Tea Party people are for vague things such as “less government” and “lower taxes.” Well, fine.
But what does that mean, exactly?
Let’s start with ”less government.” Sounds good, right? But does that mean an end to the warfare state as well as the welfare state? From what I have noticed about Tea Party activists, there seems to be a lot of anger toward what they call “welfare” (meaning, subsidies to the poor) but lots of rah-rah cheering in “support of the troops” – which amounts to welfare for the military and support for the American global empire.
Tea Party people don’t seem to get that you can’t object to welfare for L’Quisha and her seven kids by four different baby daddies if you also support $$$ for the “war on terror” – which amounts to open-ended, unquestioning welfare for huge defense contractors.
Their rah-rahing for war (any war, every war – otherwise, you must not “support the troops”) is especially off-putting.
I’ve actually stopped speaking to several old friends over this. That and their defense of Palin I just can’t deal with. (The idea that that shallow, greedy, malignant shill for the corporatocracy is somehow a “conservative” throws my puke reflex into overdrive.)
War ought to be something a free state engages in reluctantly, as a last resort – in response to an actual attack.
But a lot of Tea Party people support the Lincolnian-Wilsonian-Chimponian-Palinonian idea of “pre-emptive” wars undeclared by Congress; also “nation-building” and the maintenance by force of a global empire. To disagree or question any of this means… you must not support the troops.
Or maybe you hate freedom.
“Lower taxes.” Well, lovely. But does that mean Uncle Shithead expropriating just 30 percent of our wealth as opposed to 35 percent? Or is it a question of this far – and no farther? Is the income tax itself an immoral/illegitimate thing?
Yes or no?
What about taxes on property, which have the effect of turning all of us into lifetime squatters and serfs who never really own anything more than that which we can carry? Oh, I forget. “The children” need schools. Even if they’re other people’s children and you’d really rather have your money for other things.
It’s the same with “good” entitlements such as Social Security vs. bad entitlements, like grants to the NEA. If you don’t oppose in principle the idea of using the government as an instrument of plunder, then there’s no point in trying to object to some specific act of plunder.
Tea Party people don’t understand this.
Trotting around in 18th century costumes and holding up signs of Barry dressed in Joker make-up is lots of fun but it doesn’t have legs. It doesn’t challenge anything basic about the suffocating tyranny that is enveloping this country.
Tea Party people fall easily into the trap of supporting – by not vigorously opposing – Republican big government (Patriot Act, the security state, the criminalizing of private, consensual conduct among adults, et. etc. ) while wailing about what they see as “socialism,” not comprehending that right-wing corporatism and militarism result in the same suffocating, top-down oppression as left-liberal “socialism.”
Like the bare-chested potbellied idiots in face paint cheering “their” team at a fuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhtttttttttttball game, Tea Party rallies are a safe way for the elites who control this country to let the masses burn off some steam.
Then they can go home and pay their taxes and follow the rules like the good little subjects they are.
I think we are doomed to a future of even more authoritarian statism, accompanied by lots of flag waving and donkey-like braying of that god-awful song, “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m freeeeeeee.”
Yeah.
You can’t even legally buy a firecracker to light off on the 4th of July in this country anymore.
That’s how “free” we really are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GielMXWQlbw
Those were the days…Dreams of ordo equester…Down the long road…dorogoi dlinnoyu my friend…
Yes, exactly. I’d put the moment of “change” as 1861 – when the North (by then already the sanctum of corporate statism) and its frontman, Abe Lincoln, launched a war of aggression to re-impose by force that which the American revolution was fought to end. Since then, the tendency has been toward more and more federal authority (it is now for all purposes unlimited in principle as well as in fact) and less and less autonomy for the individual. Virtually everything we do today is in some way or other regulated, taxed, forbidden or controlled by some level of government.
One thing specifically that I like to harp on – because it it crucially important, in my view – is the way property ownership has become effectively impossible in this country via real estate taxes. A man can never hope to own a “freehold” – his own piece of land – because he is forced (literally, at gunpoint) to pay an endless annual mortgage to the government in the form of real estate taxes. As a consequence of this, we’re not really any different from Medieval serfs, living at the sufferance of our local baron or lord. Getting rid of taxes on real property – and re-establishing the principle of allodial title – would resurrect something that is absolutely essential to the survival of a genuinely free society; the possibility that a man can own his place, free and clear – owing nothing to anyone and sovereign on his patch of earth.
Enjoying the comments, here.
I belong to an online blog which is a great resource for folks like us. Basically, it’s a group of folks who discuss the issues of the day, and all that currently ails us in America. We try to enlighten people regarding media bias, and how the welfare state has failed.
