Sam's House Grand Opening on Saturday, August 21st, at 10:30 a.m. on Merritt Island in the Pine Island Conservation Area at 6195 North Tropical Trail. Info on its location is here.
Although it IS a Parks & Recs/EELs project, it is no longer listed on the Brevard County Parks & Recs Central Area website page. Nor is it listed on the EELs Calendar Page. However, I do have a printout about it from an e-mail someone sent around. I wonder why?
In case you were wondering: Yes, this invitation is a bit facetious. I post it to let you know that it is happening, but I want you to know that you are being treated differently than those who would support this effort. Did you get an e-mail from them with the invitation? No? Your money was spent on this project. You paid for it, but you don't get invited to attend, or even have it posted somewhere for you to find? Is that "fair and equal treatment under the law"? I don't think so. If the people in the "Friends of Ulumay", "Audubon Society", "Space Coast Progressive Alliance", or any other progressive, leftists, tree hugging, Scrub Jay worshipping group gets notified to be there, why didn't you?
That's why I posted this invitation. I want you to know that it's happening so you can attend and ask them why you were not notified of the event and you were not allowed to find out about it without my spreading the word. Attend. Ask them. Hold their feet to the fire. It's your money. Hold them accountable.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Education: Prevention of Tyranny
In reading the book, “The Coming Insurrection” by The Invisible Committee I found quite a few things that I saw happening here in America. Used as part of the evidence in an anti-terrorism case in France, this book tells us how the progressives think. They believe in anarchy, completely and totally: until they get what they want. Then everything changes. What is it they want? They want to be in charge.
They don’t want “equality”. That’s for the bourgeoisie. They don’t want “freedom”. That’s for those who think too small. They want anarchy: murder, mayhem, burning whole cities if necessary to put them in charge. They’ll do what they think is needed in order to get it. They will kill police forces, murder innocents (for they are the only innocents; everyone cooperating with the capitalists are guilty), burn, loot, break, steal. Anarchy helps put them in charge and you are the servants who will do as their bidding tells you. Their egos demand it. Their self-gratification, self-aggrandizement craves it; it’s the driving force and their raison d’être. Nothing shall stand in their way. If you think you are part of them – even though they have used you, met with you, applauded you, dined with you -- you are wrong. Not only are you wrong, but you are a useful puppet that is to be discarded and thrown away as soon as your usefulness is gone. Some credit Stalin or Lenin with the phrase, “Useful Idiots”. I don’t know who came up with it, but does it surprise anyone that it was either one of those two dictators who coined the phrase? They used people the same way then discarded them as their usefulness came to an end. Their “discarding” meant a bullet through the head, but let’s not get picky. This is, after all, the twenty-first century. No one kills someone just because they are no longer “useful”. Right?
On page 124 of this little blue book, it states, “The circulation of knowledge hierarchy; it equalizes by raising up.” The Committee is talking about planning insurrections, attacks, fires, anarchy, but they inadvertently tell you the truth about their whole philosophy. If you educate the “proletariat” (the working class people), you raise them up. Education equals a better life. The anarchists – the Stalinists and Leninists – don’t want you raised up, don’t want you educated. If you get a better education, then you can figure out what they are up to. You can see through their plans and think things through yourselves. You won’t have to rely on them to tell you what they are doing is “good for you”. You’ll be able to see for yourselves that what they are doing is not good for you, but bad for you and will keep you poor, dependent and without being able to have a future you wish to have unless they “give” it to you.
The Democrats have always hated the idea of allowing school vouchers for the poorest children in any school district. They have fought against a good education for years. If your child is in a failing school in a poor district, your child is stuck. They can no more move to a private school than I can be a quantum physics professor. I don’t know how to do that sort of math; my brain doesn’t work that way. But your child’s brain may, and without interference if given the chance, you could put your child into a private school via vouchers and your child would have a brighter, better future. This is something Democrats don’t want. The less education your child has, the more likely they are to vote for Democrats. Imagine Condoleeza Rice, Dr. Thomas Sowell, Justice Clarence Thomas, or Dr. Walter Williams voting for Democrats. It doesn’t happen because they are well educated and they have the ability to think for themselves.
A quick side note here: Some call the people above “Uncle Toms” because they don’t stay on the Democratic vote plantation and keep “Massah” in power via obedience, subservience and vote. This is not just nonsense, it is stupidity. Any person can be a dolt and vote for people who are going to keep them down, to keep them poor, subservient. It takes a smart person, someone with courage, strength and discernment to not vote for the “Massah”. If the Dr. Thomas Sowells of this world are “Uncle Toms”, then what does that make you: the idiot Uncle Toms? A quick recalling of the story reminds us that it’s a false moniker anyways. After all, an “Uncle Tom” label would mean to me that someone was a person of faith, for that was the main characteristic of Uncle Tom in Harriett Beecher Stowe’s book. So by saying that people are “Uncle Toms”, they are being accused of nothing more than faith in Christ? OOoohhhh. Bad people. Bad. Don’t a lot of you go to church and profess a belief in God, too? Enough of that side note: back to the real subject matter.
When someone – anyone -- wants you to stay uneducated, to not know the truth, to be ill informed, to not have all the facts, it’s not because they trust you to make your own choices. It’s not because they trust you to make the correct choice. It’s because they think you will choose something that does not benefit them if you do have all the information, all the facts, a better education. That’s how politicians stay in office. Teddy Kennedy didn’t want you to have a better education because he wanted you to not know how inept he was. Check out his voting record on education here: Ted Kennedy. I think that speaks volumes. Let’s check someone else’s record Barbara Boxer’s record is that she voted “NO” on School Vouchers and on Education Savings Accounts. Another Democrat? Okay, how about Harry Reid? He also voted against School Vouchers and Education Savings Accounts, so that people whose children were in poorly performing Washington D.C. schools would be unable to move their children out of those schools. Nancy Pelosi joined Reid, Boxer and Kennedy in voting against School Vouchers and Education Savings Accounts. Pete Stark voted "No" on School Vouchers, Maxine Waters ditto. Our current president doesn’t like School Vouchers, either. All Democrats.
In “The Coming Insurrection”, they write about the anarchy that is heading our way. They write openly and – one must suppose – honestly about how they want to destroy our current civilization and create a new civilization of communism; organization without government, just with themselves in charge. This is the talk of someone whose ego has gotten the better of them and who is a dangerous individual. That is why they are on trial in France: sedition is a crime in most countries. When those preaching this kind of anarchy – Bill Ayers, Saul Alinsky, Bernardine Dohrn, you know: Obama’s buddies, associates and closest friends – try to intimidate others with the idea of their inferiority – and lack of education is in their minds an “inferiority” – and they tell people that they – the “Ruling Class” – know best, know what is “good for you”, they are banking on your lack of knowledge, insight and street smarts. If you keep them in political power, you prove them correct about you. When you continue to vote for those who want to keep you on welfare, keep you on the government checks (W.I.C. program, food stamps, government housing; “free” this, that and the other), you are proving to them that you are capable of being bought. You are proving to them that you are disinterested in having more, being better, being smarter, having a brighter future. All you want is to be on “easy street” and have everything handed to you on a silver platter.
I’ve got news for you, “Silver Platter Boy/Girl”. It’s not free, there is no silver platter and your vote comes at too high a price. When the ultimate goal is reached and they are in power, you will be the first to go, the first “useful idiot” who will be out of their realm. Their eyes will be pained by seeing you and they will discard you as quickly as Marie Antoinette is rumored to have said, “Let them eat cake”. Your entire life will be nothing but dross for them and you will be forfeit. After all, if you are that stupid, you will be a drain on them, on their plans, on their power because they will be continually slowing down to bring you up with the other folks, those who are more educated and who think as they and are willing accomplices, not useful idiots. Your “government teat mentality” will then be hooked upon their “government teat” and they don’t want to feed you when it is their account that pays for it. Otherwise, how do you explain why conservatives give so much more to charitable causes than liberals? Conservatives give 30% more than liberals: don’t you think that trend will continue once they are controlling the world as well? Leopards don’t change their spots. Do you think that just because you are somehow “special” that you will be the exception rather than the rule, and they will enjoy taking care of you when they are in power? Look in that mirror again, “Silver Platter Boy/Girl”. You ain’t that special. After all, “People who reject the idea that "government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality" give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.” If you are voting for those who believe in “social justice”, you are more than scre**d.
Stop and think, people. If you want to believe that those who are saying, “We’ll take care of you, vote Democratic” are actually going to take care of you, you are wrong. They want to keep you stupid, down, attached at the wallet to the government and to keep you subservient, therefore controlling you. After all, when someone is paying for everything you have because you’re too lazy, or inept to provide for yourself, if that’s not controlled – puppetted, your definition of “Uncle Tommed”, under their thumb – I don’t know what is.
Get a good education. Fight for it. Prepare for life via a real education. I don’t mean an education that will teach you the same things the Democrats are doing and telling you and controlling you with (preparing you to control others the same way: that’s tyranny, not leadership). I mean an education that will teach you to stand on your own two feet, think for yourselves, think critically, think logically (not circular logic; not illogic), and to be ready to argue with your betters for your point of view, beliefs and political stances: and win. If you can do that, you have a great education and you are ready for this world and ready to lead in it, not just sit back and allow others to dictate for whom you should vote.
Tyranny has many faces: the first shown is a lack of education, for tyranny will always use that as a whip against you. If someone is trying to prevent your education, you know their wishes for your future are not good and that, sooner or later, it will come down to tyranny with you on the receiving end.
