An alternative means in raising revenue to tariffs and income taxation

Through employing a variant of a capitalistic free market system.

Note: I am not an economist. What I am is someone with some talent in taking seemingly disparate elements and bringing them together in a new way. Such that the sum is greater than the whole of its parts. The novelist Victor Hugo, whose most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862) once observed that, “No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come“. This may be such an idea.

Establishing premises: A broad based, abundant economy results in the maximum amount of satisfaction for the maximum number of people. That translates into the societal stability that a people in which all are doing well brings, benefitting even the richest. It is also a given that, sufficient revenues are required for even the least possible governance.

Historical context: America has tried two methods of raising the funds needed to govern. “Before the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, the federal government lacked the power to raise revenue directly. Even after the Constitution was ratified, federal revenues came mostly from tariffs* and excise taxes**. *tariff: A tax on products imported from foreign countries.
**excise tax: A tax on the sale or use of specific products or transactions.

The problem with tariffs is that they economically depress the growth of the domestic economy, since they negatively impact the finances of the middle class and poor. 

“During the Civil War, the federal government required much more revenue than the tariffs and excise taxes could provide.”

Accordingly, in 1862 “President Lincoln signed into law a revenue-raising measure to help pay for Civil War expenses. The measure created a Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the nation’s first income tax. It levied a 3 percent tax on incomes between $600 and $10,000 and a 5 percent tax on incomes of more than $10,000.Sep 29, 2022”

The tax on income was abolished after the war. America got away with that due to westward expansion and massive immigration. But by 1900 our Manifest Destiny had essentially been achieved and tariff’s no longer sufficed.

“The ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913 gave Congress the right to levy and collect income taxes. Income taxes tend to be progressive because they tax a larger percentage of income from high-income groups than from low-income groups.”

The problem with an income tax, indeed with all taxation, however justified the need, is that it is nevertheless theft from the individual by the group. Income tax is also inherently unjust, in that it places a disproportionate financial burden upon those with less economic resources. Even ‘progressive’ taxation does so. A 5% tax on income of $30k is more onerous than a 25% tax on income of $150k.
Plus, it is counterproductive, in that it also depresses the domestic economy by limiting the amount of financial resources available for investment. Beyond a minimal percentage, increased taxation results in less productivity and thus in less revenues. Yet our history demonstrates that a minimal percentage of taxation cannot be maintained in the face of the public’s demands upon their representatives for… more. 

So another, better means of raising federal revenues needs to be found. Fortunately, that alternative arose out of the discovery of the vast oil field deposits in and off Alaska’s shores.

Alaska’s oil resources were discovered long after the continental US and Middle Eastern oil reserves had begun to be exploited. Someone came up with​ the idea and then persuaded the Alaskan people of the proposition that Alaska’s oil belonged to the Alaskan people. As owners, they are due monetary compensation from the profit that the sale of their property brings. Accordingly, the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) was established in which Alaska’s oil is owned by its citizens and managed by the State.​ (1)

Private companies that wish to develop Alaska’s oil fields pay to the State a percentage of whatever the oil they extract sells for on the open market.

Alaska uses part of that revenue for government operations. That helps to keep Alaska’s taxation at a lower level. Alaska pays out an annual dividend ​out of the Permanent Fund​ to every adult ​Alaskan citizen. As far as I know, Alaska only does this for oil and gas. But if the natural resource of oil in the ground belongs to its citizens, then why would that not apply to all naturally occurring resources? ​’Natural Resources​’ being defined as naturally occurring materials and processes that are not man made. No individual or group can claim to have a blanket ownership of the air or the oceans or sunlight.

I propose that America embrace what Alaska has done and pass a new constitutional amendment that through the process of eminent domain, all of America’s natural resources be brought into that system. The process of eminent domain would in this case entail just compensation being paid to the former owners of prior private ownership of natural resources. Some common sense provisions for extenuating circumstances would need to be included within the legislation. Developed land, such as homes and businesses already existing could not be simply swept aside to get at the natural resources within the earth. The voluntary selling of land upon which homes and business already resided would be allowed, though only with the provision that such did not impinge upon the rights of neighbors. (I can’t sell out to an oil company, who then puts an Oil Derrick next to your front yard).

Yet Alaska’s oil revenues only amount yearly to an average dividend for Alaska’s residents of $1,600. This despite the fund in 2019 amounting to $64 billion dollars. 

Even with all natural resources being subject to this methodology it would not result in revenues sufficient to fund federal and state government operations. (2)

But ​those revenues could act as ​a ​seed from which ​a tree​ could​ be grown, needing only the proper amount of time and protection to reach its full potential.

Which suggests an adjunct method of raising revenue for the Federal and State governments. Happily that method is easily identified and known as the ‘miracle’ of compound interest. Compounded interest is the magic formula for ​growth​ in wealth creation. Of course, compounded interest requires it be left to grow and dipping into a ‘Piggy Bank’ is not limited to children. Politicians (“but I repeat myself”), in response to public demand, see government ‘Piggy Banks’ ​as an irresistible temptation. Giving credit where credit is due, the person who first brought to wider public awareness how to prevent politicians from being able to raid government Piggy Banks was presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000. A former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Gore knew exactly how Congress operates and how it dispenses federal revenues. To address the Medicare program’s future threatened financial insolvency, he proposed that future Medicare revenues be placed in a “lockbox”. So that Congress could no longer ‘borrow’ from it, as it has done for decades. Thus preventing the otherwise mathematically certain future bankruptcy of the Medicare program. Gore lost the election and political apathy and Congressional intransigence prevented serious consideration of ​his idea. The Medicare program is now projected to run out of money in the 2030’s. ​

Again giving ‘the devil’ his due, Congressman Paul Ryan fairly early in his time in Congress proposed a method for privatizing federal entitlement programs like Social Security by incrementally and conservatively investing Social Security funds in the stock market. Ryan rightly saw that money invested in the stock market over the typically 40 years of a person’s earning years resulted in far more growth than does the current methods used by Social Security. As currently formulated, Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, one that falls apart when succeeding generations number greatly less than prior generations.

Ryan’s proposal was demonized by the Democrats along with little support from congressional Republicans and it too never received serious congressional consideration.

These three factors; citizen ownership of the country’s natural resources, Al Gore’s ‘lockbox’ and the ‘magic’ formula of compound interest form the core of my proposal.

Revenues collected from fees paid by private companies for the use and extraction of natural resources would be funneled into a ‘lockbox’ and invested in safe, solid investments. No withdrawal of those funds could take place for a minimum of 60 years or more. Yes, for this to work several generations would have to sacrifice and invest for the well-being of future generations. I know, good luck with that… but the alternative is the mathematical certainty of sovereign bankruptcy and far greater economic misery for those adults then living who refused to embrace disciplined sacrifice.

I envision several steps to this proposal. After the fund in the lockbox grew sufficient to allow for withdrawals, for every dollar withdrawn, an exact reduction, dollar for dollar in federal and state taxation would be required​ by federal law.​ Firm limitations on the percentage that could be withdrawn would have to be written into law, so that the principle could continue to increase. 