What made this country great has been on the way out for 100+ years, now. It took a while, but once the parasites sank their fangs into the productive, and the government got various industries in bed with them, it turned into a slow death for a once great nation of rugged individualists. America was looked up to, in fact even our enemies were awed. Libertarianism and our unique economy is what made this nation great.
Far as I’m concerned, the Iraq war was a mistake, and is something we’ll be paying for, for decades to come. Our military needs to be downsized, but made leaner and meaner, with qualified and motivated people running the show, not the wussified clowns who are in charge, now. Social engineering has wreaked havoc on the force, and made us weak.
The Republicans have disappointed libertarians and conservatives (really they’re “classical liberals”) for 15+ years, now, in fact your typical GOPer is fine with the welfare state as it is. This includes evangelicals, who, for all intents and purposes, used to vote as a bloc for the Democrats. Evangelicals are barely any different from Liberals, in fact many voted for Obama 2 years ago.
The only way I’d support Republicans is they would have to dump the McCain’s and Graham’s of the party, and go full-bore on small government, however I don’t see that happening. There’s too much at stake when lobbyists, the Fed. Res., and the Treasury Dept. run the show, and powerful international interests manipulate the currency.
Lastly, corporate welfare needs to be stopped. That’s a large part of the problem, and it’s absolutely awful in blue states like where I;m originally from. I believe in an anarchist economy, with few regulations, where the strong survive and nobody gets a break.
Absolutely; Paul Craig Roberts wrote a great column on this very subject recently. The gist of it was that even at this late state, if we just throttled back on the empire – and quit trying to police (that is, dominate) the world – we’d probably be able to pull back from the abyss, or at least, keep from falling into it for another few years. I will try to find the link…. ah, here it is:
http://ericpetersautos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15485
I have to agree with Ron Paul when he basically said we need to mind our own business. For as far back as I can remember we have gotten ourselves into messes we can’t get out of. Now we are broke.
It’s not up to our military to rebuild Iraq, police Haiti, and try to “win the hearts and minds ” of Muslims in the middle east.
Exactly, every time some country stumps it’s toe here we go pouring millions of dollars into the place. Mostly taken by corrupt officials there. We can’t even take care of our own much less the world. A good start would be to round up ALL of the illegals and send them back to whatever country they came from. This coddling of illegals is ridiculous and is breaking down the economy. If an illegal goes into any hospital in the US and asks for medical care they cannot be turned down. If I go into a hospital and need help the first thing they ask for is insurance, no insurance no care. It is that simple. Go down to the western union at wal mart on friday afternoon and see how many mexicans are sending money home. I am completely overrun with illegals and they have destroyed the wages here. They work for almost nothing and eat a can of beans a week, living 15 to a one room house. Even if they get stopped and do not have a drivers license nothing is done. They just send them on their way because immigration will not come and pick them up. As far as muslims go screw them, the entire faith is anti American and goes against every thing we believe in. As far as I am concerned we can send all of them back too. Islam is not a religion it is a dangerous cult.
Yes, I am in a position to take care of myself and family. I am what most people would consider a “redneck”. I’m not ashamed of that title, I wear it with honor. I have done everything from running a tractor and brushhogging a pasture and bailing hay to ndt, spectrometric oil analysis and industrial X-rays. Redneck or not, I am no idiot. I can hunt and fish and can take care of myself. The barter system is a great thing, problem is that now it is actually taxable by the government. If you trade something you are required to pay taxes on the trade. This is unacceptable and is bullshit. Our founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they knew we were supposed to report a trade to the gov. In time I think the system will collapse, there is no other option. Look at all countries that were super powers, all have failed at one time or another. It is almost a fact that it will happen. If you are prepared for that time then your chances for survival will be high. On the other side of the coin if you are a leach then your chances are very minimal. This is the good part, the leaches will one day be no more. They will not be able to survive, they do not have the knowledge or the skills to do so. This is good and bad, many will just roll over and die. Others will branch out and try to steal from the ones who were ready. If you cannot protect what is yours is will be taken, you will be killed by looters and deadbeats who live for the moment. It’s a poor analogy, but Mad Max comes to mind. I believe it to be along those lines. An all out war against each other instead of working to replace and replenish our resources. It will be the hard working people against the worthless POS. I know who will win that conflict. I have gotten off track some it seems. I drive an 80’s model one ton flat bed. Why, because it still runs great and gets pretty good mileage. I see no need to replace it and go into debt for something I don’t need. Would I like to have a new f-450 super duty. Yes, but I don’t need it. Until the mentality of people change I see no change for the country. I saw on the news where the ten best countries were to live. The US was not in the top ten. This is disturbing on so many levels, the land of milk and honey and it is not in the top ten. Once again I have rambled on, I will go into immigration issues in the next post.
Very similar here; a fellow “redneck.”