They don’t want “equality”. That’s for the bourgeoisie. They don’t want “freedom”. That’s for those who think too small. They want anarchy: murder, mayhem, burning whole cities if necessary to put them in charge. They’ll do what they think is needed in order to get it. They will kill police forces, murder innocents (for they are the only innocents; everyone cooperating with the capitalists are guilty), burn, loot, break, steal. Anarchy helps put them in charge and you are the servants who will do as their bidding tells you. Their egos demand it. Their self-gratification, self-aggrandizement craves it; it’s the driving force and their raison d’être. Nothing shall stand in their way. If you think you are part of them – even though they have used you, met with you, applauded you, dined with you -- you are wrong. Not only are you wrong, but you are a useful puppet that is to be discarded and thrown away as soon as your usefulness is gone. Some credit Stalin or Lenin with the phrase, “Useful Idiots”. I don’t know who came up with it, but does it surprise anyone that it was either one of those two dictators who coined the phrase? They used people the same way then discarded them as their usefulness came to an end. Their “discarding” meant a bullet through the head, but let’s not get picky. This is, after all, the twenty-first century. No one kills someone just because they are no longer “useful”. Right?
On page 124 of this little blue book, it states, “The circulation of knowledge hierarchy; it equalizes by raising up.” The Committee is talking about planning insurrections, attacks, fires, anarchy, but they inadvertently tell you the truth about their whole philosophy. If you educate the “proletariat” (the working class people), you raise them up. Education equals a better life. The anarchists – the Stalinists and Leninists – don’t want you raised up, don’t want you educated. If you get a better education, then you can figure out what they are up to. You can see through their plans and think things through yourselves. You won’t have to rely on them to tell you what they are doing is “good for you”. You’ll be able to see for yourselves that what they are doing is not good for you, but bad for you and will keep you poor, dependent and without being able to have a future you wish to have unless they “give” it to you.
The Democrats have always hated the idea of allowing school vouchers for the poorest children in any school district. They have fought against a good education for years. If your child is in a failing school in a poor district, your child is stuck. They can no more move to a private school than I can be a quantum physics professor. I don’t know how to do that sort of math; my brain doesn’t work that way. But your child’s brain may, and without interference if given the chance, you could put your child into a private school via vouchers and your child would have a brighter, better future. This is something Democrats don’t want. The less education your child has, the more likely they are to vote for Democrats. Imagine Condoleeza Rice, Dr. Thomas Sowell, Justice Clarence Thomas, or Dr. Walter Williams voting for Democrats. It doesn’t happen because they are well educated and they have the ability to think for themselves.
A quick side note here: Some call the people above “Uncle Toms” because they don’t stay on the Democratic vote plantation and keep “Massah” in power via obedience, subservience and vote. This is not just nonsense, it is stupidity. Any person can be a dolt and vote for people who are going to keep them down, to keep them poor, subservient. It takes a smart person, someone with courage, strength and discernment to not vote for the “Massah”. If the Dr. Thomas Sowells of this world are “Uncle Toms”, then what does that make you: the idiot Uncle Toms? A quick recalling of the story reminds us that it’s a false moniker anyways. After all, an “Uncle Tom” label would mean to me that someone was a person of faith, for that was the main characteristic of Uncle Tom in Harriett Beecher Stowe’s book. So by saying that people are “Uncle Toms”, they are being accused of nothing more than faith in Christ? OOoohhhh. Bad people. Bad. Don’t a lot of you go to church and profess a belief in God, too? Enough of that side note: back to the real subject matter.
When someone – anyone -- wants you to stay uneducated, to not know the truth, to be ill informed, to not have all the facts, it’s not because they trust you to make your own choices. It’s not because they trust you to make the correct choice. It’s because they think you will choose something that does not benefit them if you do have all the information, all the facts, a better education. That’s how politicians stay in office. Teddy Kennedy didn’t want you to have a better education because he wanted you to not know how inept he was. Check out his voting record on education here: Ted Kennedy. I think that speaks volumes. Let’s check someone else’s record Barbara Boxer’s record is that she voted “NO” on School Vouchers and on Education Savings Accounts. Another Democrat? Okay, how about Harry Reid? He also voted against School Vouchers and Education Savings Accounts, so that people whose children were in poorly performing Washington D.C. schools would be unable to move their children out of those schools. Nancy Pelosi joined Reid, Boxer and Kennedy in voting against School Vouchers and Education Savings Accounts. Pete Stark voted "No" on School Vouchers, Maxine Waters ditto. Our current president doesn’t like School Vouchers, either. All Democrats.
In “The Coming Insurrection”, they write about the anarchy that is heading our way. They write openly and – one must suppose – honestly about how they want to destroy our current civilization and create a new civilization of communism; organization without government, just with themselves in charge. This is the talk of someone whose ego has gotten the better of them and who is a dangerous individual. That is why they are on trial in France: sedition is a crime in most countries. When those preaching this kind of anarchy – Bill Ayers, Saul Alinsky, Bernardine Dohrn, you know: Obama’s buddies, associates and closest friends – try to intimidate others with the idea of their inferiority – and lack of education is in their minds an “inferiority” – and they tell people that they – the “Ruling Class” – know best, know what is “good for you”, they are banking on your lack of knowledge, insight and street smarts. If you keep them in political power, you prove them correct about you. When you continue to vote for those who want to keep you on welfare, keep you on the government checks (W.I.C. program, food stamps, government housing; “free” this, that and the other), you are proving to them that you are capable of being bought. You are proving to them that you are disinterested in having more, being better, being smarter, having a brighter future. All you want is to be on “easy street” and have everything handed to you on a silver platter.
I’ve got news for you, “Silver Platter Boy/Girl”. It’s not free, there is no silver platter and your vote comes at too high a price. When the ultimate goal is reached and they are in power, you will be the first to go, the first “useful idiot” who will be out of their realm. Their eyes will be pained by seeing you and they will discard you as quickly as Marie Antoinette is rumored to have said, “Let them eat cake”. Your entire life will be nothing but dross for them and you will be forfeit. After all, if you are that stupid, you will be a drain on them, on their plans, on their power because they will be continually slowing down to bring you up with the other folks, those who are more educated and who think as they and are willing accomplices, not useful idiots. Your “government teat mentality” will then be hooked upon their “government teat” and they don’t want to feed you when it is their account that pays for it. Otherwise, how do you explain why conservatives give so much more to charitable causes than liberals? Conservatives give 30% more than liberals: don’t you think that trend will continue once they are controlling the world as well? Leopards don’t change their spots. Do you think that just because you are somehow “special” that you will be the exception rather than the rule, and they will enjoy taking care of you when they are in power? Look in that mirror again, “Silver Platter Boy/Girl”. You ain’t that special. After all, “People who reject the idea that "government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality" give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.” If you are voting for those who believe in “social justice”, you are more than scre**d.
Stop and think, people. If you want to believe that those who are saying, “We’ll take care of you, vote Democratic” are actually going to take care of you, you are wrong. They want to keep you stupid, down, attached at the wallet to the government and to keep you subservient, therefore controlling you. After all, when someone is paying for everything you have because you’re too lazy, or inept to provide for yourself, if that’s not controlled – puppetted, your definition of “Uncle Tommed”, under their thumb – I don’t know what is.
Get a good education. Fight for it. Prepare for life via a real education. I don’t mean an education that will teach you the same things the Democrats are doing and telling you and controlling you with (preparing you to control others the same way: that’s tyranny, not leadership). I mean an education that will teach you to stand on your own two feet, think for yourselves, think critically, think logically (not circular logic; not illogic), and to be ready to argue with your betters for your point of view, beliefs and political stances: and win. If you can do that, you have a great education and you are ready for this world and ready to lead in it, not just sit back and allow others to dictate for whom you should vote.
Tyranny has many faces: the first shown is a lack of education, for tyranny will always use that as a whip against you. If someone is trying to prevent your education, you know their wishes for your future are not good and that, sooner or later, it will come down to tyranny with you on the receiving end.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Freedom's Indelible Ink
Our Declaration of Independence written by our Founding Fathers and sent to King George III of Great Britain, states in part,
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed.”
Our Founding Fathers were intelligent, thoughtful, insightful men to have understood (without psychiatrists or sociologists) that people, on the whole, will put up with a lot more than they should because people understand that it’s not easy, “prudent” or a “light and transient” (brief) thing to change a form of government for little matters. One doesn’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
Our Founding Fathers also realized that they had been putting up with a lot of guff – big guff -- and they made a list of all the grievances they had against King George III. That list is included within the Declaration of Independence. The list of grievances is twenty-nine items long: a lot of guff to tolerate from a tyrant so far away. One is left to wonder if King George III had been closer – say in Washington, D.C., for instance – if the Founding Fathers would have suffered evil so patiently. After all, if they had been near enough to go talk eye to eye, toe to toe with the man and make some demands of him, would they have tolerated those twenty-nine usurpations?
When Obama started out with all the promises of “Hope” and “Change”, it would have been nice to have had some sort of notification as to what sort of “Change” he would bring. Socialism and/or Marxism are not welcome entities within a free country: and America used to be free. When we have someone who is trying their darnedest to restrain freedom, to destroy our future, to tax us into oblivion -- Cloward and Piven and the Weatherman Underground plans being put into effect – we obviously have someone in the White House (now known as the “Red” House), we cannot trust. Obama is doing things similar to the things that King George III did that brought about the first Revolution, the first call to freedom.
