Archive for the ‘philosophy’ Category
Sunday, April 14th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, all the positions that our political elite take, are geared to undermining the capitalist system. It is well known that the market system stands on legs not of it’s own making. Economists have opined unendingly about how the capitalist mode of production is based on societal factors that predate capitalism. They also make the point that capitalism, by it’s very existence, undermines these supports that capitalism needs to remain functional. Kicking out these legs then is the primary focus of most socialists. Because they know that if these supports are destroyed, capitalism will collapse of it’s on weight, and they can step in and visit socialism on all of mankind.
The family unit is extremely important for the market system to function. Capitalism requires as a prerequisite, capital to function, and the family unit provides an important incentive to save. If a person, say a member of the bourgeois, has no children his or her time horizon for the funds he or she saves is dramatically shortened. Instead of setting aside savings for their children and grand children the time horizon is limited to their own lifetime. This provides incentives for a rational maximizer to set aside only that money that will provide for them in their old age, and no more, because the extra savings will be unneeded, and furthermore, will only lower the standard of living of the saver, due to the opportunity cost of the extra savings. Therefore, the family unit is under attack by the policies and actions of the political elite, who seek a socialist future. Can you think of examples of where they do this?
Religion is a fundamental necessity for a market system to work. Religious people tend to be more ethical than people who have no moral foundation. If there is no afterlife to worry about, then why not steal, cheat and swindle, everyone you come across? The only rational reason for those without religion to be ethical is the threat of State punishment. Those who have the ability to elude criminal sanctions have no motivation at all to act morally. In fact, they have a very great motivation to grab what they can, because if there is no reward or punishment then they must live as good as they can, in their limited lifespan. Therefore, religion must be undermined by the socialist, that is why Marx came up with the saying, “religion is the opium of the people.” Do you know of other ways the political elite undermine religion?
The importance of the work ethic cannot be understated. People without a work ethic cannot engage in the market system. They not only lower the productivity of the firm they work for, but there is an even more pernicious action of a poor work ethic, it undermines other people’s work ethic. For a firm to compete in the marketplace it must produce a want or a need for human beings. It must produce that want or need as efficiently as possible else another firm will supplant them. In this if people cannot be found with a work ethic then businesses cannot function in the marketplace. Therefore, it is of the greatest concern to the socialist, to destroy the work ethic of the people. What policies of our political elite do you suppose undermine the work ethic?
There are other important societal and civil factors that allow the market system to work. Some of these are, independence, diverse wants, education, the drive to get ahead and many others too numerous to name. These things are required for capitalism to work, they predate capitalism and the market system itself undermines some of them, through it’s effect on the mindset of people. The socialist must seek to eliminate these attributes of people, to facilitate the collapse of the market system, ushering in socialism. The socialists know this and pass legislation to destroy these important foundational underpinnings of capitalism. If we want to protect our children from the horrors of the socialist state, we must then protect and nurture these things, so as to allow the capitalist system to continue. To do otherwise is to help the socialist enslave all of humanity.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: anti capitalist, capitalims, capitalism, capitalist, communist, family unit, government spending, incentive, International Capitalist Party, jobs, Law, market system, marx, politics, poverty, rational maximiser, redistribution, regulation, religion, savings, socialism, society, the market system, work ethic
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Thursday, April 11th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems quite alarming to me, that so many who serve in the US government, have open antipathy to the US Constitution. Members of the Supreme Court have said they would not use the US Constitution as a template for a new republic, members of the Legislature calling the Constitution antiquated and out of step with the times, and even the President himself calling the Constitution a charter of negative liberties, the Constitution it would seem, is a problem for many if not most who serve in the American government. Every facet of the Constitution is under assault today from the very people who have taken a oath to uphold and protect it. The result of their attacks is to turn mindless, uninformed people and the fawning press, into useful idiots.
There is no facet of the US Constitution, especially the Bill Of Rights, that is not under direct assault today. The First amendment’s prohibition on the establishment of a State religion has been perverted into establishing the State religion of atheism, the other part of the First Amendment, freedom of speech and of the press, is being undermined by the very press it seeks to protect. The Second Amendment is daily undermined by the incessant call for more gun control, and freedom from search and seizure, has been eroded by the drug laws and fish and game laws that allow law enforcement to search your person or property without warrant or probable cause. We are under constant surveillance by the State, as we go about our daily tasks, while the workings of government are hid more and more by a veil of secrecy. The list of incursions grows longer every day. The hubris and boldness of these usurpers is ever more apparent every time they undermine another facet of Our Constitution.
It would seem that the Constitution stands in the way of these people’s desire to mold the government. The reason for the Constitution is to limit the power and scope of government to the minimum possible to function. That is an anathema to those that are in government today. Many have, as their stated goal, to evolve the United States into a socialist country. They openly avow this, until it becomes a political liability, then they change the subject and vilify the person sounding the alarm. History clearly shows the result of unconstitutional rule, oppression, famine, tyranny and war. There are no examples where this is not so.