Eventually as the withdrawals from the fund increased, income taxation would decrease until it was eliminated. Indeed, if properly managed the fund would increase astronomically, as there is no inherent limit to the growth of compound interest, literally growing into the trillions of dollars. The inescapable result would be that all taxation could be eliminated with literally all social welfare programs funded, at least those that are actually needed. Withdrawals would be strictly limited by law to a certain percentage of the fund, such that slower but continued growth would occur in the fund. That would ensure that as the principal continued to grow, revenues both to the Federal and State governments would gradually increase.​ 

​But wait! There’s more! The second step in the process would be initiated once all taxation by federal and state governments had ceased. At that point, the fund having grown to a predetermined point, dividends could begin to be paid out to the citizen’s individual lockboxes. Those dividends to the citizens would also increase overtime. An additional provision is that funds paid to citizens would start at birth, but could not be withdrawn either until retirement or possibly after 18, with some percentage of the funds able to be withdrawn by the citizen under certain conditions, such as payment of excessive medical expenses, attending a trade school, furtherance of education or starting a business.

Such that in a century or two, the funds within the lockbox would both entirely replace the revenues needed for the operation of government​s and would provide a Universal Basic Income for every citizen. Which I believe will become an inescapable necessity, given the future conditions that will arise with the development of the G.R.A.I.N. Technologies. Intelligent robotics are already eliminating many unskilled labor jobs. Yet the G.R.A.I.N. Technologies also have the potential to usher in an age of unprecedented abundance. The talented will find uses for their talents and the indolent and average will have a sufficient income to live comfortably. 

Properly managed, the lockbox would continue to grow, and so too would the amount of Universal Basic Income paid out to the individual citizen. Every generation would receive a bit more than the prior one.

​In principle, there is no essential difference between passive dividend income through ownership of conventional stocks​ and/or returns from bond ownership and, what is essentially a Universal Basic Income derived from​ shared ownership of a country’s natural resources. Mathematically and pragmatically, I can see no basic, factual objection to this proposal. What works for the rich can work for everyone. It’s not a matter of smarts but of the will to put resources to efficient use.

Of course as a wise man once observed, “Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal.” So abuse of any system is a given. The real issue is what can be done to reduce abuses as much as possible. “There are no ‘solutions’, only trade-offs” Thomas Sowell

So careful and strict provisions would need to be put in place that could not be revised without perhaps 90% of the country’s citizens voting in favor of that proposed revision. I well recognize that what can be done, may not be possible to do, given social and psychological realities. But what may not be possible today, may become essential, once enough pain has been experienced. Delayed gratification is as healthy a habit for a society, as it is for the individual. Impulsive indulgence leaves Jack and Jill living on the precipice, forever in debt and utterly dependent upon getting that next paycheck. Pain is the body’s feedback mechanism to correct dysfunction. So too is sovereign bankruptcy a society’s feedback mechanism. Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever. ​As Robert Heinlein observed, “Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime: the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically (by nature) and without pity.”​ 

America is in the position of paying now or paying far more later.

1) “As of 2019, the fund was worth approximately $64 billion that has been funded by oil revenues and has paid out an average of approximately $1,600 annually per resident (adjusted to 2019 dollars).[5] The main use for the fund’s revenue has been to pay out the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), which many authors portray as the only example of a basic income in practice.”

(2) “According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Alaska’s total expenditures in fiscal year (FY) 2022 were $14.4 billion, including general funds, other state funds, bonds, and federal funds.”    

The coming WMD jihadist terrorist attacks

 

The attack in San Bernardino was just the beginning.

Preface: It is my belief that the West’s Far Left and Islam are working together in a temporary, informal “marriage of convenience”. Both rightly perceive America’s constitutional form of government and its capitalist economic system to be a far greater obstacle to their world-wide dominance than is the other. They both want to rule, both are totalitarian in nature and have aligned together* to bring about the destruction of America. Islam seeks world-wide shariah law over all, the Far Left, a Marxist utopia. They plan to turn on each other, once America is effectively destroyed.

*ISIS is a faction within Islam that is NOT aligned with the Left. There are various factions within Islam as there are on the Left. As it suits their agenda, each side and faction ‘accommodates’ the other side.

Thesis:                                                                                                                                                                   Connecting ‘the dots’ is not difficult, it is in having the intellectual honesty and willingness to actually connect the dots wherein the challenge lies.

First the Islamic threat.

ISIS army of scientists set to wage chemical and biological war on West: Experts warn weapons of mass destruction ‘have been carried undetected’ into European Union

Isis recruiting ‘highly trained foreigners’ to produce chemical weapons

ISIS has consistently been ahead of the West’s ‘leadership’. Europe is closer and logistically easier to infiltrate but America’s porous southern and northern borders make entrance into the US easily accomplished. And, America is Islam’s “Great Satan”.

ISIS is well aware that if they can neuter America, the West will start to fall. ISIS is far more strategically sophisticated than is al Qaeda. They understand that America’s infrastructure is her “achilles heel”. Neutering America, which strategically is all that ISIS needs to do, does not require destroying America, which is beyond ISIS capability. But ISIS does have the ability to bring America to her psychological knees by creating enough panic, economic chaos and disruption that America falls into a “Fortress America” defensive mindset. That fearful mindset necessarily would embrace an isolationist, defensive posture, which would in turn result in America’s retreat from the world stage. America would abandon its global influence.

Attacking America’s water supplies and electrical grid with chemical and/or biological WMDs would create the conditions needed to force America into an isolationist mind set and presuppose the American public to acceptance of a national, semi-permanent state of emergency. ISIS can create in America the terrorist conditions under which Israel has long labored and, those conditions would necessarily create a defensive American mindset.

Effectively removing America from influence upon the world stage would provide ISIS with the status needed to achieve acceptance within the Islamic community of its leadership of a new Islamic Caliphate.

It’s important to understand that most within the Ummah (greater Muslim community) fervently wish to see Islam rule the world. They only disagree on methodology to achieve that end because Islam’s most basic tenet is that Islam MUST rule the world. A basic Islamic tenet with which almost all Muslims agree. The Saudis for instance believe in ‘stealth jihad’ and gradual assimilation of the host culture into Islam through ‘Hijrah’, the migration of Muslims into a non-Muslim society until Muslims reach a ‘tipping point’ in percentage of that society’s population, whereupon they can wrest control of that society and implement Shariah.

“None of the people that have that criticism of Shariah law have checked out the law because it’s not even for non-Muslims. Shariah law is for Muslims. So if there is a Muslim majority state, then it has to be run by sharia law”. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, convert to Islam

ISIS, al Qaeda, etc. believe in Islam’s Dar al-harb, its ‘house of war’ i.e. conquest through the sword. Should ISIS achieve its goals, the Saudi’s et al would jump on board.

Middle Eastern Men Arrested Near Mexican Border with Steel Cylinders

This story has far more importance than it has been given by the media, which of course is not accidental. The very last thing the Obama administration wants is for the American public to prematurely awaken. Important details such as what was in those steel cylinders has been hidden from the public. If they were just water thermos containers, they never would have been mentioned. The most likely material contained in those steel cylinders was a chemical or biological agent. The most likely target was large American city’s water supplies. This is not mere speculation but informed conjecture;

Paris attacks: Security around city’s water system upgraded following atrocities

Fears of a Biological Attack on Water Supplies in France

“Iraqi and American intelligence have warned that Isil is aggressively pursuing development of chemical weapons, setting up a branch dedicated to research and experiments with the help of scientists from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the region.”

The Far Left’s strategy;

The Obama administration and the federal government are purposely keeping the public in the dark about the actual nature of the threat. They are doing this to avoid panic and to delay the coming political backlash. Obama himself does not see any fundamental incompatibility between Islam and Marxism. Such differences as do exist are in his opinion, resolvable.

It is the author’s opinion that the hardcore Far Left, of which the Obama administration is its current foremost agent are intentionally manipulating events, such that WMD attacks will occur in the US. The goal of such a strategy is to ensure that nationwide, near-permanent Martial Law will have to be declared in response to the ensuing panic and chaos. In my previous post; The approaching, manufactured ‘crises’ facing America I’ve laid out the rationale and strategy the left has planned for fundamentally transforming America into AmeriKa.