Ronald Reagan once said, “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”
I wonder what Reagan would say if he saw what our country has done to itself just twenty-one short years after he left the Presidency. We have gone from an icon of freedom, hope, strength and purpose -- whose strength brought down the Berlin Wall and brought the fresh breeze of freedom to a suffocating people -- to a Marxist who hates America and wants to make Reagan’s quote a success in the latter part of the second sentence: give our children “the first step into a thousand years of darkness.”
Considering the list of twenty-nine things King George III was doing wrong, we see that Obama is doing (at the very least) eleven of the same reasons that America’s Founding Fathers – and the people of the Colonies at the time – declared their independence from King George III and his tyranny. When the time was right for America, the people rebelled. In a long, hard fought war, we lost many battles, but in the end, freedom won and King George III was defeated. The cry of freedom rising in the hearts of many here determined that they would no longer live subject to anyone who would do the kinds of things King George III was doing.
The cry of freedom is rising again today. You can see it in the Tea Party movement: not just in their numbers, but in their diversity, their creativity, their strength of heart. When the human heart realizes it lost some of the freedom it had formerly known – via 9/11 and “Homeland Security” measures, or via a Marxist tyrant – every heart yearns to return to that former freedom. Once experienced, freedom leaves an indelible mark upon the human heart and that mark cannot be taken away, covered over, or ignored. It shines in the darkness like a beacon of hope, delight and energy that takes away our breath and makes us determined to recapture the freedoms that were lost. Freedom’s indelible ink remains upon us from the days of Ronald Reagan and from those days freedom’s mark beats within us: strong, proud, eternal.
As in the days of the Declaration of Independence when our Founding Fathers heard freedom’s cry and stood to give America that second-most precious gift, today our hearts cry out once more for that sweet, sweet taste, the lingering taste of freedom left by Ronald Reagan. It’s in the dedication, respect and memories we see reflected in the books we still buy about him, the posters we still hang, the quotes we still use. Those words -- so simple, so elegant, so true – that brought tears to our eyes, hope to our hearts, and stirred within us the determination to never let that spark of freedom – that unequalled light, that star so bright, that yearning of every human soul – leave this great land.
Our Founding Fathers gave us the tools, the example, the truth. Reagan gave those of us not alive in the time of our Founding Fathers the taste of indelible ink that branded every true American heart and burnt within us an embers’ glow of freedom’s eternal spark. Within the hearts of every true American beats that rhythm of freedom’s cry. The rhythm of patience, of belief that it won’t get worse, of desire to obey the law, but knowing that if it came to it, the law must be broken as our Founding Fathers showed us in the struggle to bring our America into existence and to let that spark burn into a new country, a new hope, a new beginning for freedom’s light.
Ronald Reagan said of America in his farewell address, “After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true to the granite ridge, and her glow has held no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.”
As freedom’s indelible ink has left its mark, Ronald Reagan’s message was freedom’s true voice, its Liberty Bell cry of “Let Freedom Ring!” American hearts are now hearing that cry. They pull restlessly at the bit and paw anxiously at the ground, awaiting that time when we can stand no more and the Declaration of Independence’s phrase, “Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed” will give way to the very next sentence in that august document of liberty:
“But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.”
There are others out there who have freedom’s indelible ink upon their hearts. Others who know that “it is the Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government”. As long as we have that spark and are willing to stand up and fight for it, to fan it into a great, roaring flame that beckons once again to those throughout the earth who would be free, there will be no tyrant powerful enough, no “Change” permanent enough, no “Hope” strong enough, to prevent freedom from once again shining in this land.
Freedom calls and every human heart answers, whether in actions, words or just a silent, still desire because tyranny rules the land, every heart answers. It is the inborn cry that God planted and little experiences of the slightest kind – music that stirs the heart, a poem that lights the spark, a blog that rings the bell – bring that spark of freedom’s indelible ink to life and hope is born.
Indelible ink and freedom’s call delight the soul and mortal heart. For freedom comes from God and it is His desire that we live free, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32), is the call of freedom straight from God’s own plan. That is why it calls so persistently to those who will listen, to those with indelible ink. Freedom’s call, freedom’s mark, freedom’s spark stirs and beckons and God smiles because He is the One who gave it.
We have suffered the evils of Marxism and tyranny’s plans being implemented long enough. Freedom’s indelible ink calls and an answer it demands!
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed.”
Our Founding Fathers were intelligent, thoughtful, insightful men to have understood (without psychiatrists or sociologists) that people, on the whole, will put up with a lot more than they should because people understand that it’s not easy, “prudent” or a “light and transient” (brief) thing to change a form of government for little matters. One doesn’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
Our Founding Fathers also realized that they had been putting up with a lot of guff – big guff -- and they made a list of all the grievances they had against King George III. That list is included within the Declaration of Independence. The list of grievances is twenty-nine items long: a lot of guff to tolerate from a tyrant so far away. One is left to wonder if King George III had been closer – say in Washington, D.C., for instance – if the Founding Fathers would have suffered evil so patiently. After all, if they had been near enough to go talk eye to eye, toe to toe with the man and make some demands of him, would they have tolerated those twenty-nine usurpations?
When Obama started out with all the promises of “Hope” and “Change”, it would have been nice to have had some sort of notification as to what sort of “Change” he would bring. Socialism and/or Marxism are not welcome entities within a free country: and America used to be free. When we have someone who is trying their darnedest to restrain freedom, to destroy our future, to tax us into oblivion -- Cloward and Piven and the Weatherman Underground plans being put into effect – we obviously have someone in the White House (now known as the “Red” House), we cannot trust. Obama is doing things similar to the things that King George III did that brought about the first Revolution, the first call to freedom.
Ronald Reagan once said, “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”
I wonder what Reagan would say if he saw what our country has done to itself just twenty-one short years after he left the Presidency. We have gone from an icon of freedom, hope, strength and purpose -- whose strength brought down the Berlin Wall and brought the fresh breeze of freedom to a suffocating people -- to a Marxist who hates America and wants to make Reagan’s quote a success in the latter part of the second sentence: give our children “the first step into a thousand years of darkness.”
Considering the list of twenty-nine things King George III was doing wrong, we see that Obama is doing (at the very least) eleven of the same reasons that America’s Founding Fathers – and the people of the Colonies at the time – declared their independence from King George III and his tyranny. When the time was right for America, the people rebelled. In a long, hard fought war, we lost many battles, but in the end, freedom won and King George III was defeated. The cry of freedom rising in the hearts of many here determined that they would no longer live subject to anyone who would do the kinds of things King George III was doing.
The cry of freedom is rising again today. You can see it in the Tea Party movement: not just in their numbers, but in their diversity, their creativity, their strength of heart. When the human heart realizes it lost some of the freedom it had formerly known – via 9/11 and “Homeland Security” measures, or via a Marxist tyrant – every heart yearns to return to that former freedom. Once experienced, freedom leaves an indelible mark upon the human heart and that mark cannot be taken away, covered over, or ignored. It shines in the darkness like a beacon of hope, delight and energy that takes away our breath and makes us determined to recapture the freedoms that were lost. Freedom’s indelible ink remains upon us from the days of Ronald Reagan and from those days freedom’s mark beats within us: strong, proud, eternal.
As in the days of the Declaration of Independence when our Founding Fathers heard freedom’s cry and stood to give America that second-most precious gift, today our hearts cry out once more for that sweet, sweet taste, the lingering taste of freedom left by Ronald Reagan. It’s in the dedication, respect and memories we see reflected in the books we still buy about him, the posters we still hang, the quotes we still use. Those words -- so simple, so elegant, so true – that brought tears to our eyes, hope to our hearts, and stirred within us the determination to never let that spark of freedom – that unequalled light, that star so bright, that yearning of every human soul – leave this great land.
Our Founding Fathers gave us the tools, the example, the truth. Reagan gave those of us not alive in the time of our Founding Fathers the taste of indelible ink that branded every true American heart and burnt within us an embers’ glow of freedom’s eternal spark. Within the hearts of every true American beats that rhythm of freedom’s cry. The rhythm of patience, of belief that it won’t get worse, of desire to obey the law, but knowing that if it came to it, the law must be broken as our Founding Fathers showed us in the struggle to bring our America into existence and to let that spark burn into a new country, a new hope, a new beginning for freedom’s light.
Ronald Reagan said of America in his farewell address, “After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true to the granite ridge, and her glow has held no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.”
As freedom’s indelible ink has left its mark, Ronald Reagan’s message was freedom’s true voice, its Liberty Bell cry of “Let Freedom Ring!” American hearts are now hearing that cry. They pull restlessly at the bit and paw anxiously at the ground, awaiting that time when we can stand no more and the Declaration of Independence’s phrase, “Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed” will give way to the very next sentence in that august document of liberty:
“But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.”
There are others out there who have freedom’s indelible ink upon their hearts. Others who know that “it is the Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government”. As long as we have that spark and are willing to stand up and fight for it, to fan it into a great, roaring flame that beckons once again to those throughout the earth who would be free, there will be no tyrant powerful enough, no “Change” permanent enough, no “Hope” strong enough, to prevent freedom from once again shining in this land.
Freedom calls and every human heart answers, whether in actions, words or just a silent, still desire because tyranny rules the land, every heart answers. It is the inborn cry that God planted and little experiences of the slightest kind – music that stirs the heart, a poem that lights the spark, a blog that rings the bell – bring that spark of freedom’s indelible ink to life and hope is born.
Indelible ink and freedom’s call delight the soul and mortal heart. For freedom comes from God and it is His desire that we live free, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32), is the call of freedom straight from God’s own plan. That is why it calls so persistently to those who will listen, to those with indelible ink. Freedom’s call, freedom’s mark, freedom’s spark stirs and beckons and God smiles because He is the One who gave it.