There is nothing more un American than to be against the Constitution. Someone could take a position that is not in line with limited government and not be un American. It is evidently American to argue against the actions of any and all branches of government, that Right is enshrined in the First Amendment, but today the political elite call those who disagree with the President un American, without repercussion. Our Constitution is the foundation of our government. The function of Constitutional government is not dependent on who are citizens, or what the geographical location, it is entirely dependent on following the Constitution. This makes the very definition of what it is to be American is to agree with and follow the American Constitution. To be otherwise is the very definition of un American.
If we want to stem this dangerous trend in our elected and appointed elite, then we must start calling any attack on Our Constitution un American, do it boldly and without apology. To shrink in the face of a usurper is to accede to eventual tyranny. Acceding to tyranny is to be unworthy of being called American. Our Constitution is all that has ever stood between us and oppression. Make no mistake about it, our liberty is dependent on our Constitution, and our Constitution is dependent on our vigilance.
If we hear an elected or appointed representative attack our Constitution, it is our duty to pillory that politician, justice or bureaucrat. To grumble in silence is to accept, we must openly state we are in absolute support of our Constitution, and that we will broach no disrespect of it… especially from people who have taken an oath to follow and protect it! To attack and undermine our Constitution, after having taken an oath to protect it, is high treason and it must be called so! In the end, it is our silence or our vociferous defense, that will win the day. It is up to everyone who reads this to make up his or her mind, are you for the Constitution or against it? Ask yourself this… am I a useful idiot? If you are not, then take a stand, and remember… the pen is mightier than the sword, and your voice is louder than you think!
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: american, anti capitalist, bureaucratic stste, capitalism, capitalist, communist, constitution, constitutional rule, corruption, defense of the relm, economics, economy, elite, evil, freedom, government, incentive, International Capitalist Party, Law, Lawyers, Liberty, market system, media, meritocracy, political elite, politicians, politics, progressive, redistribution, regulation, socialist, state religion, tyranny, unamerican
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Thursday, April 4th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me that irrational hatred is not susceptible to rational argument. No matter the elegance of the argument, the eloquence of the hyperbole nor the heights of logic, irrational hatred will never be dissuaded by it. This holds true no matter what is the source of the hatred. Hatred is an emotional feeling, irrational hatred even more so, and so we see why the anti capitalist is so difficult to appeal to. They hold the market system in absolute disdain. This is reason enough, for us to take a long hard look at irrational hatred of the market system, but when we couple the intractability of the anti capitalist’s irrational hatred with the ultimate consequences of it, we see that this emotional madness will inevitably lower the lot of Mankind, perhaps for a thousand years.
That irrational hatred is not susceptible to rational argument is not such a leap to make. Emotions are never susceptible to rational examination. They are, however, usually rationalized by the hater. He or she hates the capitalists system for a myriad of imagined failures, all of them when examined in the light of logic… are irrational. Furthermore, to use logical arguments to pick apart the rationalizations the anti capitalist uses will only further infuriate them, by removing the taffeta limitations on their hatred, allowing their full emotional loathing to be expressed maybe violently, as we saw in the Wall Street protest movement.
The very fact that anti capitalists have a hatred for the market system is irrational. Without a thought to the irony, they will set in a fast food restaurant, tapping away at a free smart phone, eating food that was prepared for them at a moment’s notice, for a historically low price, using the free Wi-Fi that is provided for their convenience, and rail about the unfairness of it all. They might not even have ever worked a day in their lives, but they are incensed at the unfairness of even the potential of having to work, to provide for themselves let alone others! They are immune to historical arguments about the wealth that the poor have, they cannot fathom how the socialist system has starved to death millions of people in the twentieth century, and they are blind to the vast economic gulf between the elite and the masses in a socialist system. Their only consideration is their undying hatred of the capitalist system.
Since this is unquestionably the case, the only way to argue effectively, showing them that capitalism is in their own best interest, is by emotional arguments. If we want to reach the very few anti capitalists who can be swayed, the only means at our disposal must be emotional. The gap between the rich and the poor in a capitalists nation must be met with outrage at the gap between the elite and the masses in a socialist country. Their railing at the unfairness of having to work must be met with sympathy that the people in socialist countries have to work longer harder and for less pay. Even their lamentations that capitalism is the source of all that is wrong with the World can be extinguished with the horror of Stalin’s purges, Mao’s famines, Hitler’s genocides and Pol Pot’s mass murders. As it turns out, the fall of the Soviet Union as an example of socialism at work, was a great tragedy. The only argument that holds water to the anti capitalist is an emotional one.
