Another disgruntled Paulite......Can't see the forest for the trees.
On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 6:39 PM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > Your fallacy spew is sadly expected. > Is it any wonder America is in the mire they are to remain. > > Regard$, > --MJ > > "Why is not voting for Romney a vote for Obama but not voting for Obama is > not a vote for Romney?" -- Laurence Vance > > > > At 12:31 PM 10/2/2012, you wrote: > > > On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 4:04 PM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > A Challenge to Republicans > And An Opportunity For Gary Johnson > by L. Neil Smith > [email protected] > > Attribute to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise > > This election season, like so many others since I turned 18 and first > marked a ballot, it has been carefully arranged so that I have nobody to > vote for. My own presidential candidate was illegally and immorally cheated > out of his chance by a system so thoroughly corrupt that it shines in the > dark like a pile of rotting fish. As Boss Tweed famously put it, "I don't > give a damn who votes, as long as I do the nominating". > > On the one hand, poor, battered America cannot survive another four years > of a president who is more and more obviously a communist, with a > thoroughly communist background, and thoroughly communist intentions. > > On another hand, I refuse to vote for what amounts to a European- style > Christian socialist -- especially the one who is guilty, along with his > minions, of keeping my candidate off the ballot -- simply to thwart the > commie. Better to get it over with at once, like yanking the bandage off > quickly, rather than a torturous tiny little bit at a time. > > I guess I ought to add that this candidate's running-mate's "plan" for > repairing America's deliberately sabotaged economy, and restoring our > nation to a place of respect in the world -- over a ludicrous and > disgusting period of eight to twelve years -- is nothing but elephant > manure. > > On the third hand (I can do that -- I'm a science fiction writer) I am > extremely disinclined to vote for any candidate who claims to be a > libertarian -- theoretically bound by the Zero Aggression Principle -- but > who claims he has a "better plan" to tax me. Exactly like you, I have been > a slave to the state all my life, and I won't vote to let it continue. > Taxation is theft; taxation is slavery; taxation is the fuel of war. It is > long past time that the Libertarian Party took a moral stance against the > ancient and evil institution in all its forms. > > My intention, then, is to "cast a blank", to vote on every one of the > ballot issues and any positions where there is a candidate I can support, > but to leave the choice for president unfilled. I will also persuade as > many others as I can to follow my example. This is the only moral action > available to me. Believe me, I would like to have somebody to vote for, but > only if they will refrain from the lying, cheating, and stealing they have > done for two hundred and twenty-three years. > > There is still a possibility left -- a very small one,to be sure, but > nevertheless, a possibility. You see, I have a plan of my own, to let > America live in peace with the world, in peace with itself, to restore the > Bill of Rights, get progress back on track, and achieve the prosperity for > which America was admired in my childhood -- in the space of about twelve > months. To that end, I am publishing below a chapter from my book Down With > Power: Libertarian Policy In A Time Of Crisis. > > I will vote for any candidate who adopts it -- and for nobody else. > > ****** > > "The Plan" > From Down With Power: Libertarian Policy In A Time Of Crisis* > > THE PROBLEM > > The United States of America are in trouble. To some, it is a horrible > surprise. Many others have helplessly watched it coming for years. > > At the most fundamental levels, with regard to its continued national and > cultural existence, in both economic and philosophical terms, this country > is in vastly worse danger at this moment, than it was during the so-called > Great Depression or the War Between the States. More and more, it appears > that the destruction of the American economy and the civilization it > supports was a deliberately calculated act. > > No fewer than fifteen decades of federal government usurpation and > mismanagement -- culminating in the most openly rapacious and criminal > administrations in its history -- have brought the nation to this point. Of > the ruling parties, the Democrats are arguably the worst offenders in this > regard, relentlessly expanding the power and scope of government, > invariably at the expense of the personal freedom and individual enterprise > this country was supposed to have been all about. > > The War Century was largely a Democratic century. > > While Republicans properly criticize the many shortcomings of the > Democrats, they systematically and hypocritically overlook or ignore their > own part in the destruction of a civilization that once stood as the > brightest hope for all Mankind. Both have conspired together to block any > third party that might have set America on a different course, one more > consistent with the dreams and aspirations of its Founders. > > In any event, this essay is about what needs to be done, without regard to > who might actually do it, Democrat, Republican, or anybody else, with the > warning and understanding that if it doesn't get done, America is doomed, > the rest of the world will inexorably follow, and our species is about to > plunge into a long, dark night that may never end. > > > THE SOLUTION > > It may come as an annoyance to individuals who think of themselves as > "nuts and bolts" problem-solvers that in the field of practical economics, > expectations can be just as important as actualities. To them, I'm sure > that sounds indistinguishable from the very cynical observation that in > politics, perception is more important than reality. > > But the fact is that people in an economic context have to be able to > plan, and to do that, they have to make guesses about a future which, at > best, is always murky, and which, muddled by halfwitted, hamfisted, > off-and-on government interference, becomes impossible to predict. > > America is in a Depression, and more loans, to the banks or from the > banks, more money-printing -- more debt -- aren't going to get it out. Make > no mistake about who is responsible for what happened. For decades, both > parties spent vastly more than the government took in, creating debt -- > with interest -- that had be paid by printing paper money and generating > credit where there was no real wealth to back it up. > > The mortal blow to America's future came when lending institutions were > forced by Congress, first under the Carter Administration, and then again > under the Clinton Administration, to make home loans to individuals they > knew perfectly would be unable to pay them back. Naturally, as defaults and > foreclosures started to pile up, the banks began to fail, which caused a > cascade -- an avalanche -- of other failures. > > It didn't help that by then, the country was embroiled in two illegal, > expensive, and irrational wars in the middle east, initiated for the most > cynical of reasons, using the atrocity of 9/11 as an excuse. > > In any case, the financial collapse was in no way the fault of capitalism > or the market system, as the opportunistic left -- which bears the real > guilt -- and its whorish media presently claim, but of a > command-and-control system which, no less than that of the late, unlamented > Soviets, was doomed to collapse of its own unbearable weight. > > The current administration has done nothing right and everything wrong; > increasing numbers of individuals think it isn't any accident. What's > actually needed is a stability of expectations, and an end to the lethal > drain on the country's resources that government, in fact, represents. > > > TAXES > > The first, most important thing that anyone in charge should do is declare > a universal tax amnesty. All past debts to government at any level will be > null and void. That alone would be sufficient to stop the plunge, trigger > growth, and start businesses and industry hiring again. > > Any government shortfalls caused by this policy should be dealt with, not > by more deficit spending, but by serious reductions in government activity, > by downsizing personnel, and by liquidation of assets. > > And that's just for practice. The next step, to be announced at the same > time as the amnesty -- aimed at restoring predictability to the market > while infusing it with cash (or, rather, allowing it to infuse itself), > without government loans or further inflation -- must be a total moratorium > on every form of taxation, for a period of at least one year, so that the > economy can get back on its feet and recover from the damage the last > several administrations have done to it. > > Once again, when politicians and bureaucrats whimper, demanding to know > who will "pay" for such a "program", they will be informed that they will. > Government will do less. And it holds millions of acres of land and tens of > thousands of buildings that can be auctioned off (once the original owners > have been made whole), endless parking lots covered with vehicles, hangars > full of aircraft, harbors full of boats and ships, vast warehouses stuffed > with hardware and supplies that were obtained with stolen money and should > be returned to the free market. > > If all else fails, there are at least a hundred -- or perhaps a thousand > -- times as many public employees as there ought to be. Some can be let go, > as well. The recovering market should absorb them with ease. > > During the tax moratorium, the details can be worked out on an innovative > new two-tier systemin reality, simply another interim measure -- under > which no taxes of any kind may be levied against any object or activity > protected by the Bill of Rights (establishing long overdue parity with the > First Amendment protection afforded to churches and religion) or against > any of the five fundamental human requirements of life: food, clothing, > shelter, transportation, and self-defense. > > Healthcare would be included under self-defense; a separate effort would > be called for to establish a formal, Constitutional separation of medicine > and state, exactly as there needs to be for science and state. > > Another essential change is the permanent and total abolition of taxes on > so-called "capital gains". Americans are always criticized, the world over, > for not putting enough money in savings. The primary reason is basically > Marxoid-inspired legislation against "unearned income". > > Likewise, so-called "corporate taxation" is just another cynical shot at > sucking the Productive Class dry -- mostly with their own idiotic approval. > No corporation pays taxes, they pass them on to their customers, doubling > the price of goods and services. Abolishing corporate taxation would, in > and of itself, create an historic economic boom that will change the course > of American -- and world -- history. > > So-called "limited liability" must end, as well, along with the pernicious > legal fiction that the corporation is a person, pulling a long overdue > emergency brake on the size, wealth, influence, and power of corporations, > and forcing their ownersthe stockholders who used to be in control -- to > take full responsibility for whatever companies do. > > The ultimate goal, of course, must be the total elimination of all > taxation. Abolitionists who struggled for three hundred fifty years to put > an end to chattel slavery faced no more daunting a task. One of the > problems this supposedly revolutionary country has always suffered is that > its government -- no different from the stagnant European satrapies it > should have differentiated itself from in this regard