We have suffered the evils of Marxism and tyranny’s plans being implemented long enough. Freedom’s indelible ink calls and an answer it demands!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Better a Beggar
Parameters:
Beggar: presumably, a homeless person who begs others for money, having no job and no money of their own. This is what I am referring to as "I" in this argument. I am not referring to any particular person or group of people who have ever been, are now, or will be in the future, homeless and/or out of work, and begging for their subsistence.
Government program: a program established by a government entity (Fed., State, County, or City) that provides housing, food, health care, or other "services" to someone who meets a set requirement to qualify for the program[s].
Welfare state: the time when as many people as possible in the U.S.A. will be on a government program that would provide "X" for the person without their having done anything to earn that particular "X" except fill out a form, be a U.S. citizen, or otherwise meet "Requirement R".
***
Recently, I was thinking about the welfare state that obamination is trying to push all of us into. I thought about the cost of such a process, the degeneration of our society, the cost in human dignity, the people who would pay for the benefits of others. While thinking about all of this, I realized something. I realized that I would not cooperate with such a process in any way, shape, or form. I must pay my taxes or go to jail, yes. But when it comes to signing up for those "incentives" to buy houses, or new cars, oil spill benefits, or pantyhose (oh, they haven't done that one yet?), I would not participate. Anything that is voluntary, I'm not volunteering for.
Why not? Because when I think about the cost of my soul, it's worth so much more than that. I cannot be bought like a cheap car. I cannot be bought with promises of $8,000 for a house purchase. I cannot be bought with anything obamination has to offer. All of his "offers" are not truly not offers, after all, and I will not add to my neighbor's burden -- even if they make more money than my family.
In fact, I decided, that it would be better to be a beggar than to be on any or all of those programs that the government has so readily pushed onto the American taxpayer's wallet.
How can I make such an absurd statement? Consider:
If you sign up for a government food program, you are getting food that you have no pride in earning the right to purchase, to have, to eat. All you have done is fill out the forms and met the bare minimum -- or the utmost, whichever -- requirements of the program to qualify. When in government programs, the government decides who is going to give to you and how much they shall give. It is not an independent choice made by the giver. It's government mandated and government enforced; taking away the giver's right to choose whether to give and how much, if giving.
If you sign up for a government housing program, you live in a house that someone else is paying for altogether, or that someone else subsidized. If you want to have pride of ownership, you cannot do it there because you didn't work to get it. You signed up. You have your neighbors and those throughout the country who work and pay taxes to thank for your house. It is not truly yours; it is theirs because they are paying for it, or helped pay for it.
If you sign up for a government health care (or is that he11-care?) program, you have no control over what kind of care you receive, over who you see, over what medications you receive, or when you get seen. You are stuck on their time table, their prescription regulations, their doctor list and their idea of "good care". Your neighbors, again, are forced to pay for you and you have them to thank for the generic drug that made you healthy last time, the name brand drug that was prescribed this time, and the lack of complete hospital care that you will receive when you are diagnosed with cancer and there is no room to keep you, or there is not enough money to treat you. You have no choice but to leave and go home to die.
Your neighbors and the rest of the country would pay for everything you have, everything you get, everything you want. You would pick my pocket, the pocket of every relative you have who works and every stranger in America who pas taxes in order to get from "the government" -- "We, the People". We would have no say, we would have no way to stop it except to quit working. We would not have the option of holding you accountable for the way you spend our money and we would not be able to say, "No! You've taken enough."
All of the things you have would be received via government form and without doing more work on your part besides paperwork. That gives you no sense of pride, no sense of accomplishment, no self-confidence; unless you would be proud to take from others so that you can sit on your backside all day, every day and get as much from the rest of us as you possibly can.
There are those out there who do just that. Where their dignity is, their self-esteem, their pride, I don't know. I just know that there are people out there with the mentality that they "deserve" everything they can get from the government, even if they cheat (lie on their forms) to get it. That, to me, is not a human being; they are the human worms who suck the life out of any economy as long as "the government" will give to them and they can sit on their backsides and do nothing to earn it.
That is not my idea of a good life, not my idea of "acceptable".
While if a beggar, I would have to get up off my duff every day and go out and -- at the very least -- have a sign that would ask people for their support. Whether they supported me or not would be their choice. I would not be taking a set amount from them because how much they gave me would be their choice as well. "Beggars can't be choosers" and I could not choose who gave to me -- family, friend, or foe: whoever would, would be welcome.
As a beggar, I would have to use the money I received from the good hearts of my fellow humans until it ran out and I would have to go out and ask for more. This, in its turn, would teach me something about gratefulness, about humility, about shame and pride. It would teach me about being careful with the money strangers gave me and to use it wisely for the things I need; not whatever I wanted. A budget would be imperative and it would be followed to the strictest "nth" degree. Every penny pinched, every dime made a dollar, so that I would not have to face the empty pocket at the end of the week and go out and ask strangers for more.
As a beggar, I would be forced to do what I legally and morally could to entice people to give me some of their money. Whether that be smiling sweetly, looking as pitiful as I can, changing the wording of the sign I used, or washing their car, it would be up to me to get them to agree to give to me. I would have to be creative, resourceful and capable of getting people to agree to give me some of their hard earned cash. This would either allow me to continue begging, or teach me something about entrepreneurship and encourage me to do something besides begging.
As a beggar, my family and friends and total strangers would not be forced to give to me, to support someone they had no say in supporting, and they would not be forced to give whatever dollar amount the federal (or State, County, or City) government took from them via taxes to support me in my government program houses, food, health care, etc. It would be a free choice of compassion and mercy on their part, allowing them to reap the spiritual and emotional benefits. As a beggar, my gratitude may be the only reward they received, but it would be eternal.
As a beggar, finding a safe, comfortable place to sleep would be my job, my desire, nightly. It would be upon my head if I wound up sleeping where I got rained upon, or if I was uncomfortable nightly. This would lead to my trying harder to get enough money to eat and to either find a shelter for homeless people that would have space for me, or to be able to rent a room so that I could sleep in a bed and not on the street.
As a beggar, while it would not be a matter of pride, at least I would not be looking at my neighbor and thinking that there is another program I can sign up for in order to have "X" as they do, or to be able to have "Y" as someone else does. Government programs would not be my failsafe, my "go to" relief: it would be myself on whom I would have to rely and that would be so much better than stealing from all of you.
That's why I think it would be better to be a beggar than to be on welfare, living in government housing, on food stamps, W.I.C. and other food programs, while getting Medicare/Medicaid to get health care and to snarl that I don't have enough. I want more and the government, "We, the People", should -- better! -- provide it. At least, as a beggar, I would be able to look you in the eye and not feel like a thief.
Beggar: presumably, a homeless person who begs others for money, having no job and no money of their own. This is what I am referring to as "I" in this argument. I am not referring to any particular person or group of people who have ever been, are now, or will be in the future, homeless and/or out of work, and begging for their subsistence.
Government program: a program established by a government entity (Fed., State, County, or City) that provides housing, food, health care, or other "services" to someone who meets a set requirement to qualify for the program[s].
Welfare state: the time when as many people as possible in the U.S.A. will be on a government program that would provide "X" for the person without their having done anything to earn that particular "X" except fill out a form, be a U.S. citizen, or otherwise meet "Requirement R".
***
Recently, I was thinking about the welfare state that obamination is trying to push all of us into. I thought about the cost of such a process, the degeneration of our society, the cost in human dignity, the people who would pay for the benefits of others. While thinking about all of this, I realized something. I realized that I would not cooperate with such a process in any way, shape, or form. I must pay my taxes or go to jail, yes. But when it comes to signing up for those "incentives" to buy houses, or new cars, oil spill benefits, or pantyhose (oh, they haven't done that one yet?), I would not participate. Anything that is voluntary, I'm not volunteering for.
Why not? Because when I think about the cost of my soul, it's worth so much more than that. I cannot be bought like a cheap car. I cannot be bought with promises of $8,000 for a house purchase. I cannot be bought with anything obamination has to offer. All of his "offers" are not truly not offers, after all, and I will not add to my neighbor's burden -- even if they make more money than my family.
In fact, I decided, that it would be better to be a beggar than to be on any or all of those programs that the government has so readily pushed onto the American taxpayer's wallet.
How can I make such an absurd statement? Consider:
If you sign up for a government food program, you are getting food that you have no pride in earning the right to purchase, to have, to eat. All you have done is fill out the forms and met the bare minimum -- or the utmost, whichever -- requirements of the program to qualify. When in government programs, the government decides who is going to give to you and how much they shall give. It is not an independent choice made by the giver. It's government mandated and government enforced; taking away the giver's right to choose whether to give and how much, if giving.
If you sign up for a government housing program, you live in a house that someone else is paying for altogether, or that someone else subsidized. If you want to have pride of ownership, you cannot do it there because you didn't work to get it. You signed up. You have your neighbors and those throughout the country who work and pay taxes to thank for your house. It is not truly yours; it is theirs because they are paying for it, or helped pay for it.
If you sign up for a government health care (or is that he11-care?) program, you have no control over what kind of care you receive, over who you see, over what medications you receive, or when you get seen. You are stuck on their time table, their prescription regulations, their doctor list and their idea of "good care". Your neighbors, again, are forced to pay for you and you have them to thank for the generic drug that made you healthy last time, the name brand drug that was prescribed this time, and the lack of complete hospital care that you will receive when you are diagnosed with cancer and there is no room to keep you, or there is not enough money to treat you. You have no choice but to leave and go home to die.