The market system has lifted more people from poverty than any other that has ever existed in human history. That is simply the truth. But the victories of capitalism are it’s greatest enemies. The market rationalizes men’s minds with questions about the cost benefit of everything. This mindset, that is the bread and butter of capitalism, bleeds over into all walks of life. The same reason capitalism won out against the feudal system undermines the market as well. People ask themselves, “If capitalism has raised so many so high, there must be another system that will do it universally with less effort.” They delude themselves with imaginings of universal prosperity and brotherly love, but to reach for such things with irrational hatred in one’s heart, is like expecting to breathe underwater. The result always falls short of the expectation.
So we see that it is impossible to convince an anti capitalist that the market system, with all it’s flaws, is still the best system to raise the lot of Man. The very act of hating the market system is irrational, and irrational hatred is emotionally based. It is usually rationalized, like a murderer rationalizes his actions, but if that thin veneer is removed, the hatred becomes unhitched from all reality and is expressed without limit. Therefore, the only means at our disposal to help the anti capitalist to see the rightness of the market, is with emotional arguments, not logical ones. To save our children and grand children from tyranny, slavery and poverty, we must fight against the very mindset that capitalism brings to the table. If we fail, then we have let slip through our fingers the manna of prosperity, and exchanged it for the poison of irrational hatred.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: anti capitalist, capitalism, communist, economics, economy, education, elite, government, government spending, hatred of themarket, incentive, International Capitalist Party, irrational hatred, jobs, market system, media, meritocracy, politics, poverty, progressive, rational maximiser, redistribution, regulation, socialist, tax, taxes, tyranny
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Monday, April 1st, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me that charity is a form of love. When we are charitable to our fellow man, we are expressing not only love for him or her, but to humanity itself. To be charitable is to be loving, but love is a human feeling, and can only be felt by a human being, (and a dog). The State is not a human being, therefore it cannot feel human emotions, like love and charity. The State is an expression of the power of the collective over the individual. Power is not love nor can a mob practice charity. Those who seek to be charitable then, must be charitable, but cannot pass to the State their human requirement for charity, doing so causes injury, not benevolence.
When confronted by the Pharisees, whether or not to pay taxes, Jesus asked for a coin. He looked the coin over and asked who’s face was on it. “Caesar” was the answer. Jesus said, “Render onto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.” The State coined the money, which is a thing, God coined mankind’s soul, which is divine. The State is of the Earth, charity and love is of God. The State cannot do that which is divine, it is not in it’s nature, but human beings can… it is in ours.
To expect anything to do that which is not in it’s nature is foolishness. Just as a crow eats carrion, and a clam strains algae from the water, the State survives on the power to coerce. If we understand this, then we can clearly see, charity is not a thing the State can do. If it tries then it must be uncharitable to be charitable. Since the end does not justify the means, the means taint the ends, to have charity handled by the State, renders the entire operation uncharitable and unloving.
Giving is said to be it’s own reward. When we try to pass our very human feelings of charity to the State we don’t get the personal reward from being charitable. Those that are forced to pay for the State’s giving, (which is, after all, injury to them), are disconnected from charity, they begin to resent the recipient of the State’s largess, and become indifferent to the plight of the poor. The person being helped gets a fish for a day. That fish for a day comes at great cost to the recipient of the State’s giving however. More often than not, welfare leads people to dependence on the State, undermining their personal drive to get ahead. This again, is not loving charity that uplifts the recipient, it is crushing dependence that stagnates the individual and undermines their ability to grow as a human being. The benefit of charity is totally lost, to society, the giver and the receiver.
There are three parts to the human being, physical, mental and spiritual. As we exercise those parts they become stronger, as we allow them to atrophy, they become weak. True charity and love are uplifting for both the giver and the receiver. Our divine nature is fed by voluntary giving, not only of money, but our time and attention too. As we nourish our divinity we grow stronger in spirituality. The recipient of our love and charity grows as well. They see the example we set and are inclined to follow it. Goodness begets goodness and injury begets injury. This is a simple concept to understand. Individual charity grows the souls of those involved, but fake charity withers the soul.
