America: The Land of the Free or A Nation of Slaves?

My people, my family, or at least lines of my family, have resided in America since the early colonial days.   They came for the promise of a better life, free from the political entanglements and intrigues , from European politics, and the shackles of class.  They came seeking, in a word, liberty, and here they found it, albeit at the expense of the eastern Native American tribes.  They understood at a deep, near subliminal level what freedom and liberty meant.

American’s today know the words liberty and freedom.  Indeed, our national anthem extols “the land of the free.”  Our politicians mouth the words liberty and freedom ad nauseum, but do Americans truly have a clear understanding of these words.  I think not.  We have liberty and freedom in this country only in so much as the government permits us.

If one has liberty, one has a right to one’s person and ones property, and along with that, the right to protect ones person and ones  property.  This is the fundamental libertarian or classical liberal principle of  self-ownership, and it is from this single fundamental principle from which libertarian ideology proceeds.   Another term for this state of liberty is individualism.  To better understand this idea of self-ownership, let us look at what it means to be a slave.  First, a slave has no right to his person.  A slave is property.  Before the civil war, many slave owners spoke of abolition (in a convoluted and disingenuous fashion, mind you) as an attack on property rights.  As property, as a slave, you have no self-ownership, you are owned by a “master.”  Your entire life is lived at your master’s bidding.  You work, you eat, you sleep when told, and the produce of your labor belongs to the master.  Even the children of the unions which the master might demand in order to create more beautiful or stronger slaves belong to the master.

In opposition to this, if one has liberty, one chooses where and when to work, where and when to sleep, with whom they sleep, and the produce of your labor is yours, and yours alone to do with as you please.  Given these two distinct states of being, where on the scale from absolute slavery to absolute liberty are Americans today, or can be no admixture of the two?  Is it possible for one tobe partly free or partly a slave?

I tend to conceive of liberty as a positive term, as an absolute term because it encompasses the simple and singular right of self-ownership.   Slavery, however, may have numerous states in which it more nearly approaches liberty, or is further removed from liberty.

I am told that it takes the average American about four months of their labor to work of their debt to pay their income taxes.  This is simply an indenture, a form of slavery.  The government decides how much of my hard earned money they want to take, and they take it under threat of  my punishment, of my imprisonment.

Now, some would say, the government does good things with that money… they build roads and ports, they protect our shores from invasion, they feed the poor…, but let me ask a question.  If your neighbor came into your home, put a gun to your head, and told you to give him one third of all your money, but not to worry, that he was going to go out and do good things in the community with it.  What would you do?   After writing the check to avoid being shot in the head, and after your neighbors departure, you would go to the phone, call the police, and have him arrested.  Theft is theft, no matter how it is carried out.

A gentleman by the name of Frederick Bastiat called this “legalized plunder,” and that is precisely what it is.  There is no moral coherency between the government and the people.  The government operates under a different set of rules.  They are the master, and we the slaves.

America… a nation of slaves

There is Hope for America!

Browsing the Mises website, there was an brief article on Hayek’s Road to Serfdom. I have slowly been working my way through a mountain of Libertarian books, and just happen to currently be reading this classic work, so I took a look at the article.

Having lived nearly six decades, I admit to seldom being surprised, but by golly a single sentence in this piece astonished me.  After getting a plug on the Glenn Beck Show, The Road to Serfdom is currently the number one selling book on Amazon.com.

There is little doubt that this book is a very worthy read, but the fact that it is the highest selling book on Amazon was, well, shocking to me.  This one sentence gives me more hope for my country than I have had in years.

For those of you that don’t know, this book is perhaps the greatest defense for classical liberalism (the political philosophy of our founding fathers), and argument against socialism that has ever been written, and along with Glenn Beck, I encourage you to read it.

The  Road to Serfdom: Despotism Then and Now – Thomas J. DiLorenzo – Mises Daily.

America Loves War or Where Have all the Doves Gone?

When the New York Times, one of the more liberal newspapers in the country, seems to have little more to say about our war in Afghanistan than “General McChrystal is going to have to do a much better job in Kandahar,” then the end of the world must certainly be near.

When I was a young man  in the US Navy (1970-1974), there was a movement called the “Peace Movement”.  What the hell happened?  Has America Entire (that means everybody) bought into the idea of US Global Military Hegemony preached and supported  by the Republicrats in DC?  This much to the Economic detriment of our country.

As a  serviceman during the last “necessary war” that proved so unnecessary, I watched in dismay as helicopters removed the last of our people from the roof of our embassy in Saigon.

I’m wondering if this is the same exit strategy we have for Afghanistan.