Your neighbors and the rest of the country would pay for everything you have, everything you get, everything you want. You would pick my pocket, the pocket of every relative you have who works and every stranger in America who pas taxes in order to get from "the government" -- "We, the People". We would have no say, we would have no way to stop it except to quit working. We would not have the option of holding you accountable for the way you spend our money and we would not be able to say, "No! You've taken enough."
All of the things you have would be received via government form and without doing more work on your part besides paperwork. That gives you no sense of pride, no sense of accomplishment, no self-confidence; unless you would be proud to take from others so that you can sit on your backside all day, every day and get as much from the rest of us as you possibly can.
There are those out there who do just that. Where their dignity is, their self-esteem, their pride, I don't know. I just know that there are people out there with the mentality that they "deserve" everything they can get from the government, even if they cheat (lie on their forms) to get it. That, to me, is not a human being; they are the human worms who suck the life out of any economy as long as "the government" will give to them and they can sit on their backsides and do nothing to earn it.
That is not my idea of a good life, not my idea of "acceptable".
While if a beggar, I would have to get up off my duff every day and go out and -- at the very least -- have a sign that would ask people for their support. Whether they supported me or not would be their choice. I would not be taking a set amount from them because how much they gave me would be their choice as well. "Beggars can't be choosers" and I could not choose who gave to me -- family, friend, or foe: whoever would, would be welcome.
As a beggar, I would have to use the money I received from the good hearts of my fellow humans until it ran out and I would have to go out and ask for more. This, in its turn, would teach me something about gratefulness, about humility, about shame and pride. It would teach me about being careful with the money strangers gave me and to use it wisely for the things I need; not whatever I wanted. A budget would be imperative and it would be followed to the strictest "nth" degree. Every penny pinched, every dime made a dollar, so that I would not have to face the empty pocket at the end of the week and go out and ask strangers for more.
As a beggar, I would be forced to do what I legally and morally could to entice people to give me some of their money. Whether that be smiling sweetly, looking as pitiful as I can, changing the wording of the sign I used, or washing their car, it would be up to me to get them to agree to give to me. I would have to be creative, resourceful and capable of getting people to agree to give me some of their hard earned cash. This would either allow me to continue begging, or teach me something about entrepreneurship and encourage me to do something besides begging.
As a beggar, my family and friends and total strangers would not be forced to give to me, to support someone they had no say in supporting, and they would not be forced to give whatever dollar amount the federal (or State, County, or City) government took from them via taxes to support me in my government program houses, food, health care, etc. It would be a free choice of compassion and mercy on their part, allowing them to reap the spiritual and emotional benefits. As a beggar, my gratitude may be the only reward they received, but it would be eternal.
As a beggar, finding a safe, comfortable place to sleep would be my job, my desire, nightly. It would be upon my head if I wound up sleeping where I got rained upon, or if I was uncomfortable nightly. This would lead to my trying harder to get enough money to eat and to either find a shelter for homeless people that would have space for me, or to be able to rent a room so that I could sleep in a bed and not on the street.
As a beggar, while it would not be a matter of pride, at least I would not be looking at my neighbor and thinking that there is another program I can sign up for in order to have "X" as they do, or to be able to have "Y" as someone else does. Government programs would not be my failsafe, my "go to" relief: it would be myself on whom I would have to rely and that would be so much better than stealing from all of you.
That's why I think it would be better to be a beggar than to be on welfare, living in government housing, on food stamps, W.I.C. and other food programs, while getting Medicare/Medicaid to get health care and to snarl that I don't have enough. I want more and the government, "We, the People", should -- better! -- provide it. At least, as a beggar, I would be able to look you in the eye and not feel like a thief.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tea Party Suggestions: Please be proactive
Many of my readers know that I have been what some would call “critical” of the Tea Party movement. While I support their cause wholeheartedly, I have never thought that getting together at a rally where nothing is actually done besides a support system and a lot of “feel good” speeches accomplished anything except emotional support. While emotional support for those who are in the Tea Party may be a good thing in keeping them from feeling alone, it does exclusively that: emotions. Emotions are not actions and that is what I have always thought the Tea Party should be about. After all, if your numbers have Congress and the MSM afraid of you, why waste that fear? Why not put that power into action and do something with it? However, I saw very few Tea Party activities besides rallies and speeches; and neither of those things accomplishes anything. Therefore, in order to encourage Tea Party members in their activities to make a difference, I have the following suggestions for getting active and doing something.
Please take these suggestions in the spirit they are offered: not as a criticism, but as a list of things people may have the time, be willing to make the effort, and have the wherewithal to do without having to do it all themselves, and without having to feel as though they weren’t cut out for one particular item that every Tea Party member is already doing because there are no other ideas put forth. I try to run the gamut of ideas that require differing amounts of effort, money, time, personal nerves and attendance. Not everyone will wish to do every suggestion; not every suggestion will be right for all. Pick one or more that you are comfortable with and do those. As the Bible says, “And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (Eph. 4:11-12). No one person is supposed to be everything. Choose which you will do and follow through with all your heart.
The list of possibilities:
GOVERNMENT:
• Start attending Brevard County Board of County Commission meetings and speak against items that would mean the BOCC voting to spend your money. This is a necessary step to help lower taxes at home. Remember, with the manned space program (so far just the manned) shut down, there will be fewer people to pay for the things the BOCC wants to spend money on. There will be fewer homes occupied and there will be fewer people paying property taxes in order to fund those BOCC votes. It’s your money; do something to protect it. There should be no fewer than forty or fifty Tea Party members at each BOCC meeting and at least that many at the Budget meetings.
• If you do not wish to attend BOCC meetings and speak on spending items, then attend smaller meetings: workshops, budget discussions, etc., and speak against the spending items there. Again, the car pool organizers would be vital here. If you do not wish to be involved in the BOCC or budget discussions because you “don’t do numbers”, then do something else in a County Committee or Board. Request that your County Commissioner appoint you to represent your area. If you get to vote on spending items, vote against them. If you do not get to vote on spending, then vote in the most conservative way possible. Boards and Committees are usually stepping stones for those wishing to become political candidates. Being assigned to Boards and Committees means making political connections. Keep your eyes open and find out who is trying to use it as a stepping stone and what their political bent is (progressive or Conservative). Inform the present of the possible future. (If you live in an incorporated city within Brevard County, do the same things as suggested above for the “County” section, but at your City Council meetings. That’s a given.)
• Become a candidate. If you are the right person for the job, you can do so and be elected, especially in today’s climate. I know it’s scary and that there are a lot of requirements and very little time left (if any) to qualify. But if that is what you are being called to do, go for it. Campaigning between now and August primaries is going to be difficult, but you can do it. Look at all of the people who went to the Tea Parties and request their help with getting you into office. If you have been at the Tea Parties, they may recognize you. If not, show them what you’re made of and stand for lower taxes at all times; before the election, and if you win, after the election.
• If you choose not to become a candidate, be sure to vote for the most CONSERVATIVE person on the ballot, no matter what the party designation is behind the candidate’s name. Conservative people are for smaller government and lower taxes, and that’s what the Tea Party is all about. We all know that there are way too many RINOs in the Republican Party nowadays to believe that the “R” party designation means that they won’t vote for higher taxes (think Mary Bolin and Chuck Nelson on the BOCC: both ran as Republicans).
• Contact your local representatives and tell them that you are forming a group of people who would like to meet with him/her on a regular basis to advise them on what the people are thinking. IF they agree to meet with you regularly, excellent! They’re interested in what their constituents think. IF they don’t agree to meet with you, get together with the group of people and talk about what this representative (BOCC member, Senator, whatever) is doing and discuss your reactions to what they are doing. Take notes on what was discussed and send those notes to the representative on a regular basis. This will let the representative know that they are being watched and whether you think they are doing a good job, a terrible job, or just middling.
• Visit your local representatives’ offices individually (just you and/or your family): BOCC, State and U.S. elected officials should become familiar with your face and with your name. This reminds them that their votes have an impact on individuals, not just groups. It makes it more personal when they see that you have a war injury and walk with a cane and that vote is going to affect your veteran’s benefits; or that your little boy has aspirations to be an astronaut and the space program is important to the future, too. Write to them, call them and visit them. Let them know that you are watching them and that you have the vote and you will use it. Don’t stalk them; just let them know that you are watching their every vote.
NEIGHBORHOOD:
• Start “Tuesday Teas” (use whichever title you wish for them) in which you gather a few of your neighbors (5-10) each Tuesday and talk politics and taxes. These do not have to be Tea Party members, just people who need the information. Have facts and figures ready. Have the information available. Get online and be ready to prove your assertions. Have your computer set up in a convenient location for questions to be looked into immediately. “Fingertip knowledge” is very handy in winning people over to the truth.
• Coordinate a bi-annual Block Party for your street and get Tea Party speakers to come speak at your event. This should not be an election event; it should be an educational event. Tea Party speakers should be from a different area than your neighborhood so that people don’t see it as a “get out the vote” event. This will help with participation and ease suspicions. The Tea Party speaker may get some good feedback and people will talk, but they won’t be able to vote for him/her.
• If you can afford the expense, order pamphlets and books from www.wallbuilders.com and other websites to teach the truth of how America was founded and who America is supposed to be. Wallbuilders.com has one particular pamphlet that talks about “Separation of Church and State” and covers that subject thoroughly (did you know that statement was written in a private letter and taken totally out of context?) that sells for 50¢ each. Twenty of those will cost you ten dollars plus shipping. If you have that to spare, order it and loan it to your neighbors and after they read it, discuss it with them. Then ask for it back and ask someone else to read it. Or, just let them keep it but ask them to promise to pass it on.