It is up to each one of us to be loving to our fellow men and women. Charity is an act of love, and the State is incapable of love, and so cannot be truly charitable. Jesus himself tells us that the property of the State, power, money and pomp, should be practiced by the State, and that which is the property of God, love charity and kindness, should be practiced by human beings. The only ones to benefit from the State’s faux charity, are the political elite, who amass greater and greater power to run the lives of individuals… for their own good, since the State’s charity does injury to the receiver. We ignore this lesson to the detriment of our children, who we fail to set a good example for, by passing our very human need to be charitable to the State, and we all slide further down the slippery slope to oppression. The answer is to take back that power from the State, and be personally charitable, love your neighbors, act as you would have others act, leading by example and let show the divine nature God gave each and every one of us. To do otherwise is to deny that Godly spark within us, and even to let it die, a leper in the cold dark prison of indifference.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: charity, divinity, economics, economy, education, government, government spending, growth of the soul, health care, human growth, humanity, incentive, International Capitalist Party, jobs, love, market system, media, meritocracy, politics, poverty, rational maximiser, redistribution, regulation, spirituality
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Thursday, March 28th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me… workers in various industries have a tendency to give up their work. This happens many times in union shops as well. Often, difficult jobs are rejected by workers, and the work is then performed by contractors. Eventually, the workers that have given up all the difficult tasks, find their jobs become easier and easier, taking up less and less time during their day. All the difficult tasks are given away to contractors. Without exception, those workers become redundant and a burden to the firm that employs them, and as a result, they are laid off or replaced with contractors. This paradigm has appeared many times in many industries around the World. Congress should beware of this trend, because they are at the that road, and are nearing the end of it.
Congress has given up most of it’s responsibility to the Bureaucracy, the Executive and the Judiciary. Today, any major public concern is far more likely to be addressed by the court system, than by the political system. As Congress becomes more and more superfluous, and redundant, they will continue to loose all the power to legislate, control government’s purse and write the laws they pass… and they will loose their jobs.
The Court system is the source of most of our social legislation today. No social ill is exempt from legislation from the bench. From abortion to gay marriage the court system has become the legislator of last resort. This not only renders Congress irrelevant but sets a dangerous precedent. The court system has become an oligarchy by this paradigm. They pass laws that enrich lawyers at cost to the economy, liberty and common sense. The state of our republic is inevitably defiled by this action of the oligarchical Judicial branch. We suffer as a result… but our children will suffer far more as this trend continues to it’s logical conclusion.
The Executive now ignores the irrelevant Congress regularly. Obama is asked if he can go “around” congress almost daily by the unbiased press. They expound on the efficiency of an executive who wields arbitrary power. The fact that this is antithetical to Our Constitution gives them a shiver up their collective legs. This has progressed to the point where Obama has arbitrarily decided what laws to enforce and which laws to ignore. The check on the power of the Executive is eliminated by this very fact.
The bureaucracy has taken over almost all the tedious responsibilities of the legislative. Recently there was a Supreme Court ruling that imparted the bureaucracy with this power. The Supreme Court basically accepted that Congress had ceded their power to pass laws to the bureaucracy, the fact of their acquiescence being sufficient to set the precedent for the bureaucracy to take over most of the law writing and regulating functions, that are given to the Legislative branch under the Constitution.
Beware power granted because once granted it is very difficult to take back. Now that Congress has ceded so much of their power to legislate, control the purse of government and write the laws they pass, they have become redundant in all but name. This may seem a good thing to those who agree with what the government is doing today, but the real problem is, you may not agree with what they do with that power tomorrow. The limit on the Executive, Judiciary and Bureaucracy’s ability to ignore the national government, Congress, has become entrenched.
This trend has been going on for a long time now. The weal of politics turns slowly but inexorably. The legislative branch has willingly given all the tough jobs to contractors and scabs. Those that have inherited the tough jobs, don’t have to face the people’s wrath for their decisions, they are immune from prosecution for undermining Our Constitution, and they are only too happy to do it. The laziness of the Legislative branch have rendered them supercilious. But, they are happy to attend black tie parties, make a speech or two, and pretend to be power brokers. But, they are getting closer and closer to the day when the Executive will simply order them disbanded, and lay them all off. Will this make our liberty safer or more at risk?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: abortion, Congress, constitution, corruption, economics, economy, education, elite, gay marriage, government, government spending, health care, incentive, International Capitalist Party, jobs, judiciary, Lawyers, legislation from the bench, media, Obama, Oligarchial Judiciary, oligarchy, political power, politicians, politics, progressive, regulation, social legislation, society, Sophistry
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Monday, March 25th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the bureaucratic part of the US government is not only unconstitutional, it poses the greatest risk to constitutionalism that exists today. Nowhere in the US Constitution is there permission given, for unelected administrators to pass laws, enforce those laws and punish infractions of their laws. Regulations that are written by bureaucrats have the full weight and measure of laws passed by elected members of Congress. Bureaucracy creates the darkness that allows unfettered growth of government intrusion. Regulation that stymies economic opportunities, limits people’s potential and protects the power and privilege of the Elite. To sharpen the point further, bureaucracy is not only a perversion of our founding principles, it has become immortal… like a demon, feeding on the rights of the people.