Editorial – Taking Stock in Afghanistan – NYTimes.com.

The U.S. Is Not Too Big To Fail

If you were to ask most any of the big government hacks (republicrats) in Washington the definition of “Fiscal Responsibility”, I am quite certain that all you would get would be a vacuous stare.  For decades, politicians have been assured by our central bank that it doesn’t matter how much money they spend, the bank can handle it…  Right…  They create paper to pay off the debts that they created with other paper, to pay off the debts that they created with other paper to pay off the debts…  ad infinitum.  This is a very sophisticated ponzi scheme that doesn’t even require other investors to pay off previous investors.  They just create more digital dollars…  a house of cards, and trust me folks, eventually it will fall.

The U.S. Is Not Too Big To Fail | The New Republic.

The absence of debate over war – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com

Since the year of my birth, 1951, our nation has been in perpetual war.  Government uses this to grow itself, and increase its control over us, the people.  The founders feared standing armies, and they were right to do so.  As their experience with the european powers had shown them, war is  a noose around the peoples neck.

Read the article below for a critique of this point.

The absence of debate over war – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com.

Danger in Numbers: The Decline of Paper Currency by Richard Daughty

Ahh, the Mogambu Guru!  No one says it with more panache tucked between the tongue and cheek.  As the European Central bank creates a trillion bucks out of thin air, and the Federal Reserve offers to back these notes…  Tell me is that not backing paper with paper?  Am I clueless here, or was this not sort of what happened when all those mortgage backed securities started toppling?  The government ponzi scheme goes on, and indeed I continue to see the end of the world as we know it.

Danger in Numbers: The Decline of Paper Currency by Richard Daughty.

What’s Wrong with a Free Lunch?

My father was one cranky old sob, but he certainly was no fool.  One thing he taught me was that “life ain’t fair and nothing in it is free.”

Apparently, the Greek government never met my father, or they would not be in the mess they are currently in.    The Greek Government thought that it could borrow to finance its own growth, and then borrow the money to pay that back.   The Greek government thought that it could finance its social welfare programs with borrowed money, and then borrow money to pay it back.   Sound familiar?

In 1920, an enterprising Italian immigrant by the name of Charles Ponzi (that’s him to the right.  Notice the numbers he’s holding up?) came up with an idea to put a few dollars in his pocket.   He would offer a high yielding investment (50% within 40 days, or 100% within 90 days).

I think the people who bought these “investments” never met my Father either, or they would have known that “If it sounds too good to be true… It probably is, but anyway,   people bought the product he offered, and as he brought in new investors, he would pay off the original investors with the new investors money.  Ponzi  took this idea and ran with it, and that’s why he has those numbers across his chest in the photo.  In the end, he bilked people out of over $2,000,000, and using the Coke Index (the price of a coke when I was a kid, versus the price of a coke today) that’s at least $40,000,000 in today’s dollars.   Ponzi is well remembered however…  they named a scheme after him.  Yep, you guessed it, “The Ponzi Scheme”.  He went to jail for it.

Well the Greeks are finding out that pyramid schemes, whether run by a little italian immigrant by the name of Ponzi, or a Government run amok,  are simply just that…  pyramid schemes.  Now,  just as my cranky old man told me, they’re about to find out that “life ain’t fair, and nothing in it is free.”  Just like in Hamelin, they are going to have to pay the piper, and they are angry, just as the burning policeman at the left suggests.

Livid pensioners,  wild haired socialists, students with a communist bent,  and government workers are very upset that the dole-ist policies of their government are going to have to be reined in.

Well, folks, it’s not just Greece that has involved itself in a Ponzi Scheme.   The federal government never spoke to my father either, and here at home, with our paternalistic government being all things to all people,  borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, one has to wonder what will happen here when the piper’s pay is due.

Americans  accustomed to the Free Lunch that is Our Government (FLTIOG) will certainly not behave like those nasty Greeks… right?….. Right.

Economic Implosion? or Go Long on Gold and Silver

As the sovereign debt crisis unravels in Europe, the dollar has seen a resurgence against foreign currencies.  Long perceived as a safe haven, the United States profits from European economic uncertainty, but how long can this last?

You’ve heard of Black Friday… Well now you’ve seen Souvlaki Thursday (the Greek Debt Crisis is making its presence felt in the international markets) With a drop in the Dow this past Thursday of almost 9.2% (though it did rebound to a 3.4% loss) the market has shown its fragility. 9.2% is not small potatoes folks, and I can assure you that the big boys in DC are running scared.

