The jury is still out......
On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 4:39 PM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > November 5, 2014 > > *The Biggest Obstacle to Freedom *by Jacob G. Hornberger > <http://fff.org/author/jacob-hornberger-2/> > > Expressing their obvious contempt for the overall situation in America, > voters played their latest game of musical chairs by putting Republicans > back in charge of Congress. > > It won’t make any difference at all. That’s because the Republicans who > have been installed into power are as statist as the Democrats they are > replacing. > > What really matters with respect to a free society is not a new set of > statists to replace an old set of statists. That’s one of the things that > distinguish libertarians from statists. Libertarians understand that the > problem in the United States is a structural one, not one involving getting > “better” people into public office. > > What is that structural problem? Libertarians refer to it as the > welfare-warfare state. It involves enormous apparatuses that, many decades > ago, statists attached onto our original governmental system in America. > > The welfare-state apparatus is based on the concept of mandatory charity. > The federal government forces people to be good and caring toward others. > The income tax and the IRS are the primary means by which this is > accomplished. The federal government taxes people and gives the money to > others who the government deems need the money more. > > The warfare state apparatus is based on the concept of militarism, empire, > and interventionism. It consists of a vast, permanent military and > intelligence national-security establishment that is committed to > installing and supporting foreign regimes that are compliant and submissive > to the dictates of U.S. officials. Regimes that fail to fall into line are > considered “rivals” or “enemies” and become the potential targets of > invasion, occupation, assassination, sanctions, embargoes, coups, and other > devices to bring about regime change. The warfare state is characterized by > kidnapping, torture, indefinite detention, assassination, and other > practices that normally characterize totalitarian regimes. > > Within the welfare-warfare state apparatuses are such programs as the drug > war, fiat money, minimum wage laws and other economic regulations, and the > Federal Reserve, none of which formed any part of America’s original > governmental structure. > > In order to achieve a peaceful, harmonious, prosperous, and free society, > it is necessary to dismantle the welfare-warfare state apparatus rather > than “reform” it or elect and appoint “better” people to run the > welfare-warfare programs, departments, and agencies. > > That would obviously require a monumental shift in the way people think > about the role of government. As long as the American people continue to > support a welfare-warfare state, nothing fundamental will change. The only > thing that will change is the party affiliation of those running > welfare-warfare state programs. > > One big problem we face is that most Americans have no idea that these two > massive apparatuses have been attached to the original government > structure. Americans have been inculcated with the false belief that the > United States has always had the same type of government. > > The biggest problem, however, is that most Americans honestly believe that > they are free. Even worse, they are convinced they are free because of the > existence of the welfare-warfare state apparatuses (which they don’t > recognize as apparatuses). > > That’s why so many mainstream Americans remain befuddled and confused over > libertarianism. When they hear us libertarians say that we are fighting for > a free society, they don’t get it because in their minds, they are living > in a free society. > > I have personal experience with this phenomenon. I grew up as a Democrat > in South Texas. I attended public school from the first grade through the > 12th grade. I went to a state-supported college and a state-supported law > school. I firmly believed that government should be helping the poor. I > never once heard of libertarianism. > > One day, in the late 1970s, when I was in my late 20s, a friend gave me a > book entitled *A Time for Truth *by William Simon. I found the book to be > interesting but what struck me the most was what I considered a bizarre > point that Simon made throughout the book about the loss of “liberty” in > the United States. > > I recall pointing out to my friend how weird that was. I knew we were > free. Everyone knew that Americans were free. It’s what had been taught to > everyone in the public (i.e., government) schools most everyone attended. > And yet here was Simon saying that Americans had lost their liberty. How > weird was that? > > It was about a year later that I discovered a set of books setting forth > libertarian principles. All the scales dropped from my eyes. Those essays > brought about a breakthrough. I was able to break free of all the > indoctrination I had received in those government schools about how free > America was. I could now see clearly what Simon was talking about. His > concepts about freedom were no longer weird or bizarre to me. Instead, they > made total sense. > > Notice something important here: If I had never achieved that > breakthrough, the notion of achieving a free society would still be > considered bizarre to me. That’s because a person’s quest for freedom > necessarily depends on his realization that he isn’t free. If he goes > through life falsely believing he’s free, he will never participate in any > movement that purports to achieve freedom. As far as he’s concerned, he’s > already living in a free society. > > Thus, the biggest obstacle we face as libertarians is that most American > still falsely believe they are free and, even worse, that the > welfare-warfare state is the cause of their freedom rather than the means > by which their freedom has been destroyed. > > While that is a difficult obstacle, fortunately it’s not an insurmountable > one. After all, consider me. If I could break free of the indoctrination, > so can anyone else. > > What matters is that we libertarians continue speaking the truth about > freedom and what the welfare-warfare state has done to destroy our freedom. > What impact such truth will have on people is beyond our control but one > thing is for certain: If we fail to speak the truth, Americans will be > relegated to continue living in the statist box, expressing gratitude for > how “free” they are, and playing musical chairs with Democrat and > Republican statists. > > http://fff.org/2014/11/05/biggest-obstacle-freedom/ > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "PoliticalForum" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