Note that I attribute this strategy to the American hardcore Far Left, not “useful idiot” liberals. Nor do I think that Obama himself wishes to be a dictator. He wishes his legacy to be that of the man who made possible America’s transformation into a non-white, Marxist/progressive society. The non-white attribute is important because Obama is a virulent racist who carefully conceals his racism.

The Far Left’s perception of America is perfectly encapsulated by the opinion of the foremost financier of the left, “The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.” George Soros

The birth of the United Socialist States of AmeriKa awaits.

The approaching, manufactured ‘crises’ facing America

I have reached the conclusion that the Obama administration is intentionally conducting a 6 part multi-front campaign both domestic and in the foreign arena of traitorous design in order to complete the final and “fundamental transformation” America.

One major front is Comprehensive Amnesty with an expedited path to citizenship for 15-50 MILLION “undocumented” democrats. The GOP is fully collaborating in that endeavor (1) and the granting of citizenship to those illegal immigrants would guarantee permanent one-party rule in America. As it would provide the needed votes to fundamentally transform the Constitution through the amendment process and would be entirely legal.

The second domestic front is in the area of unsustainable debt and willful obstruction of the American economy’s ability to restore itself. 92 million Americans are out of work and 2/3rds of the jobs created under this administration have gone to illegal immigrants with 75% of all jobs created being part time jobs. That shall, sooner or later result in sovereign bankruptcy and the collapse of America’s financial system.

The third domestic front is in creating the conditions conducive to a pandemic outbreak. A pandemic in America will also create panic, impede both our food and transportation networks, overwhelm our medical network and result in bi-partisan demands for protection.

A perceptive commenter factually observed;

“The deliberate, considered, and premeditated response of Federal agencies across the board has been to bring as many disease vectors into this country as they possibly can, to forcibly prevent them from being medically screened, to scatter them throughout the country, and to actively impede state and local health authorities from responding to any disease outbreaks triggered.

We now have Ebola being spread by government actions within our borders. We now have previously eradicated TB being spread by government action within our borders, except now drug resistant. We now have an epidemic enterovirus all over the country attacking children, now killing them, and mutating into a form of polio which we had eradicated within our borders. We now have Dengue Fever spreading within this country, which has not been here in any volume for a century.

And all of it spread in the last couple of years with the help of all agencies of the Federal government.

This is a level of “incompetence” that cannot be blamed on one or two individuals. It crosses several Cabinet level departments with them working together for a common result. Which we are seeing now. That level of “incompetence” is in fact planning and premeditation. The odds of multiple departments committing reinforcing acts to bring this result by pure chance are beyond credibility. Especially, since not one of them are responding to the breaking reality with changed behavior.”

The other major fronts in the administration’s campaign involve purposely driving this country toward a crisis sufficient in severity to require a declaration of martial law for “the duration of the national emergency”. It is critical to the hard core left’s design, that the crisis be severe enough that calls for the restoration of order be ‘bi-partisan’, as this is the only way that the US military will stay neutral and not interfere. These other major fronts consist of Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons capability and infiltration through our open southern border of Islamic terrorist cells.

Iran’s achievement of nuclear weapons capability will create several consequential results; an arms race in the region and the consequence of nuclear proliferation into unstable third world regimes and Islamist States with the resultant certainty that nuclear weapons will then fall into the hands of terrorist groups like ISIS. Iran will also possess the nuclear leverage needed to hold oil passage through the Strait of Hormuz hostage. Fully one third of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz and holding that oil hostage would provide Iran with an economic stranglehold on Western economies. Obama’s secret Iranian ‘containment’ policy, inadvertently revealed by SecDef Hagel (2) will address none of these factors and SecState Kerry (3) has inadvertently revealed that Obama is well aware of this reality.

Islamic terrorist cells, who have and are infiltrating through our open southern border will soon begin a campaign of terrorist attacks against Americans. We know they have MANPADS (4) and smuggling them into America will be relatively easy. MANPADS can be used to shoot down American passenger jets at takeoff and landing when they are most vulnerable. Mumbai and Kenyan Westgate Mall style terrorist attacks on American malls will provide the ‘opportunity’ for ISIS to behead American women and children on American soil and upload it to websites for broadcast to the media. Multiple attacks on American passenger jets and shopping malls will create panic and bi-partisan demands for protection.

The US is vulnerable to a nuclear terrorist attack upon a major US port city through a nuke being placed aboard a commercial container ship and detonated once it reaches port. Twelve of our twenty largest cities have port facilities. The resultant lives lost, damage, panic and economic chaos of a nuclear terrorist attack would immediately lead to the declaration of martial law.

All of these scenarios result in the declaration of nationwide martial law. Under martial law, the President may unilaterally and legally suspend Constitutional provisions, guarantees and ‘rights’.

The purchase of 1.8 BILLION rounds of illegal hollow point ammo, the distribution to militarized police forces of 2700 light duty tanks and the arming of nearly all federal agencies can have only one purpose; preparation for armed civil unrest and the arrest of political dissidents. That would of course create a new civil war, potential secession and the fracturing of the US military. Which the left might not win, so a better strategy is for Obama to declare martial law and mostly refrain from controversial moves with one exception; Obama could under martial law, extend amnesty and citizenship to those 15-50 MILLION “undocumented” democrats. He could then, just before he ends martial law, hold new ‘elections’ under martial law knowing that 70+% of those 15-50 million new ‘voters’ will vote democrat and voila, permanent one-party rule in AmeriKa begins. That is so because now the left would have the political leverage to ‘legally’ amend the US Constitution as the left desires and that is… ‘game over’. America and its constitution could be legally amended by the ‘new’ majority into the United Socialist States of AmeriKa… As the US Constitution is the final barrier to “fundamental transformation” and its legal amendment necessary to keep the US Military on the sidelines, any strategy by the left must incorporate that into its strategy of transformation.

Failing all of this, the left has one last arrow in its quiver, for if it cannot successfully transform America, then their ideology demands that America must be destroyed and that is where our external enemies come into play. This country is entirely vulnerable to an EMP attack (5) with nuclear weapons exploding a few hundred miles above the earth’s surface. Both N. Korea and Iran are suspected of working on ‘superEMP’ weapons and certainly China and Russia are capable of creating them.

There has been Senate testimony from experts as to this threat and no less an authority than former CIA Director James Woolsey has recently spoken of it;

“The reality is that seventeen networks of our critical infrastructures all depend on electricity to function. If the electric grid goes down, (due to an EMP attack) we are back in the 1880s pre-electric grid, and … If the food, water, and transportation networks go down, US government studies show that about two-thirds of the people will perish within a year. Other studies estimate that 90 percent would pass away. The basic parts of the grid could be fixed for about $2 billion dollars, which is the amount of military aid we give to Pakistan every year.”

Finally, consider that such an EMP attack does NOT require launching easily traced missiles that would result in retaliation from our nuclear subs. Since 2010 a Russian company has been selling on the open market a ‘missile system in a commercial shipping container’ (6). All an enemy of America, State or terrorist group with nukes need do is buy three of those systems. Load them aboard three commercial ships bound for US ports on America’s east coast, west coast and Gulf of Mexico, then when close to port but still well into international waters (12+ miles) launch those missiles on a preplanned trajectory and detonate them over our west and east coasts and mid-west. Given that those missiles need only travel a few hundred miles, there would be little chance of interception and no evidence of who launched them and, if no one claimed responsibility, we wouldn’t know against whom to retaliate.