Bureaucracy is a threat for a myriad of reasons. The bureaucracy falls under the Executive, undermining the separation of powers in the Constitution, it works under the veil of darkness that bureaucracy provides, the members have no loyalty to the citizens, only to the department heads and other bureaucrats, but perhaps most alarming, is that bureaucracy changes the very relationship between the citizens and our government. The bureaucrat, being human, want’s job security and so there is no limit the bureaucrat will accept on his or her power to regulate, because that would put their cushy job at risk, thus immortalizing bureaucracy. Bureaucracy has the ability to pass thousands of pages of regulation annually. Think of it, tens of thousands of administrators, working tirelessly, passing pages of regulations every day, every month, and every year, regulating the most minute aspects of human existence, and that regulation necessarily becoming more intrusive each passing day.
The Founding Fathers of the US had in mind to limit the power, role and scope of government, by separating powers. They looked back at human history and recognized the natural progression of government. All the great civilizations were universally founded in some virtue, but over time, descended into totalitarianism. History shows this tendency of the Elite, invested with power over the affairs of men, to be without exception. The Founders understood this fact of human nature and sought to control it to protect mankind’s liberty. In this they looked at Constitutionalism as the best means available to limit the role, scope and power of the political Elite. They included Montesquieu’s Third Branch, taken from the Executive.
The Founders understood that it is usually the Executive that is the source of tyranny. Bureaucracy turns the logic of the Founders on it’s head, by coalescing all the power of government, back into the hands of the Executive. This is an obvious perversion of the most basic idea of the US Constitution, and renders moot Montesquieu’s idea of a Third branch, limiting the power of the Executive. Bureaucracy makes all other branches of government irrelevant by taking over all their functions. Even the Judiciary will become irrelevant as bureaucracy evolves to it’s natural end.
Some argue that Bureaucracy is efficient. They claim that the government could not maintain it’s scope and power, if bureaucracy were eliminated, and that all the good that comes from government regulation, clean air and water for example, would go away. The point they miss, (intentionally so), is that under the Federalist system, the Federal government was never supposed to have that power, scope or intrusiveness, to begin with! Those powers, under the Tenth Amendment, were given to the diverse States, to protect the environment, teach children, to build and maintain infrastructure. Furthermore, efficiency in oppression is not a good thing, and that is what bureaucracy must necessarialy become!
The individual States, have the Constitutional power to limit economic growth with regulation within their jurisdictions, they have the power even to set up bureaucracies. There are few limits to the power of the States under the US Constitution. Only those powers that are specifically given to the Federal government, and limits found in the Bill of Rights, are the State governments barred from enacting. Other than those few limitations the State government were given wide latitude to pass innovative laws and regulations. The States were to be little laboratories to test laws and regulations to plumb both their effectiveness and their utility. If a State’s regulations become so onerous economic activity is harmed, under the US Constitution, people have the right to vote with their feet, moving to a State with less oppressive laws. Under the new perverted Federal bureaucratic model… there is no escaping the oppression of the bureaucrat.
The State governments, the Legislative branch, and even the Judiciary, are being made redundant by bureaucracy. As power is moved further from the people and universalized, the limits on what government can,and cannot do, are blurred. Bureaucracy contributes to the natural growth of government power and eliminates the limits put on government by the Founders. That is why Bureaucracy is so dangerous… and why it is immortal. For true liberty to be restored, bureaucracy must be eliminated… but to kill an immortal is never easy, in fact, immortality bequeaths the immortal with arbitrary power as well as unlimited life.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: bureaucracy, constitution, constitutional limits, constitutionalism, corruption, economics, economy, elite, freedom, government, government spending, health care, incentive, International Capitalist Party, jobs, Law, Liberty, market system, media, merit, meritocracy, politics, poverty, progressive, regulation, tyranny
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Thursday, March 21st, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, everyone knows that you punish that which you don’t want, and reward that which you do want. Even a fool understands this concept. The Elite who make far more money than the average person should understand this as well. When asked, why do they make so much more then the rest of us, they always explain that they are much smarter than us, so they must get more money. Presuming their explanation to be true… we can only conclude that when they reward some behavior, they want more of that behavior, and when they punish some behavior, they want less of it. Nothing else follows logically.
Using this concept we can place the actions of the Elite into context. We don’t have to assume what they want more of… we have empirical proof. We don’t have to assume what they want less of… we also have empirical proof. This allows us to know when they are lying because we know the truth of their actions.
One example of this are the actions of the Elite in Europe and Cyprus. They are taking money from savers to keep the banks solvent. Those on the public dole however will not have any reductions in their welfare. Even a cursory examination of the reward and punishment concept gives us pause. Those that work, save money for retirement and provide investment capital for the market, will be punished by having their money taken directly from their bank accounts. The product of their labor will be stolen from them. The very fact this was considered shows, unequivocally, that the Elite in Europe and Cyprus don’t want people to work, don’t want people to save and otherwise be mature citizens.