is financed by > extortion and theft, the pervasive threat to beat non-compliers up, kidnap, > or kill them. At the most charitable, it's a rotten example for teaching > children proper behavior. It makes one wonder whether facing the slings and > arrows of no government at all might be a better choice than paying > government to protect us from itself. > > > HONEST MONEY > > Along with freeing America from taxation, the nation must be free of > government-issued fiat money, as well, allowing the market system to > create, all by itself, many kinds of money from commodities with an > intrinsic value, and imposing no coercive standard on anyone of any kind. > > Money is, above and beyond everything, a medium of communication, > conveying the vital datum known as "price" -- how much of a thing should be > made, what should it be sold for -- the lack of which killed the Soviet > Union and spells ultimate death for any command-and-control economy. > Government monopoly on money is censorship. And inflation printing of too > much paper money or generating "air credit"is a lie. > > > REGULATION > > At the same time, as taxes are being cut and abolished, something must be > done about the mind-boggling, back-breaking burden of laws and regulations > at all levels of government, federal, state, county, and municipal. Speed > is of the essence if decades of damage inflicted by Democrats and > Republicans is to be repairedyet, some estimate that there are in excess > of fifteen million regulations at just the federal level. > > Individuals must be freethey must be encouraged, in fact -- to make what > would amount to criminal charges against regulations and regulators on > Constitutional, as well as other grounds. Government must be compelled to > defend itself -- and each and every item of regulation -- in purely > Constitutional terms, or to abandon the given regulation altogether. In the > end, a thorough sweep of regulations must be made, employing Article 1, > Section 8 -- which explicitly enumerates the very few acceptable functions > of government -- as a broom. > > > JUSTICE > > This plan would not be complete without mentioning certain items of > "housekeeping" that must be done before this nation can begin to heal. > > Foremost among those items is to bring a halt to the criminal mischief > committed by the last two administrations under the guise of economic > "stimulus". This "policy" must be brought to a halt now, and any unspent > money returned to the general fund. Political cronies who were the actual > beneficiaries of this giveaway scheme must be stripped of all their > embezzled fortunes while the politicians responsible are removed from > office and prosecuted for having violated their oath of office. > > Other measures are called for if we are to get this recovery right and > prevent our grandchildren from having to do it all over again. No lawyers, > for example, should ever be permitted in the legislature or in any other > lawmaking body. Their self-serving presence there today represents a > massive conflict of interest that must be swiftly resolved. > > The Founding Fathers' worst, most calamitous mistake must be corrected by > giving the Bill of Rights a penalty clause with real teeth. > > It might go something like this: > > "Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who > attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or > avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or > of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, > upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits, including pension, and > sentenced to imprisonment for life." > > The medieval doctrine of Sovereign Immunity -- the vile notion that the > King can do no wrong -- must be dispensed with, once and for all. > > Consistent with that, this nation can never heal fully until the criminals > actually responsible for atrocities like the Philadelphia MOVE bombing, > Ruby Ridge, Waco, and perhaps even the Oklahoma City bombing (to mention > only four of many) are hunted down and brought to justice. > > And at the end of the reform period, a greater Moratorium, against all > further legislation of any kind for 100 years, must be appended to the > Constitution. A notable single exception will be made for bills of repeal. > > No discussion of economic reform and recovery can be considered complete > without finally addressing two clusters of issues that have always impinged > directly on this nation's economic health and wellbeing. > > > TRADE > > The first, international trade, is relatively easy to dispose of. In a > country that is truly free -- not one that merely says it is, or pretends > to be -- any decision about what to trade, or with whom, or for how much, > does not rest with government, which can have nothing legitimate whatever > to say with regard to "acts of capitalism between consenting adults", but > with individual consumers, businessmen, and entrepreneurs. > > Tariffs, a form of taxation that has been with us since America's > beginning, have distorted markets, drained resources, made ill-gotten > fortunes for the politically connected, and caused the War Between the > States. There are many who argue that tariffs also cause international > wars. > > Businesses that try to use tariffs against foreign competitors are picking > our pockets by denying us the benefits of free trade. They don't deserve to > be protected by the law. And any "agreement" longer than half a page is not > about free trade, no matter what it calls itself. > > > RATIONAL DEFENSE > > Finally, there is the matter of foreign policy and war. > > Throughout America's history, its government has managed to supply at > least one war for each generation of old men to send young men off to fight > for them, just as they were sent off in their youth to fight for their > generation of old men. The cycle is insane and must be stopped. > > Elsewhere, I have listed America's major conflicts and examined each to > see if it could be called a "just war". The