Goodbye electricity, basically all electronic devices and most cars, trucks and transportation. That crashes the medical network and the distribution of medicine, food and water… Experts predict that it would take decades to replace the critical transformers that make electrical distribution possible, so no electricity for decades and the death of 231 to 315 million Americans within the first year. Under those conditions, collapse of the government is certain and, invasion by China or Russia would be highly likely.

Given that this administration is facilitating all of these internal and external threats to America, the conclusion that all of this is intentional is inescapable.

 

1) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/30/top-gop-donors-party-legalize-illegal-immigrants/

2) http://www.jns.org/news-briefs/2013/2/1/hagel-mistakenly-supports-iran-policy-of-containment-at-conf.html#.VC2XCjSpfo4

3) http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/Kerry-Confrontation-with-Iran-becomes-more-possible

4) http://www.wtop.com/289/3354224/Mali-manual-suggests-al-Qaida-has-feared-weapon

5) http://online.wsj.com/articles/james-woolsey-and-peter-vincent-pry-the-growing-threat-from-an-emp-attack-1407885281

6) http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/weapons/russian-missile-in-box

 

 

 

 

 

The Five Critical Virtues. It’s the virtues a culture embraces, stupid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to race relations and minority socioeconomic success in America, progressives and liberals have the cart before the horse. 

Unfortunately, human nature finds it difficult to admit to error, to admit to having been wrong. Pride. There’s a reason why pride is one of the seven ‘deadly’ sins. Pride wounds he who possesses it, it’s a self-inflicted injury. The greater the pride, the greater the self-inflicted injury. The injury is the obstruction of the growth of the individual’s maturity and wisdom and, it keeps its bearer mired in self-delusion. When sincere, humility is a virtue because it allows for the growth of wisdom. Humility is the ‘soil’ from which the tree of wisdom grows. But it’s so much easier to blame others, rather than accept personal responsibility. Character is developed through trial and no trial is more severe than facing our own flaws. The trial of self-examination even exceeds the trial of discrimination because hating others for injustice undeserved is so much easier than holding oneself accountable for our own failures.   

Rather than stereotyping republicans and conservatives, blacks and other minorities would be far better off setting aside prejudice and spending their time listening objectively to what conservatives advocate, so that they might observe and learn of the critical cultural virtues that lead to socioeconomic success. The ‘horse’, the cultural virtues that pulls the ‘cart’ of socioeconomic success are five-fold.

The Five Critical Virtues are simple; 1) education, 2) developing a strong work ethic, 3) acceptance of personal responsibility and accountability, 4) acceptance of familial obligations and loyalty, and 5) the virtue of delayed gratification. Individual exceptions aside, that is all it takes to be successful in America. That is all it has ever taken.

Multiculturalism is also at fault here because it falsely posits that all cultures are of equal value. That is NOT true. All people of good will are inherently of equal value. Cultures are a mix of virtues and vices embraced, ignored, neglected and rejected. Japanese culture places a high value upon the virtue of personal hygiene. Chinese and Mexican culture does not. The Scandinavian and Japanese cultures place a high aesthetic value on simplicity, that less can be more. French and Chinese cultures place an emphasis upon the facade of ornamentation. American culture places high value upon youth and the facade of status and appearance. Obviously there are individuals in every culture who reject the sterotypical and dysfunctional vices of their culture but we are speaking of the gestalt of a culture, its societal biases both positive and negative.

Cultural identity is NOT dependent upon embracing all of the particular mix of virtues and vices that a culture may embody. Whatever its motivation, the characteristic of alcoholism in native american cultures is NOT a virtue but a dysfunctional vice. A native American can reject alcoholism without abandoning his cultural identity. A black person can embrace the five virtues without becoming an ‘uncle Tom’ because virtues are independent of culture, in that cultures embrace virtues or vices, rather than the reverse, virtues and vices do not embrace cultures.

The ‘theory’ of white privilege is a myth but the reality of ‘tribal’ affiliation is undeniable.  White privilege ‘theory’ is a myth because it posits that America’s dominant white culture is racist. That is a lie not because it was not once true but because generationally, it has not been true for many decades. White racism was almost dead but the rise of black racism is reviving it. The proof that white privilege ‘theory’ is a myth and a lie is proven by the socioeconomic success of three groups; Asian immigrants, West Indian black immigrants and black Nigerian immigrants. West Indian black’s ancestors were also slaves and their average incomes are equivalent to the average incomes of whites and nearly 25% higher than the average incomes of American born blacks. And, immigrant Nigerian-Americans are also extremely high performers too. these cultures embrace the Five critical Virtues. 

Tribal ‘affiliation’ is a characteristic of human nature. The Navajo name for their tribe translates into English as, “the people”. That is the norm for all tribes. If you are not part of the tribe, you are ‘the other’. Fans of major league team sports are tribal identifications. The Oakland Raiders football team, a stereotypical ‘tribe’ is known as the “Raider Nation” but a ‘nation’ is just an inclusive tribe. Some nations are less inclusive than others, America being by far the most inclusive. And therein lies the difficulty and challenge. No country in the history of the world has ever tried to base itself on racial and ethnic equality. Perhaps Rome came closest but if you were not a Roman citizen, you were subservient to those who were… and though Rome was an equal opportunity enslaver, slavery was never abolished in Rome. America is unique in trying to prove that ‘we all can get along’. But race unlike ethnicity is unchangeable and old prejudices die hard. The majority of this country has firmly rejected racism but thanks to the left, at the brink of victory we face the possibility of defeat.

But there are no substitutes. Minority success in America exactly tracks the minority culture’s embrace, neglect or rejection of these five virtues. Asian, Hispanic, Native American and Black ‘cultures’ closely match it.

Urban blacks reject ALL five of the critical virtues and that is the ONLY reason why they reside at the bottom of the socioeconomic ‘totem pole’. No amount of welfare, entitlements or minimum wage hikes will change that reality. Urban ‘culture’ needs to take a hard look at itself. When and if they ever do, their conservative brothers will welcome back, with open arms, their ‘prodigal brothers’…

It’s the culture, stupid.

A possible and logically consistent explanation of the Genesis allegory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEO-NEOCON over at her consistently excellent and astute blog posts;

The dawn of humans: Adam and Eve

In it she states, “It’s about choice; eating the apple symbolized the dawning of human consciousness”

Here’s my response. I must however, warn the reader that while it is unapologetically Christian in its bias, it is decidedly non-dogmatic in its assertions. No offense is intended but no apology is made for a sincere attempt at a deeper understanding. Nor am I asserting this to be ‘the truth’, merely and of necessity, a hypothesis.

I would agree that the eating of the apple symbolizes the dawning of awareness (consciousness) of right and wrong but…and this is important,  without the complementary ability to always discern between the two. Resulting in the road to hell being paved with good intentions…

IMO, Genesis is an Allegory (noun: a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.) And like any good allegory, it can be interpreted, strictly by the clues it contains. IMO, that has yet to be done, as I am unaware of any logically consistent explanation for the profound questions that Genesis implies but that are not directly answered.

Those profoundly important but unanswered questions give rise to much of the disbelief regarding whether there actually is a God, at least as the Judeo/Christian tradition presents him.

Jesus reportedly said, “I and the Father are One”. He also reportedly said that, the best way to think of God is, as a “loving Father”. Now Jesus either knows what he’s talking about or is either lying or deluded. Operating on the circumstantial evidence (what he said, did and how he died), arguably he knew whereof he spoke.