Those that do not work, do not save for retirement and plan to live off the public dole the whole of their lives, are a large part of the financial problems of the government in Cyprus and Europe, but will face no reduction in their welfare checks. This amounts to a reward. Therefore, it is clear that the Elite in Europe want people to go on the dole, layabout all day contributing nothing, and demanding more. The old adage, “Idle hands are the devils tools and an idle mind is the devils playground,” is appropriate. Those that have nothing to do all day, because they are on public assistance, are by definition… idle minds and idle hands. This makes them a source of social unrest and criminality. If we consider our concept of punishment and reward, it is obvious, the Elite in Europe want more crime and social unrest.
Now that we have determined what the Elite want, the question that inevitably come up is, why? Why would the Elite want people to be dependent on the State for everything even to the point of encouraging crime and social unrest? It would seem that this is the opposite of their mandate to promote social order, a thriving economy, and an industrious and wealthy populous. To a person who is invested in their country, this is a hard concept to grasp, that the Elite would want these things.
Thrasymachus said, in Plato’s Republic, that most people only want to live their lives, so they readily accept the concept of justice, but those that want to rule must not. Those that seek power over others, must appear to be just, while actually being unjust… We see in the actions of reward and punishment that the modern Elite, those who seek power over others, seek to appear just, ie, saving the banking system, while actually being unjust, ie, seizing money that doesn’t belong to them. Using Thrasymachus’ logic we see that this is a means to enhance the power of the Elite.
People who follow the reward and avoid the punishment, will become dependent on the State for their sustenance, and their indigent lifestyle. Dependents worry they are unable to engage in the market system, and this gives them certain knowledge that their lifestyle will suffer, if the power of the State is eroded in any way. Therefore, as more people become dependent on the State for their livelihoods, the power of the State and of the Elite will grow. The Elite’s power to take that which they have not earned, will be increased commensurately with the number of dependents, and so we see why the Elite want less people to work, less people to save for their retirement and less money available to the market for upgrading plant and equipment. That would diminish their power not enhance it. Social unrest and crime drives a demand for government to pass more laws further increasing the power of the Elite.
The Elite have armed guards protecting them, so they don’t have to worry about crime, they have high paid, cushy government jobs, that are more protected the further society slides into chaos, and their retirements are secured by the power of the State to take the assets of those that still work. We have come full circle. The incentives and intentions of the welfare state, are far from benign, they are diabolical. Until we wake up and put a stop to it, our assets are not safe, our children are not safe and we are not safe. Are the Elite in America any different? The inevitable slide to depravity will consume us all… all but the Elite.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: bank bailout, banking, corruption, cyprus, economics, economy, elite, european union, government, government spending, group, health care, incentive, International Capitalist Party, jobs, justice, Law, market system, meritocracy, politicians, punishment, redistribution, regulation, reward, socialist, society, tax, Thrasymachus
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Monday, March 18th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, diversity in education is a bulwark against economic and intellectual stagnation. Diversity in education is an anathema to the Elite in America however. They seek to limit children’s access to a diverse subject matter, diverse methods of learning, and instead impose doctrinal standards on our children, theirs however are in private schools. Anyone with their eyes open can see the results of this policy over the last few generations. US children falling behind in math, reading, writing, history and critical thinking. We also see the manifestation of the practice of common core type education, imposed from the top, that every child must follow, in the lowering of the work ethic. If we don’t address this growing problem it will become a crisis, one that will not only destroy the standard of living of Americans, but will usher in a World wide recession.
Today, industries in the US are able to find qualified applicants with a good work ethic, from immigrants. In other countries where the school system is an educational enterprise, instead of an indoctrination center, the level of education is exceptional. The students from these countries regularly outperform US students, in standardized tests, on most any subject. The Education department in the Federal government, (an unconstitutional apparition), makes the excuse that many in America test poorly, because they have economic disadvantages. Are we to assume that American children are on a lower economic rung than children in China? Where wages are a tenth of the US? A friend of mine says, “Excuses are like rear ends, everyone has them, and they all stink.”
The answer of the US educational elite is always to do more of what is not working. The latest incarnation is Common Core, where new math is taught, communism is glorified, and reading is reduced from mind elevating literature, like Great Expectations… to federal reserve fact sheets. Boy what interesting material for a kid to read, economic fact sheets. The government is even planning on foisting this insanity on home schooled children! The Executive branch under Obama has foisted this absurdity on every school child in the US. Inevitably lowering the education of our children even further. As it is most likely intended to.
In the 1970′s they tried new math. If you ever see the old TV show, Family Affair, Buffy and Jodie’s homework was new math. Old math apparently was seen as outmoded. The result of new math was a dramatic lowering of the arithmetic skills of American school children. Instead of elevating, as it was promised to do, the ability of US educated students was diminished to that of a third world country. Not only the economy suffered as a result, but the waste of human potential, people who could have achieved excellence but, due to the failing of our schools, achieved mediocrity instead, was a tragedy. In the end new math had to be abandoned for old math. Today, under common core we are embarking on a new, new math experiment. One that will certainly end the same way the last one did… No matter how much I want vinegar to mix with baking soda without reaction, it won’t, empirical testing proves that.