vast majority fail to pass the > examination. Only the Revolution, the Mexican War, and the War Between the > States pass muster, All the rest were irrational, fought to enrich some > group or enhance their power, and could have been avoided altogether, along > with the death and destruction they caused. > > "Why those three wars in particular?" I pretend to hear you ask. > > Well, pretty obviously, if there hadn't been a Revolution, there wouldn't > be any United States of America. I have friends -- mostly British -- who > think our War of Independence was unnecessary, but I doubt we'd have made > the centuries-spanning leap, technologically, economically, and especially > in terms of the philosophy of individual liberty, that we made had we > remained a part of that mercantilist empire. > > America had no choice about the Mexican War, which was declared by Mexico > against the United States because it had annexed Texas -- the independence > of which politicians in Mexico insanely refused to recognize despite their > defeat by Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto and the utter > humiliation of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Mexico deserved what > she got, her whimperings to the contrary, notwithstanding. > > Finally, there is the matter of the War Between the States, commonly, but > incorrectly, known as the Civil War. From a Northern point of view, it was > as unnecessary as any other war the United States has involved itself in. > (Contrary to Lincolnian propaganda and popular, public school belief, it > had nothing whatever to do with black chattel slavery -- if it had, then > why do we have photographs of the Capitol dome being rebuilt throughout the > war -- by slaves?) But for the South, there was no alternative. While > Southerners represented only a quarter of the U.S. population, through > tariffs imposed by the North, they were already paying 80 percent of the > taxes. Lincoln and his orcs promised to triple the tariff, reducing all > Southerners to serfdom. > > And yes, I include the so-called "good war" as unnecessary. In fact it was > an observation by my father -- a gallant Air Corps veteran, former prisoner > of war, and 30-year career Air Force officer -- about the strange > coincidence of a war for each generation, that made me think about the > other wars Americans have fought to no good purpose. > > It is impossible to estimate the degree to which all these wars, > especially in the 20th century, distorted our history and retarded its > progress. The trillions spent prosecuting them, the resulting waste of > resources consumed and destroyed, the loss of human potential would be > paralyzing, were we not thoroughly numbed to it by close historical > acquaintance. > > Just a single sobering thought: the genius who might have cured cancer > died, instead, as a nineteen-year-old private or seaman in World War I, > World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, the Balkans, or in Afghanistan. > > And for what? The government and its useful idiots say it was for freedom. > But not single American's freedom was ever endangered by any of these > enemies. And not one of these wars prevented what happened on 9/11/2001. > > No, for once I have not digressed. If America is ever to recover from this > economic crisis, its leaders will have to give up their addiction to war, > even though it is, indeed, the very "health of the state". > > Two solutions come to mind. The first is what I call the "You Go First > Amendment" under which (1) the War Powers Act is repealed so that no > President can ever start a war again without a Congressional declaration of > war, and (2) all those voting for such a declaration will immediately join > the (now former) President who requested it, in uniform, on the prospective > battlefield, ahead of anybody else in the military. > > Finally, because taxation is the fuel of war, military spending, as we > have experienced it since World War II, has to stop. If the country needs > to be defended, let it be done as the Founding Fathers intended, by a > network of well-armed, well trained, and well-supplied volunteer militias > -- preferably organized and prepared at the county level -- among whom the > technical means to defend America must be distributed. > > Freed of being the "cops of the world" we will prosper as never before. > > > THE FUTURE > > As to how we get from here to there, I believe showing people what "there" > is like, may motivate them to work to change "here". That was the idea > behind my novel, The Probability Broach, the shortcoming of which is that > so far it hasn't reached a sufficiently wide audience yet. > > Of course it may, if things continue to get worse. > > What happens next is entirely up to you. Every politician in the country, > in every party and at every level of government, must be made familiar with > "The Plan". None -- not even the Libertarians or Tea Party Republicans -- > are going to want to take the steps outlined here. They will attempt to pat > you on the head or react hysterically. They will call you names -- like > "radical" or "extremist" -- and threaten you. If you're reading this, you > have already been identified by the unconstitutional Department of Homeland > Security as a domestic terrorist. > > It is up to you to hold fast through that period. > > Then slowly, timidly, as these ideas start to spread, some will adopt > portions of what's offered here, ultimately claiming it as their own. > > Let them. > > We will know the truth. > > http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2012/tle690-20120930-02.html > > -- > 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. > > > -- > 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. > Content-Type: image/jpeg; name="crackpot.jpg" > Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="crackpot.jpg" > X-Attachment-Id: f_h7t85n920 > > -- > 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. > -- 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.