Looking at the Genesis story while taking Jesus at his word, one must ask; how could a loving God , a loving parent… in placing the tree of knowledge in the garden, effectively leave the equivalent of a loaded gun with the safety off on the coffee table in the living room? While only taking the ‘precaution’ of a stern warning, with what amounts to innocent three-year olds?

An even more basic question is why would a loving God have created the serpent in the first place? And how can a loving God, a loving parent… allow the serpent in the Garden, in the second place?

And once those innocents have disobeyed, what kind of loving parent places all the blame on a very young child and then, banishes them from their home forever? Talk about ‘cruel and unusual punishment’! Could the punishment be any more disproportionate to the offense?

Given all of this, is it any wonder that Judeo/Christian dogma has centered upon a stern, law giving martinet of a God whose mercy can only be attained by essentially acquiescing to the divine demand that it’s HIS way or the highway?

These are the questions, contained within the Genesis story, that may have led to so many rejecting religion and the very existence of a God.

I maintain that all of these questions arise out of a flawed understanding of the Genesis allegory.

Here’s my interpretation of Genesis and the supporting rationale for that explanation. Note: Again, I’m not stating this to be the truth. I am suggesting this to be logically consistent with both Genesis, Jesus’ assertions as to the nature of God and is an ‘hypothesis’ that is internally consistent.

First; God creates the heavens and the physical universe. We’ve learned through scientific observation that the operative laws of this universe are dualistic, in that to have physical form, something is here but not there. Objects have physical definition.

Therefore, by the operative laws of the universe that he’s created, God’s presence in the physical universe has to simultaneously create his opposite.

Thus, the serpent is simply God’s shadow. It’s part of the residue of his presence. The old “for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction”.

I strongly suspect that this is why he only appears to Adam and Eve in the twilight hours, when the sun is below the horizon and its light throws no shadows. God, by his own ‘rules’ can’t completely eliminate the creation of his opposite (evil) but he can minimize it as much as possible. That’s why he unwillingly but unavoidably ‘creates’ the serpent and that’s why it appears in the garden, it’s simply an inescapable consequence of God manifesting in the physical universe.

As for the ‘loaded gun’ metaphor of the ‘fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil’…it’s in the garden because it has to be, as it’s necessary to God’s purpose in creating mankind. Remember, in Genesis it states that all things in the Garden that God purposely created were good. Yet he tells Adam and Eve that if they eat of the tree, they will surely die. At first glance that appears to be a contradiction but if God is in fact good, there must be a logical explanation and, IMO there is one.

Remember that God is dealing with the equivalent of very young children’s awareness, so he doesn’t offer a long explanation, he just says don’t do it. And just as you don’t hand a loaded gun to a three-year old, it’s perfectly OK, with proper instruction to hand it to a mature adult. Just so with the ‘apple’. Adam and Eve aren’t ready for the apple, aren’t ready for the knowledge. But at some point, since everything in the garden is good, mankind will be allowed to eat the apple because it will then be appropriate for them. Just as it’s inappropriate for children to have sex but perfectly appropriate for adults to “be fruitful and multiply”.

Now enters the serpent, God’s opposite and having ‘cunning’ (twisted reasoning) the serpent perceives an essential truth about Adam and Eve. Being the only two people, they must manifest fundamental aspects of God’s creation, specifically order (Adam) and the creative impulse (Eve). The serpent seduces Eve with the argument that “you will not surely die. It’s the same argument that the lottery uses to seduce billions. Sure the odds are astronomical that you’ll win but… you might win. And in Eve’s case, the reward is to ‘be as a God’. Which is about as great a prize as can be imagined.

In mathematics there are rational and irrational numbers. Adam represents rationality and order. Eve represents the ‘irrationality’ of creation. After all, who would have imagined that 1+1=3? But billions of couples have discovered, willingly or unwillingly, that it can and often does. Eve isn’t weak, she’s adventuresome and a risk taker. So was Columbus, BTW.

Another thing, call me a romantic but IMO Adam knows exactly what he’s doing when he eats the apple. He eats the apple because he knows Eve has already eaten it and his love for her won’t allow him to be separated from her. He eats it knowing the consequence.

OK so they’ve eaten the apple and then God gets really, really mad and kicks then out of their home…forever?

No, the answer is in Genesis 3:22

King James Bible translation of Genesis 3:22

“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”

Setting aside, for the moment, the use of the plural in the passage above, God says, ‘oops now that they’ve eaten the apple, if we let them stay, they’ll also eat of the OTHER tree in the garden, the tree of IMMORTALITY’… and if Adan & Eve eat of that tree…what you have are immortal human beings with the ability to learn all that God knows but without the ability to discern right from wrong. Which by the way is exactly the case with the spoiled brats of whom the Greek and Roman ‘Gods’ consisted. Not a good thing… at all.

The serpent, God’s opposite has found exactly the key to disrupting God’s plan. The serpent “wants to see the world burn” because that’s his nature. So, what’s a loving Father to do? The kids can’t stay in the garden because if they do, all is lost. So they’ve got to go. God doesn’t drive Adam & Eve out of the garden in anger but in great sorrow, just as any loving Father would who understood that no other choice remained.

Which leads to the final big question in Genesis; original sin. How is that fair? Well first, we don’t live in a universe of fair, we live in a universe of consequence. Original sin my friends is, to use a good metaphor, the original virus. Using a computer metaphor is illuminating. A perfectly good computer that becomes infested with a malicious virus may easily become an expensive door stop. But here’s what is important to understand about a badly infested computer. A computer consists of hardware and software. It’s the software that the virus disrupts… NOT the hardware. A dead computer’s hardware may be non-operative but it is still perfect. It just can’t operate properly. Sound familiar? Our brains appear to be organic computers. Ones that our soul and spirit operate in the physical universe.

And logically, the original sin virus is transmitted through the father, which is why God uses what scientists call parthenogenesis (a form of a sexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization, thus no father) to allow Mary to give birth to Jesus without a human father. It’s a special case and necessary that Jesus be born without original sin… if he’s to have a realistic chance at completing his mission. So boys, the women may have eaten the apple but it’s us guys who pass it on.

Human beings are a bit more complex, our virus infected software has disrupted our DNA so the human race has developed over the eons, with a host of maladies. But it is the software that is our problem. Clean that up and I suspect that our bodies would, over generations return to their original state. How do we ‘clean’ our software up? Ah, that’s what a Jewish carpenter came to demonstrate 2000 years ago.

But before I get to Jesus, there’s one other aspect of the Bible that leads many people, through their misunderstanding to reject God. Namely, the Israelites being commanded by God to wipe out the indigenous tribes that are already residing in Israel. According to Judaism we’re all God’s children. But these children are infected with a cultural disease, they are ‘unclean’ in the profoundest of ways and the Israeli tribes cannot withstand exposure to them. God choose Israel, not because they were more worthy but because, at that time their particular cultural make-up was the most optimum for God to work with in preparing a culture open to Jesus’ future message, mission and demonstration.

Pick up your cross and follow me he said and, no man enters into the kingdom of heaven unless he attains the innocence (trust) of a child. It’s our distrust of God that is our single greatest barrier to re-connection with the Divine. That is what Jesus’ trial in the garden of Gethsemane is all about. He had to place utter trust in God, knowing what would happen if he did. OH Lord, take this cup from me if it be your will, indeed. Jesus is the “way shower”, the first to reconnect with God and he calls all of us to follow him through “the door”. That each of us might become the prodigal son who returns to the Father.