• If the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc., have guest speakers, ask if you can come speak to their members and teach them about the Boston Tea Party for a merit badge event. Teach the members about the tax rebellion during our Founding and relate it to today’s Tea Party and what the governments (city, county, state and federal) are currently doing to us.
• Have a garage sale and have information about the Tea Party and what it stands for and what it is trying to accomplish ready to give to anyone who visits your garage sale. Some will not like it; some will not accept it; some will accept it and drop it on the ground right in front of you. Expect that, but at least you tried. With every purchase, have a plastic bag ready to put the purchases in; include your information on the Tea Party in the bag with purchase.
SCHOOLS:
• Get involved in your child’s or grandchild’s school. Volunteer and watch the way the classes are run; what they teach the children and how they teach the children. If you see that the progressive slant is being favored, make a fuss about it and contact the School Board after speaking to the principal if he/she will not make a change.
• Check your child’s/grandchild’s school text books. If they are teaching “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”, excellent! If they are skewing the information and Ronald W. Reagan gets a short paragraph and Clinton and Obama get a few pages of praise, they’re doing it wrong. Make a fuss at the school and at the School Board about the book being skewed.
• Volunteer to teach a class on the Founding Fathers and what they actually believed and wanted for America. Resources are available on the internet – especially at www.wallbuilders.com , www.askheritage.org -- among others. Teach the children the truth about our Founding Fathers and the fact that they started this nation as a Christian nation.
OTHER:
• Start a phone bank and man it. Be the person who puts together a phone tree and be the person who is the person to contact in case there is an action item, important development, etc., that the Tea Party members need to know about or act upon.
• If you cannot attend BOCC meetings, be the person who organizes car pools and pick-ups for those who wish to attend but have no transportation. This would be a vital service to get the Tea Party voices to the BOCC meetings and keep your taxes down.
• If you are a member of Toast Masters, Kiwanis, Elks, etc., ask to do an informational speech on the Tea Party and on what it is trying to accomplish. Be sure to have facts and figures readily available and proof of any political assertions you may be making printed out.
• Write a blog about what is going on in government, about the waste and spending. Your writing is not like mine and your writing may reach someone that my writing will never touch. This is due to the differences in writing styles. While I hit people on the nose with the truth, some do not like that style, while others respond favorably to it. Your style will be different from mine and your style may reach your neighbor, your friend at church, or whomever that I would never be able to reach. Print “web cards” (like business cards, but with your blog info) and put them everywhere.
• Write letters to the editor about the issues facing us with high taxes, job losses and the impacts it will have on your children or grandchildren (or you). Write not just to Florida Today, but to every printed item in your neighborhood including HOA newsletters, your area freebies (Coffee News, Hometown News, Senior Life, etc.), and any Club newsletters you belong to that may have the slightest possibility of publishing the letter: ‘Tis better to try and fail than never to have tried.
• Something EVERYONE CAN AND SHOULD DO: Get a copy of the U.S. Constitution (even if it’s printed out on your own printer) and carry it with you after you have read it four or five times through. Know the U.S. Constitution. Remember that it protects you more than it does the government.
Please take these suggestions in the spirit they are offered: not as a criticism, but as a list of things people may have the time, be willing to make the effort, and have the wherewithal to do without having to do it all themselves, and without having to feel as though they weren’t cut out for one particular item that every Tea Party member is already doing because there are no other ideas put forth. I try to run the gamut of ideas that require differing amounts of effort, money, time, personal nerves and attendance. Not everyone will wish to do every suggestion; not every suggestion will be right for all. Pick one or more that you are comfortable with and do those. As the Bible says, “And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (Eph. 4:11-12). No one person is supposed to be everything. Choose which you will do and follow through with all your heart.
The list of possibilities:
GOVERNMENT:
• Start attending Brevard County Board of County Commission meetings and speak against items that would mean the BOCC voting to spend your money. This is a necessary step to help lower taxes at home. Remember, with the manned space program (so far just the manned) shut down, there will be fewer people to pay for the things the BOCC wants to spend money on. There will be fewer homes occupied and there will be fewer people paying property taxes in order to fund those BOCC votes. It’s your money; do something to protect it. There should be no fewer than forty or fifty Tea Party members at each BOCC meeting and at least that many at the Budget meetings.
• If you do not wish to attend BOCC meetings and speak on spending items, then attend smaller meetings: workshops, budget discussions, etc., and speak against the spending items there. Again, the car pool organizers would be vital here. If you do not wish to be involved in the BOCC or budget discussions because you “don’t do numbers”, then do something else in a County Committee or Board. Request that your County Commissioner appoint you to represent your area. If you get to vote on spending items, vote against them. If you do not get to vote on spending, then vote in the most conservative way possible. Boards and Committees are usually stepping stones for those wishing to become political candidates. Being assigned to Boards and Committees means making political connections. Keep your eyes open and find out who is trying to use it as a stepping stone and what their political bent is (progressive or Conservative). Inform the present of the possible future. (If you live in an incorporated city within Brevard County, do the same things as suggested above for the “County” section, but at your City Council meetings. That’s a given.)
• Become a candidate. If you are the right person for the job, you can do so and be elected, especially in today’s climate. I know it’s scary and that there are a lot of requirements and very little time left (if any) to qualify. But if that is what you are being called to do, go for it. Campaigning between now and August primaries is going to be difficult, but you can do it. Look at all of the people who went to the Tea Parties and request their help with getting you into office. If you have been at the Tea Parties, they may recognize you. If not, show them what you’re made of and stand for lower taxes at all times; before the election, and if you win, after the election.
• If you choose not to become a candidate, be sure to vote for the most CONSERVATIVE person on the ballot, no matter what the party designation is behind the candidate’s name. Conservative people are for smaller government and lower taxes, and that’s what the Tea Party is all about. We all know that there are way too many RINOs in the Republican Party nowadays to believe that the “R” party designation means that they won’t vote for higher taxes (think Mary Bolin and Chuck Nelson on the BOCC: both ran as Republicans).
• Contact your local representatives and tell them that you are forming a group of people who would like to meet with him/her on a regular basis to advise them on what the people are thinking. IF they agree to meet with you regularly, excellent! They’re interested in what their constituents think. IF they don’t agree to meet with you, get together with the group of people and talk about what this representative (BOCC member, Senator, whatever) is doing and discuss your reactions to what they are doing. Take notes on what was discussed and send those notes to the representative on a regular basis. This will let the representative know that they are being watched and whether you think they are doing a good job, a terrible job, or just middling.
• Visit your local representatives’ offices individually (just you and/or your family): BOCC, State and U.S. elected officials should become familiar with your face and with your name. This reminds them that their votes have an impact on individuals, not just groups. It makes it more personal when they see that you have a war injury and walk with a cane and that vote is going to affect your veteran’s benefits; or that your little boy has aspirations to be an astronaut and the space program is important to the future, too. Write to them, call them and visit them. Let them know that you are watching them and that you have the vote and you will use it. Don’t stalk them; just let them know that you are watching their every vote.
NEIGHBORHOOD:
• Start “Tuesday Teas” (use whichever title you wish for them) in which you gather a few of your neighbors (5-10) each Tuesday and talk politics and taxes. These do not have to be Tea Party members, just people who need the information. Have facts and figures ready. Have the information available. Get online and be ready to prove your assertions. Have your computer set up in a convenient location for questions to be looked into immediately. “Fingertip knowledge” is very handy in winning people over to the truth.
• Coordinate a bi-annual Block Party for your street and get Tea Party speakers to come speak at your event. This should not be an election event; it should be an educational event. Tea Party speakers should be from a different area than your neighborhood so that people don’t see it as a “get out the vote” event. This will help with participation and ease suspicions. The Tea Party speaker may get some good feedback and people will talk, but they won’t be able to vote for him/her.
• If you can afford the expense, order pamphlets and books from www.wallbuilders.com and other websites to teach the truth of how America was founded and who America is supposed to be. Wallbuilders.com has one particular pamphlet that talks about “Separation of Church and State” and covers that subject thoroughly (did you know that statement was written in a private letter and taken totally out of context?) that sells for 50¢ each. Twenty of those will cost you ten dollars plus shipping. If you have that to spare, order it and loan it to your neighbors and after they read it, discuss it with them. Then ask for it back and ask someone else to read it. Or, just let them keep it but ask them to promise to pass it on.
• If the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc., have guest speakers, ask if you can come speak to their members and teach them about the Boston Tea Party for a merit badge event. Teach the members about the tax rebellion during our Founding and relate it to today’s Tea Party and what the governments (city, county, state and federal) are currently doing to us.
• Have a garage sale and have information about the Tea Party and what it stands for and what it is trying to accomplish ready to give to anyone who visits your garage sale. Some will not like it; some will not accept it; some will accept it and drop it on the ground right in front of you. Expect that, but at least you tried. With every purchase, have a plastic bag ready to put the purchases in; include your information on the Tea Party in the bag with purchase.
SCHOOLS:
• Get involved in your child’s or grandchild’s school. Volunteer and watch the way the classes are run; what they teach the children and how they teach the children. If you see that the progressive slant is being favored, make a fuss about it and contact the School Board after speaking to the principal if he/she will not make a change.
• Check your child’s/grandchild’s school text books. If they are teaching “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”, excellent! If they are skewing the information and Ronald W. Reagan gets a short paragraph and Clinton and Obama get a few pages of praise, they’re doing it wrong. Make a fuss at the school and at the School Board about the book being skewed.