As previously mentioned, however, the dollar is remaining strong against other currencies, but not against gold and silver. These two metals continue to rise, or rather hold their own against an inflating currency.

Throughout the history of mankind, no (that means not one) fiat (by order of government) currency has survived. Why is this? Well, the reason is that governments who have the power to “make” (in our case print) money have never been able to restrain themselves. When they need more money for their wars or their social programs… well they just crank up the printing press. And by the way, the constitution gives the Federal Government the responsibility of coining money… not printing it.

Since the federal government went off the gold standard (starting first with the Breton Woods agreement in 1945 and ending in 1973 with Nixon’s repudiation of the gold standard) we have had a fiat system. In the past several years, the money supply has nearly doubled courtesy of Mr. Ben Bernake. This causes inflation.

Inflation is a concept that exists primarily in fiat money systems (and baloons, tires, etc.) Essentially this means more money chasing fewer goods. As a simple guy, I like to think of it using the Coke Index. When I was a child in the late fifties, I could buy a Coca Cola for 5 cents… That same Coke today costs me 20 times that much. This is not due to scarcity of Coca Cola… They make lots more than they did when I was a child. This is not due to increasing corporate profits. If you look at those in inflation adjusted dollars, it’s about the same. Nope, it’s due to the decreasing value of our fiat dollar caused by the rolling presses in DC. Rolling to fund their wars (spreading freedom? what hogwash), rolling to fund their social programs (helping to fund the needy? more hogwash… funding votes).

I am getting away from the thrust of this blog, though. What you saw thursday is a shift along the seismic crack that is the world economy.  When the fault line opens?…   All these riches based on a house of cards. What happens when one of the bottom cards is pulled out?

Gold and silver can help to protect you, my friends, from the economic unravelling that is currently in progress, and will continue to progress. I urge you to have a garage sale, get rid of the stuff that’s filling your basement… buy silver coins. The cash that’s in the bank… buy silver coins with it. Load up… protect your wealth… you’ll be glad you did.

An Economic “Tipping Point” or Go Long on Gold

The PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain) have sort of dropped out of the news lately, but not because they lack importance as indicators of the current global economic crisis.

Jean Claude Trichet, the European Central Bank President has remarked that:  “The International Monetary Fund or any other body must not assume the responsibility of Eurozone Governments in dealing with economic problems,”  He has also remarked that  “The Greeks are crooks, and they’ve been lying about the numbers.

The Greek government currently has as a debt load equal to 150% of GDP, or so they say.  Others believe that the actual number is much greater.  They are on the verge of financial collapse.  This creates significant problems within the EU.  The French are large holders of this debt, and want to see this crisis resolved in a fashion that does nothing to hurt them financially.  The Germans on the other hand, are ready and willing to cast off the Greeks and send them on another, and perhaps even more fearful and painful odyssey than that of which Homer wrote over two thousand years ago.

According to Philip Manduca, head of  investment at ECU Group, a financial group based in the UK that is primarily a trader in currency, “We are at a tipping point.”  A lack of fiscal unity in the Eurozone may very well implode the currency, unless… “someone else takes the spotlight, and that may be you (meaning the US).”

Right now, we are  funding our wars and our social programs through debt, but when other nations like China start worrying about our ability to repay,  US bond yields must start to climb as  the perception of risk increases.  Manduca argues that when this happens, and if equities start to fall… we have a real big Uh Oh!

Even with all the stimulus dollars applied, the US has seen only a .1% increase in real GDP, and the government, a large part of that picture, is an unproductive sector of the economy.  The job market is flat, and unemployment has not seen significant change.  On top of that we’ve got Obamacare coming and business in the US is already talking writedowns.  We’re talking a continuation of the “perfect storm” here folks.

So for the average guy, what’s the answer?  Metals, I’m thinking.  Gold and Silver.  Right now, I prefer silver, it’s cheaper, you can buy more of it, and there’s more room to run.  While gold might double in the next few years, silver could increase by a factor.

When I say to you that I don’t want to see this happen, I mean it, and I hope that it doesn’t, but I don’t see any other plausible  outcome.  As an individual, I can live beyond my means for only so long.  It is the same for government, and we have reached the “Tipping Point.”

Watch this video, only 8 minutes long.

ECU Group’s Philip Manduca “We Are At A Tipping Point” And The Only Thing That May Save The Euro Is A Collapse Of The US | zero hedge.

Perspective: The South is rising again (OneNewsNow.com)

The debate regarding the role of the states and the federal government in our country has a long history.  It certainly was a prevalent topic during the writing of our current constitution.   The debate continues still.  This article is a must read

Perspective: The South is rising again (OneNewsNow.com).