The ‘electability’ of RINO‘s

The Pyrrhic Victory that RINO’s Embody 

Many on the right advocate voting for RINOs based in the pragmatic view that delaying America’s “fundamental transformation” into the United Socialist States of America is self-evidently desirable.  Irregardless of the fact that the election of RINOs merely delays America’s “fundamental transformation. This is so inarguable that it is seldom disputed.

RINO’s compromise on principle, not merely on tactical interests. That is what makes them RINO’s, though a more accurate appellation would be CINO’s, conservatives-in-name-only. The simple truth is that the Republican Establishment long ago abandoned  conservative, small government, constitutional principles. RINO’s are entirely loyal to the GOP’s actual values, which are in fact those principles that their ‘big donors’ value, which is the maintenance of the American financial status quo and the highly regulated capitalism that they favor, which allows the ‘Establishment’ to maintain and grow its influence and power.

Reagan’s stand on the Soviet Union is a perfect example of the difference between compromise of principle vs interest. Reagan unhesitatingly stated that the Soviet Union was “the focus of evil in the modern world”. His principle regarding the ideological conflict between the West and Communism was simple and straightforward; “We win, they lose”.

Reagan’s willingness to meet with Gorbachev and negotiate on the creation of the “Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty” (Start 1) to reduce nuclear weapons demonstrated his willingness to compromise on how we dealt with the Soviets. Reagan’s continued strengthening of the US Military, along with the technological challenge to the Soviets of Reagan’s proposed “Strategic Defense Initiative” confirmed that he hadn’t compromised on principle. Upon reaching agreement with the Soviets, that he insisted on “trust but verify” proves that his view of communism remained unchanged. 

In order to secure conservative’s votes, RINO’s pay lip service to conservative principles. RINO’s not actually sharing those principles is why, when push comes to shove, they always cave to democrats. People do not fight for principles in which they have no belief… 

Thus, RINOs incrementally yield ever more to the progressive left. In the short term, that may appear to be a viable political tactic, to ‘get what is realistically possible’. In the long term however, faced with a disingenuous adversary, who justifies whatever means are necessary by the ideological ends sought, it is a demonstrably disastrous strategy.

It is in the consequential corollary to voting for RINOs,  the eventual consequence of incremental compromise of principle, wherein the problem with voting for RINO’s lies, for RINO’s are highly vulnerable to the charge of collaboration. To compromise is to; “settle a dispute by MUTUAL concession”. To collaborate is to; “to work JOINTLY on an issue”  where the goal(s) sought by both parties are essentially the same and, only how and when are in conflict. When ‘compromise’ consists essentially in ‘concessions’ by democrats that merely slow down progress toward the accomplishment of its agenda, while republican’s only gain a lessening of how rapidly the progress of the democrat’s agenda is being achieved, it is not compromise in which republican RINO’s are engaged but collaboration.

 In the domestic arena, The Sovereign Bankruptcy of the West is mathematically inescapable, as virtually every Western nation is insolvent and stealing from future generations to keep the system from collapsing in what amounts to an International Ponzi scheme. In the foreign policy arena, the liberal/left’s willful blindness to the predictable ‘clear and present danger’ that future, nuclear armed Islamic Jihadist States pose to the West is an unconscionable obscenity that will eventually result in successful nuclear terrorist attacks upon major American cities. Millions of innocents will die, just as pacifistic attempts at appeasing Hitler did in WWII. It is the predictable and entirely unnecessary deaths of millions of innocents that make democrat’s foreign policy an unconscionable obscenity.

Thus, it is a self-evident truth that the domestic and foreign policy policies of democrats are unsustainable. Given these most basic facts only a fundamental dishonesty can dispute this conclusion.  Whether out of willful denial or mendacious intent, that dishonesty has the same effect.

When disaster arrives, the left will, as they always do, blame the right. Given the collaboration of the RINO dominated GOP, the left’s accusations will have the ‘ring of authenticity’ because the GOP, through the compromise of principle, will have essentially collaborated with democrats in the creation of the crisis. The GOP’s long collaboration with democrats, the left’s decades long indoctrination of  the public in the schools with the simultaneous demonization of the right’s motivations, long ago resulted in the destruction of the right’s credibility with much of the American public.

The left, true to its ideological agenda, will insist upon doubling down on its disastrous policies. Absent a credible, principled alternative, an indoctrinated public will vote to exchange the inherent risk of liberty for the left’s false promise of security.

1984 will have arrived and the RINO ‘strategy’ of delay, will only have led to a series of Pyrrhic victory’s.

This is why the Tea Party must stand firm because it is the only major conservative movement that offers a political alternative grounded in principle, rather than self-interest. Expressing a willingness to lose rather than compromise on principle, invites short term loss but gains long term credibility and, when the left’s path leads to disaster, credibility will be “the coin of the realm” with the public and, that will be the moment when the left is most vulnerable to the low-info public finally seeing the left for what it is, a totalitarian movement wearing the facade of toleration and compassion, whose ‘policies’ lead only to ruin for all but a favored elite.

The Chinese Dragon and American Eagle

 

 

 

 

I have long felt an unease regarding Chinese-American relations, intuiting a basic lack of understanding of each society toward the other. In addition, only the naïve believe that China’s totalitarian masters place economic considerations above ideology. The Chinese Communists have always viewed its participation in capitalistic endeavors as a necessary evil in achieving parity with the U.S.

Recently, I had an epiphany regarding Chinese geopolitical motivations and important pieces to the Chinese ‘puzzle’ fell into place.

Critical to understanding China’s culture and its current geopolitical mind-set is a knowledge of China’s history. China’s ‘great wall’ reveals its psychological xenophobia, its basic insecurity in constantly feeling threatened by the barbarian hordes outside its borders. China’s xenophobia is historically valid, as China was surrounded by barbarians for much of its history.

It’s important to understand that China views the West’s culture as barbaric, just as it did in Marco Pollo’s 13th century. That this is an invalid view is irrelevant, that is their prejudice and like most prejudices, it is essentially immune from correction.   

America currently has a more powerful military and superior technology but the Chinese view their society as culturally superior. China sees that view being fully justified by its longevity, which in Chinese eyes, confers upon its culture an inherent superiority. In addition, China views America’s cultural, racial and ethnic diversity as inherently inferior to its homogeneous society.

To understand China geopolitically, it is useful to understand ‘The Middle Kingdom Playbook’, which refers back to imperial China and all the different ways China established some level of control over their near neighbors, whether by over-running them or by incorporating them or even by merging with and then assimilating them, in every case China always sought to be dominant.

China’s long, essentially unbroken culture is testament to the effectiveness of that strategy, until late 18^th century Europe arrived. But neither the European conquerors nor Mao’s Communism destroyed every aspect of Chinese culture. Most relevantly, its xenophobic insecurity and compensating cultural superiority complex survived.

All of this is indicated in comments made by Professor Zhu Feng, Deputy Director for the Centre for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, at a recent debate in Sydney, Australia entitled, “The US Alliance is our [Australia’s] best defense”. Zhu described his nervousness at having to fly over so many US military bases ringing China on his way to Sydney. He described, without hesitation or equivocation the deep suspicion in China at what is perceived as our military buildup (since WWII) in the Pacific, which many Chinese see as “containment”. Zhu warned that Beijing would take a dim view of any attempts to reopen US bases in the Philippines and indeed, any further attempt to add to the ‘cordon of steel’ that the Chinese leadership felt was stifling them. Zhu acknowledged that even China prospers under America’s benign hegemony. Nevertheless, Zhu emphasized over and over again, that the time has come to give China it’s ‘due’. The descriptive word “stifling” and the phrase “the time has come to give China it’s due” are highly indicative of China’s mind-set.