The education department within the Federal government, is unconstitutional, because the Constitution doesn’t give the Federal government the power… to concentrate all educational decisions in the hands of unelected bureaucrats, working in the dark of night, imposing their view of how every child must be taught in the US. The tenth amendment is the most overlooked in the Bill of Rights and this is as good an example as any. The education department in the Federal government should be eliminated, not only to save our children from the vicissitudes of power drunk bureaucrats, but to save their little minds from the indoctrination centers our schools have become.
To achieve diversity in education there needs to be a voucher system. One where schools don’t need to be accredited by a Federal agency, but by the parents, who freely choose to send their kids there. Instead of regulating means, the bailiwick of tyrants, regulate results. Test students who graduate from the diverse schools set up under the voucher, publish the results, and let the voucher schools compete for students in the marketplace of education, that would be created under such a system. Some will argue, “But some schools under a voucher system will give poor educations.” Which is a high form of spurious reasoning because, under their system, all of the students are getting a poor education. The real worry is that some will get exceptional educations… and we can’t have that! Only the children of the Elite should get a good education! Obama’s daughters are not in public schools, they are not subject to common core… your children are!
Education is a fundamentally important undertaking. The economy of the nation depends on it. Our children’s futures depend on it. Unconstitutional top down imposition of the means, has never worked, but it empowers the bureaucrat to be all knowing and all seeing… like Oz. The ego of the Elite is massaged when they choose the curriculum and subject matter of every student in the nation. But education is not a means to serve the bloated egos of bureaucrats, it is to prepare children to engage in the market system, become thoughtful citizens and have the tools to make critical decisions. Diversity in education, created by a voucher system, delivers that ideal. Let’s get back to educating children instead of indoctrinating them… for the sake of our children, and our own.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: constitution, diversity, economics, economy, education, elite, failing schools, government, government spending, incentive, indoctrination, International Capitalist Party, jobs, Law, market system, meritocracy, politicians, politics, recession, regulation, society, Sophistry, voucher schools, voucher system, work ethic
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Thursday, March 14th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, civilization, being a manifestation of humanity, is based on human hearted actions… like kindness and courtesy. These two mutually harmonious ways of being are the cement and aggregate that make up the foundation of civilization. Those that practice them advance civilization and those who don’t destroy it. We all want to live in a civilized society, and all of us seek the advantages that civilization brings, but to live in a civilized society requires us to be civilized ourselves. We are obligated to be kind and courteous, if we are to be civilized, not to be so, is to be uncivilized. We loose sight of this at risk not only to our fortunes and pleasures but to our very souls.
Aristotle said that people are social animals. Civilization is not necessarially a fact of us being social however. Ants are social, in fact, it could be argued that they are more social than us, but an ant colony, no matter the order it displays, is not civilized. By this example we see that social organization is not a primary attribute of civilization. Nor is communal living necessarially an attribute of civilization… as every historical example of socialist and communist nations have descended into barbarity, bloodshed and depravity… they are the antithesis of civilization. Civilization requires human heartedness as a prerequisite, order and communal living are created by civilization, but civilization is not based on them, it creates them.
Kindness is simply an attitude of holding others charitably, overlooking their faults, doing acts that advance the well being of our fellows and making the lives of strangers more comfortable. This is an easy concept to understand, every one of us wants to be treated kindly, but it is far harder to practice in our daily lives. We all have days when we are grumpy, out of sorts and simply mad at the world. It is at these times that it is the most important that we act kindly to those we come across. We grow as a result both intellectually and spiritually. Moreover, the very act of being kind not only creates civilization in us, but it grows civilization in others.
There is an old axiom that courtesy is the lubricant of society. Courtesy is a twin to kindness in that it is treating others in a way that makes it emotionally safe to interact with friends and strangers. Courtesy is an indication that we recognize the humanity and worth of those we interact with. Since all of us must interact with our fellow man to get our needs met, courtesy facilitates the process. From such mundane acts, like shopping, to extreme times of sorrow, we need others to help us in our day to day lives. Civilization allows this to happen in a way that is efficient and comfortable. The efficiency of meeting our needs and the needs of others, that civilization fosters, is enhanced by courtesy.
It is not possible to pass our obligation for kindness to the State. The State is a product of the lack of civilization of those within it. If mankind lived in a spirit of absolute civilization the State would be superfluous. As such, the State is an entity that acts as a backstop for those that act uncivilized, IE, unkind and iniquitous. As we pass our duties to be kind to the State, we become less civilized, and the power of the State must grow to balance our selfishness and inequity. The result is less civilization, not more. The same can be said of courtesy, the less we display, the more the State must coerce social harmony.