All our stuff is old – but serviceable and paid-for. Got a good supply of back-up food, ammo and know to how to shoot. I have been collecting every essential tool/related item I can think of over the past several years – both because I use ’em and for “just in case.”
It seems to me one of the single greatest difficulties facing (or likely to be faced by) decent people who pull their weight and who aren’t looking to take from others is how to organize against the leeches and looters. I mean that two ways. First, politically (the Tea Party movement’s a start; it’s at least helping to wake people up). Second, in terms of physical defense of our persons and property, should it come to that. Individually, we are screwed. Rambo talk aside, a home – even in the country – is not really defensible unless you have more than a couple of adults living there. Cooperative effort will be essential when The Shit Hits the Fan. I don’t really know where to begin, other than the friendships I’ve made with my neighbors and the “planting of seeds,” by discussing this subject openly with them…
I think it would take more than a couple of adults. If you went out say to hunt deer you more than likely could not go by yourself. Also you could not leave the home unprotected. Dependent on how bad things actually were. Hopefully it never comes to that but being prepared for any situation is the best thing. Open discussion is the best thing, that way you know where the people stand. Some talk a big game but would be more of a liability than an asset. Everyone would need to have some type of usable skill.
Agreed. Most “country people” have that covered. I was originally a city boy but all my adult life I have tried to acquire as many real world-useful skills as possible. When we moved out here, I quickly became friends with our neighbors, who are mostly farmers, and have learned a great deal from them. What’s funny/sad is that a lot of “city people” look down on people like my neighbors because they didn’t go to college, or work with their hands. But these are some of the smartest people I know; people who can take care of themselves and make-do with just about anything. The guy who lives on the land behind ours, for example, built his own solar water heater system out of old stuff he had laying around. When the Shit Hits the Fan, it’s people like him who stand a good chance of making it; the city folk who look down on him now won’t last a month….
It’s funny when you think about it. When I was 8 years old I went coon hunting by myself at night. I don’t mean a few hundred feet from the house. I walked a couple of miles out in nowhere. When I was ten dad would let me drive the old truck farther down the road where the hunting was better. LOL, can you imagine letting your 10 year old drive a truck out hunting after dark now days. Not that I didn’t trust my kids ( they are grown and I have grand children now ) but I don’t trust others who may be on the prowl. Times used to be much simpler, I think this is the problem. Maybe I’m just an old bastard and think different. I do remember the days when you didn’t have to lock your house, and could leave the keys in your car. Hell, I remember when they had counter checks and all you had to do was sign your name on them and the bank knew who you were.We had two banks in town. We had one stack for one bank and one for another. I never even thought about asking for an Id. I am giving away my age now but it is sad to think of where we are now and where we were. Now with all the credit card card fraud and all the bullshit, Morals have gone out the window and all these punk ass’s want to fuck somebody out of a quarter. It’s not right, where are the values that should be taught to our children. Mine were taught right and theirs will be also. It brings tears to my eyes when I think about where this country has gone and what has become of it. It is a sad situation indeed, I see nothing better coming from the whole damn thing in reality.
Your point about jobs being available is spot on. True, if you’re unemployed, it may not be easy or even possible to find similar work at similar pay; but you can find work. And it is more dignified to do an honest day’s work – whatever that work may be – than to collect a welfare check. But many Americans think they are too good for work that is “beneath them.” So they become part of the Parasite Class instead.
Related to this, of course, is that so many people don’t choose the common sense safeguard of living below their means during good times, so that when hard times appear, they have something to fall back on. I am sympathetic toward people who are in difficulty through no real fault of their own. But it annoys me – as someone who pays his freakin’ bills – to see people bitch about not having the funds to cover the nut on their $400,00 McMansion or their $45,000 SUV that they bought on credit/no money down. Americans used to appreciate the virtues of delayed gratification, of saving for a rainy day. To a great extent that is out the window. And it is part of the reason for the trouble we’re in.
If the system (economy) really does collapse, we may see a return to local autonomy, which could be a good thing. Voluntary cooperation, barter, free exchange – the sorts of things that Americans once did on their own but which were replaced by our current system of top-down regimentation, force and fraud.
We moved away from the DC area some 6 years ago to rural SW Virginia – and it is a much more sane place to live, as well as a nicer place to live. People – generally – aren’t dickheads. And they are productive/self-reliant types. Neighbors help each other out – not because they have to or are forced to by some edict from the government. It’s just what people do.
I like having land – and at least a better shot at survival when (not if, in my view) things go sour… hope you are similarly situated!