There is deep and unequivocal suspicion among the Chinese that America seeks to contain China so as to keep it vulnerable, ringing it in a cordon of steel and stifling China while refusing to give China its due. The Chinese feel disrespected by American dominance because… vulnerability equals insecurity in the Chinese mind and, that is deeply disturbing to a basically xenophobic culture. It is, IMO a mistake to dismiss Chinese fears of encirclement. To understand China’s motivations, which will determine its actions, it is necessary to consider what they believe, rather than our intentions.

In the modern world with its greatly shortened distances, China’s current borders are intuitively considered inadequate by the Chinese. Psychologically and sociologically, they need to expand their sphere of dominance in order to establish a sufficient psychological comfort zone. That is why they are trying to establish dominance in the South China Sea and why China is disputing sovereignty over island groups with both Japan and the Philippines. That is why Taiwan’s independence and American protection is a continual irritant to China.

There is great potential for ‘accidental’ conflict between China and America. 

Life in the ‘Hamster’s Cage’.

Despite our Constitutional guarantees, we are becoming more socialist every year.

Not to minimize the machinations of the left in academia, the media and fundamentally dishonest democrat politicians… but socialism has primarily gained ground with the American public because our over-regulated capitalism is failing to ‘lift all boats’.

Corporate profits and the stock market keep hitting record highs because of the effects of qualitative easing. The Fed is ‘digitizing’ money out of thin air and aiding the Chinese in buying up our debt. Without that debt service, the entire house of cards collapses and, fiscal collapse occurs when sovereign bankruptcy is no longer deniable. Had Romney been elected, he would have had to continue the same Fed policies because  long ago, it was far too late for fiscal restraint alone, to correct our economic problems.

Obama and the left believe the answer is socialism, provably an intellectually bankrupt notion. But if no democrat had been elected to office since Kennedy, we would still be headed down an unsustainable path. That is because republican’s fiscal schemes are almost as detrimental to the nation’s overall financial health as the democrat’s, just much slower acting.

The Fed’s creation and actions since the 30′s, our fiat currency’s fundamental disconnection from reality, severe over-regulation and social entitlement programs that have cost three times as much as all our wars combined…have led to long term, incremental inflation that has destroyed 94% of the dollar’s value. The result has been the financial necessity of the two-earner family, near total stagnation in the middle classes’ wages since the early 70’s and the flight of manufacturing jobs from the US.

We’ve become a nation of fast-food service workers and a financially privileged elite.

Obama’s policies are disastrous for the middle class. Yet so are the republican’s because the highly regulated capitalism they favor, disproportionately benefits those with financial leverage and keeps the middle class in the ‘hamster’s cage’.

The low-information voter doesn’t understand why his dollar doesn’t buy as much, doesn’t understand the factors responsible for wage stagnation, doesn’t understand why manufacturing jobs are gone or why a two-earner household still struggles… but they do understand that things aren’t working.

And when things aren’t working, the panacea of socialism and entitlements with its scapegoat of the greedy rich becomes a viable alternative to the man exhausted from life in the ‘hamster’s cage’. And socialism does transform the individual’s condition, initially offering financial relief but gradually and incrementally lessening liberty until inescapable indentured servitude to the state is their fate. Much like the proverbial frog in water brought slowly to a boil.

That is because in any socialistic system, to retain its viability and ability to grant entitlements, necessary to achieve its most fundamental tenet, equality of outcome, a socialistic system MUST keep from “running out of other people’s money”.

To avoid that mathematically certain eventuality, it must incrementally seize more and more, until it has seized all income and material assets. As example, France and Cyprus are early indications that the EU is close to its tipping point. It will either dissolve or move toward ever greater bureaucratic tyranny.

Yet as a socialistic system incrementally seizes more and more of the productive assets of a society, an equal but opposite reaction occurs and protests arise. To minimize protest, political correctness is imposed, initially by academia, the media and social disapproval, gradually evolving into ‘legal’ repression by the state through such maneuvers as ‘hate speech’ prohibitions and mandatory government indoctrination of children in public schools at earlier and earlier ages.

As seizure of assets and protest are interrelated, increasing imposition of political correctness is necessary and thus ALL thought, speech and behavior MUST eventually be classified as either forbidden or mandatory.

Thus socialism MUST evolve into a regulated tyranny, political correctness taken to its end state. Eventuating in an evolution of socialism into a de facto, highly regulated, bureaucratic form of Communism.

Communism is binary in nature; only what is forbidden and what is mandatory may be allowed to exist. Every aspect of life must be defined in one or the other category. Thus 1984 arrives…

“We can’t expect Western societies to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders into repeatedly and gradually giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism.” – Nikita Khrushchev”

Life’s Essential Unfairness

“The fundamental problem of the political Left seems to be that the real world does not fit their preconceptions” Thomas Sowell

Yes, the left’s view is in direct opposition to reality. It is fundamentally ‘unsane’.

IMO, the source of this disconnection with reality is the ubiquitous and childish protest, “that’s not fair!”, which at base is a protest against life’s essential unfairness.

Juveniles, as they approach young adulthood, either discard this protest as an unfortunate but unavoidable aspect of reality and life… OR they cling to it, in an idealistic refusal to accept the reality of the universe we inhabit, which necessarily results in arrested development. That is so because a refusal to accept a fundamental aspect of reality results in a partial disconnection from reality. 

After long thought and reflection upon the issue, I’ve reached the conclusion that, regardless of acceptance or rejection, neither the right nor the left understand the necessity for life’s essential unfairness. Life is essentially ‘unfair’ and, it is absolutely necessary that it be so. Amazingly, it turns out that the creator knows exactly what they are doing…

It’s not ‘fair’ that some of us are more talented and gifted than others. It’s not ‘fair’ that some have economic and social advantages handed to them through the accident of birth. But it is absolutely necessary that such be the case.

Consider; without life’s essential “unfairness” three key aspects of reality are impossible: Civilization, natural economic law and evolution itself.

How so? Without the ‘unfair’ advantage of individual genius, none of the following could have happened; the harnessing of fire, agriculture that freed men from the hunter – gatherer existence, written language allowing the generational transmission of knowledge, the concepts of Greek democracy and Roman law and representation, the enlightenment, the scientific method, modern medicine, the industrial revolution that freed men from much physical labor and, the information age that computers with its’ offspring the internet have initiated… none of these would have happened because committee’s do not invent. Thus civilization could never have arisen and we’d still be living in caves.

Without the ‘unfair’ and unequal advantages that natural economic law confers, there are no private pools of investment wealth to fund entrepreneurial growth. Unrestricted, natural economic law ensures a bell curve in distribution of assets. Some will gain more than others and over time, the great majority of assets will gravitate into the hands of a few. The only manner yet devised to leaven the rise of inequity without interfering in the natural operation of economic law is for a society to promote entrepreneurial growth, which creates new opportunities,  jobs and increases membership in the ‘haves’, which increases the amount of private wealth available for investment. It is a positive reinforcement that fuels material progress.

The Soviet Union, Mao’s Red China, North Korea and Cuba have all proven that central control of economic activity in which private pools of wealth are eliminated is a formula for economic stagnation. Natural economic law, most closely followed by minimally regulated capitalism, is based upon the mathematical relationship between supply and demand interacting with human nature. Despite the desires and wishful thinking of those on the left, neither can be changed, they can only be accommodated and wisely directed.