If we want to live in a society that is civilized we must act both kindly to others and courteously. If we try to pass our obligation to be civilized to the State, the quality of civilization is diminished… necessarially. The State cannot hold people charitably, it cannot overlook the faults of people and it cannot treat others as it would be treated… because it is not a human being. The State is an entity that is based on power to punish and force action to create social concord where there is none. The State imposes order on society… civilization creates it. Strict order is not civilization nor is communal living, they are side effects of civilization, but are not a prerequisite of it. We are obligated to act in a way that forwards the goal of civilization not stunt it. Those that understand and learn this lesson will be more human hearted and those that scoff will be less so. The state of our civilization will be enhanced or harmed by your actions. In the end, the real question is, do you want to live in a civilized society… or an ordered one?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: aristotle, civil order, civil unrest, civilization, courtesy, economy, good, government, Human Heartedness, humanity, incentive, International Capitalist Party, Kindness, market system, meritocracy, order, rational maximiser, state power
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Monday, March 11th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the real debate, the one we should be having about the sequester is, what pressing need is there for government to grow at more than twice the rate of inflation… or is there one? Baseline budgeting, the kind that the US government uses, has a built in raise of 4% per year. The BLS claims CPI inflation is running at a modest 1-2% per year. Since the baseline is 4% then government has built in growth at twice the rate of inflation. If we further take the mandate of the FED, that they manage the money supply so that inflation runs at 2% per year, then we can see that government is designed to grow at double the rate of inflation ad infinitem. The long term trend of this policy is that government will eventually consume the entire non government GDP of the US. The only people who could consider this a good thing are communists and socialists since total government control of the economy is their goal.
Is there a national need for government to grow at this rate? Government spending is considered part of GDP. As government grows, GDP appears to grow, due to the increase in government spending. Since government is slated to grow at twice the rate of inflation, as it is targeted by the Federal Reserve, GDP growth is boosted, regardless of the fundamental underlying economic conditions. This allows the Elite to mask their policies that have a negative effect on the economy. The growth in government spending makes GDP growth appear to be higher than it really is. Is that a valid reason?
What will be the eventual result of such rapid expansion of government spending? The growth of government spending necessarially lowers the amount of money that people and businesses can spend. 70% of the US economy is consumer spending, consumer demand is necessarially lowered as government taxing and spending goes up, therefore the economy will experience stagnation. This, it seems obvious, will eventually destroy the market system in the US, and people’s perception of it. The destruction of which will bring government spending back to zero, no one to tax means government must either stop it’s own spending, borrow to keep it up or convert to a communist economy. If government stops spending the economy that has become totally dependent on government largess, will collapse, if government borrows to maintain spending, it must borrow from other nation’s stores of capital, without any way to raise funds to pay them back. This is a situation that is the definition of unsustainable.
Why then is it, that the Elite claim reigning in government growth to the rate of inflation, as the sequester does, is so detrimental to the economy? Unless government is hiring more workers and taking on more responsibilities growth in government beyond the rate of inflation is unnecessary. The additional growth, beyond the rate of inflation, cannot be needed to continue existing government programs, (unless the wages they are paying are growing in access of the rate of inflation driving down real wages among working people)… so why is there a need for the executive to shut down critical operations of government? Presumably the budget last year was sufficient to pay for such services? Unless the cuts themselves are nothing more then a crass political maneuver to keep the rate of government growth exceeding inflation, or they seek to mask the results of their policies on the economy, by increasing government spending.
The lack of real debate about the issue, leaves us with only two possibilities, either the BLS is lying about the rate of inflation, or, the Elite in the government and in the unbiased media, want to progress government spending and thus power, to become total in nature and extent, thus placing all economic activity under the control of the political Elite… distributive justice by political favor. Neither possibility is flattering for the Elite. History has many examples of socialist regimes, the outcome of that philosophy of government is empirically proven… economic stagnation, oppression and violence by government against politically disfavored groups. Under the policy of growing government at twice the rate of inflation, socialism and/or communism is the only possible outcome, with all the attendant problems associated with it. The moment someone claims, “this time will be different,” they are showing themselves to be not only ignorant, but stupid as well. It is like claiming that this time when I throw the ball into the air, it will not fall back to the ground but will go into orbit… experience shows the absurdity of the statement. If the BLS is lying, the honchos in that department should be prosecuted, and if the political Elite stupidly seek a totalitarian state, then they are usurpers to the Constitution. Their very own rhetoric and actions belie their unsuitability for government service, and we suffer them to hold office, to our eventual oppression.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: anti capitalist, baseline budgeting, budget, capitalism, capitalist, communist, constitution, corruption, economics, economy, elite, government, government spending, growth in spending, incentive, International Capitalist Party, jobs, market system, media, politicians, politics, progressive, recession, redistribution, sequester, sequester debate, socialist, stimulus, tax, tax and spend, US Budget
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