• Volunteer to teach a class on the Founding Fathers and what they actually believed and wanted for America. Resources are available on the internet – especially at www.wallbuilders.com , www.askheritage.org -- among others. Teach the children the truth about our Founding Fathers and the fact that they started this nation as a Christian nation.
OTHER:
• Start a phone bank and man it. Be the person who puts together a phone tree and be the person who is the person to contact in case there is an action item, important development, etc., that the Tea Party members need to know about or act upon.
• If you cannot attend BOCC meetings, be the person who organizes car pools and pick-ups for those who wish to attend but have no transportation. This would be a vital service to get the Tea Party voices to the BOCC meetings and keep your taxes down.
• If you are a member of Toast Masters, Kiwanis, Elks, etc., ask to do an informational speech on the Tea Party and on what it is trying to accomplish. Be sure to have facts and figures readily available and proof of any political assertions you may be making printed out.
• Write a blog about what is going on in government, about the waste and spending. Your writing is not like mine and your writing may reach someone that my writing will never touch. This is due to the differences in writing styles. While I hit people on the nose with the truth, some do not like that style, while others respond favorably to it. Your style will be different from mine and your style may reach your neighbor, your friend at church, or whomever that I would never be able to reach. Print “web cards” (like business cards, but with your blog info) and put them everywhere.
• Write letters to the editor about the issues facing us with high taxes, job losses and the impacts it will have on your children or grandchildren (or you). Write not just to Florida Today, but to every printed item in your neighborhood including HOA newsletters, your area freebies (Coffee News, Hometown News, Senior Life, etc.), and any Club newsletters you belong to that may have the slightest possibility of publishing the letter: ‘Tis better to try and fail than never to have tried.
• Something EVERYONE CAN AND SHOULD DO: Get a copy of the U.S. Constitution (even if it’s printed out on your own printer) and carry it with you after you have read it four or five times through. Know the U.S. Constitution. Remember that it protects you more than it does the government.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Why I HATE the Minimum Wage
Why I Hate the Minimum Wage
(NOTE: All names used herein are fictional and do not refer to any known real life person.)
Back on October 24, 1938, when the Federal Government set the first minimum wage at twenty-five cents per hour people lost the right to negotiate for themselves how much their time and effort were worth. It was no longer an "experience counts" and hard working employees make more verses inexperienced, or lazy workers thing. It became "everyone starts at the same rate" and no choices were offered.
That amount rose steadilly and became a source of discrimination in 1961 when there were different categories of workers: "large retail and service enterprises as well as to local transit, construction, and gasoline service station employees" or employees of farms or "nonexempt" workers. Depending upon where you worked in 1968, you could be paid as much as forty-five cents more per hour because the minimum wage dictated so. Does that sound like a fair practice?
Nowadays, it's an exception between the nonexempt workers and the exempt workers and the federal government participates in age discrimination: "A subminimum wage -- $4.25 an hour -- is established for employees under 20 years of age during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer." If you are a day over twenty, you must be paid -- according to federal law -- $7.25 per hour. That's a three dollar difference decided by one day. Is that fair?
Did you know there were differences? There are.
The thing that minimum wage earners do not seem to understand is that they could be worth more if they negotiated on their own behalf. When people get high-powered, high paying jobs, it isn't because the federal govermnent was involved and decided what their wage was going to be. It was because they knew their education, their experiences, their insight, their qualifications made their services more valuable than a government set wage. They walk into a potential employer's office and know that they want $80,000 for their base pay, full benefits including medical coverage, vacation pay and flex time (or PTO). They get it there, or they move on to a company that will pay them what they think they are worth (or they have to re-evaluate their self-worth).
Let's say that Sam Smith went to Harvard and got his degree in Mechanical Engineering with secondary studies in Business Management. He graduated in the top twenty percent of his class and he has some work experience but it was working at a fast food restaurant and a paper route when he was in his teens. He's now twenty-four and he's going on his first job interview since he was sixteen. He walks into the "Manufacturing X" company in time for his appointment, gets shown in and shakes hands with the personnel manager and the department head he would be working under. They talk and the "Manufacturing X" company likes what they see. Do they offer Sam Smith minimum wage because this is his first job in years and he's basically starting over, and it is the government mandated wage? No. He gets to say what he is expecting to earn. They get to say, "Well, yes, we can do that," or, "Sorry. We could offer you fifty. Would you take that?" It's then up to Sam Smith to decide his own value.
Same holds true with someone just getting their first job at a fast food restaurant, a grocery store or a car wash. Ken Kirk is perpetually punctual, hardly ever gets sick, is good at making change, is driven to succeed and is shooting to be promoted at least once (preferably twice) within the next six months. Lenny Ladd walks into the same establishment, has a track record of working for a similar establishment, but has been sick often, has a history of putting nominal effort into his work and sometimes was as much as $5.50 off in his drawer count at the end of the day because he has a problem making change. There are two identical jobs available. Ken Kirk talks to the manager and impresses him very much. Lenny Ladd has experience and the manager needs experience. They both get hired and they both get paid minimum wage for the first six months of employment.
Problem is, the manager has to pay Lenny Ladd the same wage as he has to pay Ken Kirk when it is Ken Kirk who has made a huge difference in the first two weeks of his being employed and Lenny Ladd has done just about nothing extra. Due to the minimum wage, there is no money to give Ken Kirk a raise; nor can Lenny Ladd be fired because a second worker is definitely needed; even if it is a nominal worker. Ken Kirk has to wait until there can be more money in the budget for his raise. Six months pass. Ken Kirk has been noticed by other employers and he is being offered other jbos. Loyalty makes Ken Kirk want to stay; money makes him want to go. Ken Kirk makes a decision to stay for two more months, just in case things get better. Two months later, Ken Kirk is still making minimum wage and Lenny Ladd is getting lazier.
Even though Ken Kirk absolutely loves working there, and loves what he is doing he decides to leave the company because he can't see himself going further up the ladder due to Lenny Ladd's employment costing his employer equal pay for less work than Ken Kirk was putting into the job. Ken Kirk leaves his employer and makes two dollars more per hour at his new job because of his positive work attitude, drive and contribution to his employer. Lenny Ladd is still at the store and still making minimum wage with his boss trying to decide whether Lenny Ladd is worth it because the boss can't find anyone else to take the job.
Ken Kirk's decision was right for him only in the dollar and cents mode. Emotionally, Ken Kirk felt like a traitor because he respected his boss and had a fond attachment to him. He felt resentment toward Lenny Ladd for costing Kirk his dream job, and he considered his first job a failure because of his decision to leave and he carried that with him the rest of his life.
This isn't as far fetched as you might think. There are employers out there every day who have a similar situation: go-getters who cannot be given a raise due to minimum effort minimum wage employees who take up pay and space and do just about no work. Yes, they could be fired (as long as it's not a union job), but they would only be replaced by someone else making a minimum wage and the people who deserve more money wouldn't be receiving it because of that minimum wage being forced upon the employer. The employer is stuck with the inability to reward good workers for their effort; or to discipline bad employees for their lack thereof. Money is supposed to be a good motivator, but for some it is not. Firing those who do no work only begins the cycle again and means training another new worker and making the HR department work harder to do the processing out and in. Training time means down time and that means money lost; at least with the slacker he was already trained, even if he's producing 3/4 of what he could be doing.
Minimum wage is a trap for both the employer and the employee. There is no negotiating, no figuring out what you are worth, what the job is worth. It's here: take it or leave it because this is what the government says we have to pay. Minimum wage depletes creativity (who wants to be more creative and make more effort than the Lenny Ladds of this world and still receive the same pay?), depletes initiative, depletes drive. It's a job that will pay you no matter what as long as you show up and you can always get another job that will pay you that same amount as a newbie, so why bother with effort?
Minimum wage is a vacuum of despair. I heard so many people at my last job complain that they were "stuck" there because they couldn't get anything better (no matter what their pay was). I have heard so many people in other jobs decry their pay because they "couldn't do better". They never tried. They heard that the minimum wage job they were in was basically their only choice because if they changed jobs, it would just mean downtime and they'd be paid the same thing at the new job -- no matter how long it was between jobs -- and they are raising three children on that minimum wage job and it's hopeless.
Even though minimum wage is said to be ensuring a "living wage" for everyone, it is a farce. With gas, food, electricity, water, housing costs as high as they are, the "living wage" has never been a "living wage": never. In 1938, at twenty-five cents per hour, the minimum wage earner made $520 per year. The average cost to raise a family of four with food, shelter and clothing outstretched the minimum wage (see the chart on the third page) and it has every year since its inception.
The minimum wage is an useful tool, however. It keeps people believing that if they rely on the government to do things for them -- to "give" them health care, to "pay" for their car, to "demand" a living wage for them -- then all they have to do is show up at work and do minimal work. They don't have to meet standards and they don't have to work hard to get ahead. They will -- probably at the next big election cycle -- get a raise automatically when the minimum wage goes up to buy more votes for re-election. Very useful for those who are willing to keep people down and to keep them ignorant of the true price of their vote and of their own willingness to let others do things "for" them. Remember, it's not always "for" you. When it is a politician doing it, it's usually "to".
(NOTE: All names used herein are fictional and do not refer to any known real life person.)
Back on October 24, 1938, when the Federal Government set the first minimum wage at twenty-five cents per hour people lost the right to negotiate for themselves how much their time and effort were worth. It was no longer an "experience counts" and hard working employees make more verses inexperienced, or lazy workers thing. It became "everyone starts at the same rate" and no choices were offered.