Finally and most importantly because it determines the behavior of life itself… is evolution. Without the ‘unfair’ benefit of individual adaptive mutation… life would have remained at the one celled amoebic stage. Evolution is the process of beneficial adaptive mutation by individuals, ‘unfairly’ blessed, passing on their ‘unfair’ advantage to their descendants. Talk about ‘unfair’.

It is a matter of supreme irony that the left, the absolute champion of the theory of evolution, fails to grasp the fundamental cognitive contradiction between their embrace and support of evolution while simultaneously refusing to accept life’s essential unfairness existing in a universe whose operative laws do not recognize ‘fairness’. The left is literally rejecting reality.

Then again, perhaps the left’s inability to appreciate the irony is a matter of willful blindness?

Geoffrey Britain

Islam : an Empirical Crisis for the West

Islam : an Empirical Crisis for the West

and a new, Rational Doctrine for Neutralizing that Threat.

A New “Monroe Doctrine’ for Countering Islamic Terrorism

In my prior post, The Theological Nature of Islam, I described the rationale and conclusions I’ve reached regarding ‘radical’ Islam. Those conclusions implied a solution to the West’s empirical crisis with Islamic terrorism.

My conclusion is that Islamic radicalism, in all its forms and personages, from the Palestinians to the Iranians, whether Hamas or Hezbollah are a symptom, not a cause and that the cause is Islam itself.

I do not however propose that the West make ‘conventional war’ upon 1.5 billion Muslims. Instead I propose to convincingly threaten to make war upon Islam’s holiest shrines, to make the survival of Islam’s holy shrines, of unique and inestimable importance to Muslims, hostage to ALL Muslim’s future ‘good’ behavior, bringing the consequence of an unthinkable price to pay for any future aggression and terrorism. I contend that deterrence is possible, if properly constructed.

It is my contention that by doing so, Islam’s fanatics will finally face a consequence and thus a deterrence, that they are not prepared to accept. And in their unwillingness to accept that consequence, it will also allow for the time needed for Islam to slowly self-destruct, as it must because I contend that Islam cannot survive another century of cultural exposure to the modern world. The modern world’s culture represents, to Islam, a mortal threat and, that is what has given rise to the resurgence of Islamic jihadism against the West.

It is also my contention that our current course will eventually and inevitably result in nuclear terrorist attack(s) upon cities in the West and, that will finally force the West to confront the reality of the threat that Islam presents to the West.

It is time for the politically correct fantasies to be put aside and for reality to be faced, for otherwise a ‘nuclear terrorist reality’ will sooner or later be imposed upon both the West and the US.

But of course, the left will not allow the politically correct fantasies to be put aside until reality becomes undeniable. Just that reason alone is sufficient to declare that the left is of far greater threat to the West than Islam because they are blocking the implementation of effective defensive strategies. It is the left’s premises and the beliefs that extend from those premises, that is preventing the West from responding effectively and appropriately to Islam’s aggression.

It is my contention that there is only one effective deterrent strategy against Islam because there is only one thing that ‘radical’ jihadist Muslims cherish above their hate for the West.

That strategy starts with recognition that the West is under ideological and physical assault from Islam, that ‘rogue’ nations and terrorist organizations are merely Islam’s agents in its war with the West. This is because the Qur’an, Islam’s holiest of holies, the unalterable words of Allah, proclaims that armed struggle to establish Islam over the entire world is the absolute duty of every Muslim.

Which means that Islam will continue to throw it’s jihadists and logistical resources at the West. If necessary for the next 1000 years, just as it intermittently has for the last 1400 years. Islam is an aggressive, expansionist totalitarian ideology, wrapped within the trappings of a religion. It must act according to its nature, just as the scorpion does…and it is critical to this doctrine to make clear to all Muslims, in an unequivocal and unapologetic manner, that its own tenets declare this to be the case.

This strategy recognizes that Islam does not value, as in the West, their nation’s, tribes or even an individual’s survival, as Islam’s tenets declare that Muslims have no individual value, since Islam implicitly rejects self-determination. That there is only one thing that devout Muslim’s cherish more than the imposition of Islam upon the world…and that is the survival of Islam itself.

Therefore, the only strategy that has even a prayer of deterring terrorist attacks upon the West is to make Islam itself responsible.

That strategy would consist of a new doctrine, that would declare that any future terrorist attack upon ANY Western nation’s cities or peoples, by any nation or terrorist organization… will bring an immediate tactical response upon Islam’s holiest shrines; that conventional terrorist attacks will result in a proportional retaliation upon Islamic mosques and a nuclear or WMD attack upon any Western city will result in the immediate and utter destruction of Mecca, Medina, the City of Qom and the complete conventional demolition of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

Many westerners fail to appreciate the inestimable value Muslims place upon their holy places. Mecca, or more specifically the Kaaba in Mecca is the foremost in value and is so revered that it is the holy duty of every Muslim to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life. It is so important, that it is proclaimed to be the fifth of the Seven Pillars of Islam. Every Muslim in the world is required to get down on their knees and pray toward Mecca five times, every day. And there are no ‘holidays’ from this duty.

Mainstream, fundamentalist Imams and Mullahs are the primary force driving Islamic radicalism. Once they are convinced that Islam’s most cherished sites, which act as a talisman for their power… are mortally threatened, they will be profoundly reluctant to put them at risk by sanctioning a nuclear attack upon the West. And, since conventional terrorist attacks will place their mosques and them at risk, it will no longer be just the jihadist terrorist who faces reprisal.

“Those who oppose the Mullahs oppose Islam itself; eliminate the Mullahs [and Imams] and Islam shall disappear in fifty years. It is only the Mullahs who can bring the people into the streets and make them die for Islam– begging to have their blood shed for Islam.” –Ayatollah Khomeini

Islam would now face a choice; a conventional terrorist attack will result in the consequential retaliation upon Islam’s mosques and a nuclear or WMD attack upon the West would result in all of Islam’s holiest shrines, ceasing to exist within moments of a nuclear terrorist attack.

That is the reality and inescapable consequence with which the West must confront Islam.

Realistically, it is a virtual certainty that elements within Islam will not believe the West capable of following through with such a policy, so inevitably the West will have to demonstrate its resolve.

When the West announces its new doctrine, the West should warn Muslims that if sufficiently provoked, such as by ongoing rocket barrages on Israel, an appropriate demonstration of resolve will be the bombing of the Dome of the Rock. And that its future survival is hostage to their good behavior.

Based on past experience, Islamist radicals will be ‘certain’ that the West is blustering, so when they attack the West with a terrorist attack, even if it only uses conventional explosives or methods, the immediate bombing of the Dome of the Rock would begin and the West would announce that the bombing won’t stop until the Dome of the Rock is completely destroyed.

When Muslims around the world fly into a predictable rage, the West should be ready with a response at the UN. The West should look the world and Islam right in the eye and say, “OK, now you know we’re serious. Would you like to go for Medina next or do you want to throw Mecca into the ‘pot’ too and go ‘all in’?

Announcing such a doctrine with its identification of Islam as the West’s enemy, will necessitate the West also announcing that in the event of any blockade, embargo or aggression against the West by Islamic elements, such as seizing and mining the Strait of Hormuz or attacking oil fields or pipelines will also result in the consequence of Islam’s holy shrines and/or mosques being attacked.

That is the reality with which the West must confront Islam’s Imams and Mullahs who direct jihadist terrorists.

The West must make absolutely clear to Islam and all Muslims that any attack upon the West, with weapons of mass destruction, nuclear or otherwise, that threatens the existence of the West’s cities … will result in the unthinkable happening to them.

That is the reality with which the West must confront Islam.