so you might just appreciate my thoughts on the Egyptian crisis.
Frankly, I haven’t thought much about Egypt before. It is like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I vaguely knew they existed, but it wasn’t until everyone started talking about it that I got interested.
I was watching some of the footage from it last week. I have mixed thoughts about what’s going on there. The conventional, safe, “ordinary” side of me is thinking, “uh-oh. Watch out for those people. They are mad. And doing crazy things. I hope that never happens here.” But I was discussing the subject last week with a friend and our conversation led me to see it from another perspective. While we shouldn’t encourage violence and protests like that, at least the people recognize that they are enslaved and at least they desire liberty. Seeing all those people burning pictures of their “dear leader” (I forget his name…) and overpowering rows of police officers with black masks and all that, it does excite and inspire me a little. As my friend said, and I’m loosely quoting, “a few days of freedom, even with a little chaos, would be worth it.” If all the good people in America would rise up like the Egyptians, it would cheer my heart. But I’m afraid of something like that happening here, because you’d get the good and the bad rising up. We would have violent people who don’t respect others. We’d have entitlement-minded people interested only in looting others. There is no foundation of Common Law or property rights here, and it would get very wild very fast.
But I like seeing these bold people striking out against tyrants and upsetting the plans of world leaders.
What’s Different After November 2nd?
Nov 11th
We Refuse to Fly
Nov 10th
Glad to see this website, it expresses my feelings about flying and the TSA. Some will say that I’m making a big deal of nothing, but what is more important than our health and privacy?
Bush: The Greater Threat to Liberty
Nov 10th
Note: This statement is made in relation to the former president and the current President Obama. There are some who have come before and some who will probably come after who are greater threats to our liberty.
Last night after walking out on the Nightly News (I figured I’d be kicked out of the room anyways…for my adamant yelling at the TV screen) I made the extraordinary statement that Bush was a far worse president than President Obama. After reflection I realize that it wasn’t all that extraordinary, but it sounds better that way, doesn’t it? So I had to explain this puzzling statement to my audience, namely, my mother. Bush and Obama are both wolves, but Bush is in sheep’s clothing, so he’s obviously more dangerous, with such a clever disguise. Just think about it. You won’t hear any pro-lifers protest the innocent blood shed in the Mideast to find the elusive and paradoxical Bin Ladin who is sometimes captured, sometimes killed, and sometimes prowling the world to murder Americans because we are free. You won’t hear the conservative pro-lifers protesting the killing of babies, children, women, and elderly folks in other countries…because of our invasive and out-of-control wars. You will hear the conservatives and Tea Partiers longing for the “good old days” when we had such a nice-looking, kind, compassionate, Christian president. Never mind that he instigated the murdering of thousands. Never mind that he was responsible for one of the most intrusive bills that have nearly entirely stripped away the Bill of Rights and given the government unlimited power to watch, search, arrest, and detain Americans, the Patriot Act. Never mind that he didn’t really make the government smaller and decrease spending. Never mind that he didn’t lower the taxes. But those were the good old days…I find it interesting to compare Bush and Obama. The former is as American as American can get. His nice accent, his down-to-earth-ness…”here is one of us,” in other words. And on the other hand you have Obama who, as we recently discovered from his trip, grew up in Indonesia and probably relates to that culture more than the American culture. Lest I be called a xenophobe, let me explain. It really makes no difference to me, I don’t think Bush is superior to Obama because he grew up here. I don’t care where a president grew up, if for the sole reason that I don’t want a president.
And I wonder if somehow Bush is actually the model American, in all he does and all he says. Not the American of the American Revolution, for that’d be Ron Paul. But perhaps Bush is the manifestation of all that is truly modern America. This “modern” mindset goes back to the dear President Teddy Roosevelt…and probably even farther back to Lincoln. This mindset that we know what is best for all people in all places and times, that it is our duty, even our God-given duty to make everyone do just as we believe they ought to do. From Prohibition to the War in Iraq, this self-righteous, “I’m better than you, so you must listen to me, and if you don’t, look at all my guns and tanks…” has pervaded our culture. I don’t think it is done on purpose. I think that the average American has good intentions, and only those at the very top realize what is going on. We probably have some of that “City on the Hill” stuff left over, secularized and kidnapped by the government. It is the mindset that America is better than the rest of the world. This type of talking makes me very upset. I’ve never even traveled outside the United States. This anger isn’t based on my own personal experience. It is based on the knowledge that America has some very grave faults and that no one can claim that their country is better than another. What are your standards? What is your criterion for judging? And these standards are purely subjective, they differ from person to person. Contrary to popular belief, God did not give His special “approval” to America so that somehow everything we do becomes a mission on behalf of God. “This is God’s special nation, so we can go to other countries and kill their people.” People point to the miraculous interventions of God during the founding of our nation to support their beliefs. But have they bothered to check up on the founding of all the other nations in the world? We might find some similar interventions by God, I simply don’t know. And even if God did play a special and unique role in the founding of our nation, does that give us the right now to do those things which are universally recognized as being wrong? The Old Testament Israelites got express directions from God to do what they did. As far as I know, God didn’t speak to America and tell us to go out into all the world and make them live as nicely as we do.
So that’s why I think Bush epitomizes modern America. And that’s why he’s so dangerous, because he mentions God, and has a good family, and stopped drinking when he was 40, and all those things that make him so much like us hide the hard and tragic truth that Bush is in fact a wolf and is one of the most anti-life presidents we’ve had in the last 20 years. But I think Americans are afraid of realizing this truth and discovering, “we have met the enemy and he is us.”
The False Front of Voting
Nov 4th
A spectacular post by Jeffery Tucker on the reality of voting. A must-read, in my opinion. Wish I read it Tuesday morning instead of finding it that night.