Agreed, the redistribution of wealth is a bunch of crap. A helping hand for somebody who needs it is quite different from spending a lifetime on public assistance. When you have generations of families who have never had a job, will never get a job, and their offspring will never have a job, then you have a leach on society that needs to be gotten rid of. I have no problem with unemployment benefits, they are there to help if you need them. What I do have a problem with is the amount of time and the extensions. 96 weeks is along time to find another job, with extensions it only means that people will NOT look for a job until the last few weeks of their payments. If they start looking when the payments have almost run out then of course they can’t find a job. Then they start complaining about being broke and no work. I don’t care who you are, you can find a job. Even in this mess and high unemployment there are jobs out there. You may not like it but it will put food on the table and pay some of the bills. I have no use for lazy people, get a job and there are all kinds of private org. that will help with food. The government should not be in the business of feeding the country. This is socialism at it’s finest and will only lead to the destruction of the nation. It is not sustainable and should be common knowledge even among people like me who know nothing about economics. Here is an example. Many years ago I cut my finger off with a saw making wood stakes for concrete forms. I collected workers comp for one week, didn’t take me long to see I could not live on what I was getting. I wrapped a piece of plastic around my finger with black tape and went back to work. Until people start taking responsibility for their own actions nothing will change. The bleeding hearts will just keep giving out our hard earned tax dollars to the lazy bastards. As for separation I doubt it will ever happen in our lives, if it did happen now I would hate to see the consequences. It is not feasible at this point, maybe in a hundred years possibly. I think the only thing that will work now is what is happening, that is the realization that we cannot keep taking care of the world. By that I mean the WORLD, let these countries stand on their own feet. Live or die, it’s simple. We do not get assistance from anybody for anything but we are always sending money to some shithole country that is corrupt to the core. We have been sending money to Africa for years and they still can’t dig a simple water well. Sorry for the long rant but lazy blood suckers are a sore subject with me. I will touch on some of my other thoughts after your reply. I do enjoy a good debate, makes no difference if somebody agrees with me or not. Having core beliefs does help though. : )
Agreed. But I doubt that voting will accomplish much. At a very fundamental level, many – possibly a majority of – Americans do not understand (or respect) the history of this country or the philosophy of individual rights without which our form of government cannot function. Ask the average person on the street what type of government we have and odds are he’ll say, “a democracy.” Worse, he sees no moral problem with the use of government force to take from “a” to give to “b” – so long as “b” is either himself or some program/cause he supports. Millions of Americans expect the government to “help” them – by forcing others to fund that “help.”
Generations of Americans have been reared and educated to a mindset that is incompatible with liberty. The scumbag politicians are just opportunists who exploit this mentality, taking power as their payment as much as the riches they acquire along the way.
I am not a violent or rash person by nature; and I do not say this lightly or without full appreciation of the potential consequences… but I see no realistic option but to separate, somehow, from the parasites and start over. Peaceably, if is possible. But that may no longer be feasible …
Thanks, by the way, for your thoughtful responses!
No, I don’t, the whole bunch of them need to be voted out of office and we need a new start. One that is really for, by and of the people. What we have are a bunch of teat suckers themselves in office. There is no need for the likes of Rangle, or anybody else to be in office that long. It was not set up to be that way. The whole thing disgusts me. You can make a career out of being a plumber, or a carpenter, or a mechanic. Career’s in representation of the people were never meant to be. I am also disgusted by the welfare expenditures and section 8 and all the other give me crap that is going on. The country cannot afford this and sooner or later it will all come falling down in one giant heap that our kids will have to pay for. To me rep. or dem. is the same thing, these jacklegs have been office for so long it is pathetic and there is no reason for it. Same way with the way the constitution is being interpreted, we have some crazy people who are appointed for life, and control the whole judicial system. I think this is ridiculous at best. Nobody should be appointed for life to any position in the government. I could go on and on but I will leave it at that for not. I am sending this link to a couple of friends who share my point of view.
Yeah, you do… I’m just down about the whole thing. I’ve joined; I attended several rallies… and what comes of it? Batch e-mails urging me to support Republicans. I’ve had it with those ass clowns. Remember Newtie and the “Contract with America”? The GOP is a worthless sack of maggots; arguably worse than the Democrats because the Republicans pay lip service to liberty, then bend it over and fuck it in the ass. We desperately need a viable third party; arguably, secession of some kind. I don’t know how that would develop or what it would look like, but I just don’t see any way to reconcile the vast army of tax feeders/looters/parasites – and the political class that profits from them – and the still-decent remainder of America… do you?
Well you have to start somewhere, I assume you are a libertarian? I am also, but a movement has to have a beginning, hopefully they will come around to the truth of big government and the perils of the socialistic movement that is taking over the country. I pretty much agree with your views in general, only one I would really change and that is this one. “It doesn’t challenge anything basic about the suffocating tyranny that is enveloping this country.” Shouldn’t that read “It doesn’t challenge anything basic about the suffocating tranny that is now running this country.”