That amount rose steadilly and became a source of discrimination in 1961 when there were different categories of workers: "large retail and service enterprises as well as to local transit, construction, and gasoline service station employees" or employees of farms or "nonexempt" workers. Depending upon where you worked in 1968, you could be paid as much as forty-five cents more per hour because the minimum wage dictated so. Does that sound like a fair practice?
Nowadays, it's an exception between the nonexempt workers and the exempt workers and the federal government participates in age discrimination: "A subminimum wage -- $4.25 an hour -- is established for employees under 20 years of age during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer." If you are a day over twenty, you must be paid -- according to federal law -- $7.25 per hour. That's a three dollar difference decided by one day. Is that fair?
Did you know there were differences? There are.
The thing that minimum wage earners do not seem to understand is that they could be worth more if they negotiated on their own behalf. When people get high-powered, high paying jobs, it isn't because the federal govermnent was involved and decided what their wage was going to be. It was because they knew their education, their experiences, their insight, their qualifications made their services more valuable than a government set wage. They walk into a potential employer's office and know that they want $80,000 for their base pay, full benefits including medical coverage, vacation pay and flex time (or PTO). They get it there, or they move on to a company that will pay them what they think they are worth (or they have to re-evaluate their self-worth).
Let's say that Sam Smith went to Harvard and got his degree in Mechanical Engineering with secondary studies in Business Management. He graduated in the top twenty percent of his class and he has some work experience but it was working at a fast food restaurant and a paper route when he was in his teens. He's now twenty-four and he's going on his first job interview since he was sixteen. He walks into the "Manufacturing X" company in time for his appointment, gets shown in and shakes hands with the personnel manager and the department head he would be working under. They talk and the "Manufacturing X" company likes what they see. Do they offer Sam Smith minimum wage because this is his first job in years and he's basically starting over, and it is the government mandated wage? No. He gets to say what he is expecting to earn. They get to say, "Well, yes, we can do that," or, "Sorry. We could offer you fifty. Would you take that?" It's then up to Sam Smith to decide his own value.
Same holds true with someone just getting their first job at a fast food restaurant, a grocery store or a car wash. Ken Kirk is perpetually punctual, hardly ever gets sick, is good at making change, is driven to succeed and is shooting to be promoted at least once (preferably twice) within the next six months. Lenny Ladd walks into the same establishment, has a track record of working for a similar establishment, but has been sick often, has a history of putting nominal effort into his work and sometimes was as much as $5.50 off in his drawer count at the end of the day because he has a problem making change. There are two identical jobs available. Ken Kirk talks to the manager and impresses him very much. Lenny Ladd has experience and the manager needs experience. They both get hired and they both get paid minimum wage for the first six months of employment.
Problem is, the manager has to pay Lenny Ladd the same wage as he has to pay Ken Kirk when it is Ken Kirk who has made a huge difference in the first two weeks of his being employed and Lenny Ladd has done just about nothing extra. Due to the minimum wage, there is no money to give Ken Kirk a raise; nor can Lenny Ladd be fired because a second worker is definitely needed; even if it is a nominal worker. Ken Kirk has to wait until there can be more money in the budget for his raise. Six months pass. Ken Kirk has been noticed by other employers and he is being offered other jbos. Loyalty makes Ken Kirk want to stay; money makes him want to go. Ken Kirk makes a decision to stay for two more months, just in case things get better. Two months later, Ken Kirk is still making minimum wage and Lenny Ladd is getting lazier.
Even though Ken Kirk absolutely loves working there, and loves what he is doing he decides to leave the company because he can't see himself going further up the ladder due to Lenny Ladd's employment costing his employer equal pay for less work than Ken Kirk was putting into the job. Ken Kirk leaves his employer and makes two dollars more per hour at his new job because of his positive work attitude, drive and contribution to his employer. Lenny Ladd is still at the store and still making minimum wage with his boss trying to decide whether Lenny Ladd is worth it because the boss can't find anyone else to take the job.
Ken Kirk's decision was right for him only in the dollar and cents mode. Emotionally, Ken Kirk felt like a traitor because he respected his boss and had a fond attachment to him. He felt resentment toward Lenny Ladd for costing Kirk his dream job, and he considered his first job a failure because of his decision to leave and he carried that with him the rest of his life.
This isn't as far fetched as you might think. There are employers out there every day who have a similar situation: go-getters who cannot be given a raise due to minimum effort minimum wage employees who take up pay and space and do just about no work. Yes, they could be fired (as long as it's not a union job), but they would only be replaced by someone else making a minimum wage and the people who deserve more money wouldn't be receiving it because of that minimum wage being forced upon the employer. The employer is stuck with the inability to reward good workers for their effort; or to discipline bad employees for their lack thereof. Money is supposed to be a good motivator, but for some it is not. Firing those who do no work only begins the cycle again and means training another new worker and making the HR department work harder to do the processing out and in. Training time means down time and that means money lost; at least with the slacker he was already trained, even if he's producing 3/4 of what he could be doing.
Minimum wage is a trap for both the employer and the employee. There is no negotiating, no figuring out what you are worth, what the job is worth. It's here: take it or leave it because this is what the government says we have to pay. Minimum wage depletes creativity (who wants to be more creative and make more effort than the Lenny Ladds of this world and still receive the same pay?), depletes initiative, depletes drive. It's a job that will pay you no matter what as long as you show up and you can always get another job that will pay you that same amount as a newbie, so why bother with effort?
Minimum wage is a vacuum of despair. I heard so many people at my last job complain that they were "stuck" there because they couldn't get anything better (no matter what their pay was). I have heard so many people in other jobs decry their pay because they "couldn't do better". They never tried. They heard that the minimum wage job they were in was basically their only choice because if they changed jobs, it would just mean downtime and they'd be paid the same thing at the new job -- no matter how long it was between jobs -- and they are raising three children on that minimum wage job and it's hopeless.
Even though minimum wage is said to be ensuring a "living wage" for everyone, it is a farce. With gas, food, electricity, water, housing costs as high as they are, the "living wage" has never been a "living wage": never. In 1938, at twenty-five cents per hour, the minimum wage earner made $520 per year. The average cost to raise a family of four with food, shelter and clothing outstretched the minimum wage (see the chart on the third page) and it has every year since its inception.
The minimum wage is an useful tool, however. It keeps people believing that if they rely on the government to do things for them -- to "give" them health care, to "pay" for their car, to "demand" a living wage for them -- then all they have to do is show up at work and do minimal work. They don't have to meet standards and they don't have to work hard to get ahead. They will -- probably at the next big election cycle -- get a raise automatically when the minimum wage goes up to buy more votes for re-election. Very useful for those who are willing to keep people down and to keep them ignorant of the true price of their vote and of their own willingness to let others do things "for" them. Remember, it's not always "for" you. When it is a politician doing it, it's usually "to".
Monday, March 15, 2010
What I sent Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State -- at her request
Secretary Clinton,
Your website and the article at CBS News (http://cnsnews.com/news/article/62698) said that "citizens" are allowed to write in and tell you what we think about America's human rights record. That I will do.
Since its inception and the U.S. Constitution, America's human rights record has been better than any other country on earth. We wrote laws that enabled people to benefit from the sweat of their own brow and to toil on their own land and keep the things they grew for themselves, or to sell what they grew for a profit; to manufacture and benefit from their labor and to create and benefit from their creativity. We tried to keep government out of the way of the people's prosperity and freedoms.
We have a record of standing up for the little guy -- domestically and abroad -- and always responded when asked for help. We respond when a country is attacked and requests assistance: whether the attack be from another country, or from "Mother Nature" and our help is always in the nature of trying to do what is right.
We have a record of admitting wrongs and righting them. When slavery was finally abolished (Thank you, President Lincoln, Republican.), we corrected a wrong that was a shorter duration here than in any other country on earth. In fact, there are still today countries that have slaves of one sort or another and America takes a stand against such a practice.
We have a record of helping the political prisoners and political targets of tyrants and dictators -- except of those currently running America: this administration -- and offering them a place of safety and political freedom to speak as they wish and to stand against their tyrannical government back home.
We have a record of standing strong for what is right, what is good, what is pure and what is best for the people and the people's freedoms.
Never overlook those things -- our actual record on human rights -- when you consider the history of America's human rights record. Until this administration, we were a good nation. We were a nation that tried to do what was best for its people and the people of other countries. We were sincere in our efforts to protect the weak and injured, to help those in need, to promote freedom within our borders and beyond. This administration does its best to reverse all of that. But I hope that it won't last for long. Four years is the most we can take: preferably less with impeachment possible soon.
America was founded on "the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and that ideal has carried us thus far. Let us not now turn back from it and become a nation that follows Hitler's, Stalin's, Mao's and Che's example into that dark night of murder and starvation for the sake of the power of the administration. America -- this administration -- needs to return to its roots and return to our freedoms and turn away from the Marxist/Socialist/Communist hateful ideas of those who have already proven it doesn't work for the people. America's record was good. Remember that. America is a good nation as long as it has good leaders. This administration is not "good leaders": Ronald Reagan was.
Sincerely,
Your website and the article at CBS News (http://cnsnews.com/news/article/62698) said that "citizens" are allowed to write in and tell you what we think about America's human rights record. That I will do.
Since its inception and the U.S. Constitution, America's human rights record has been better than any other country on earth. We wrote laws that enabled people to benefit from the sweat of their own brow and to toil on their own land and keep the things they grew for themselves, or to sell what they grew for a profit; to manufacture and benefit from their labor and to create and benefit from their creativity. We tried to keep government out of the way of the people's prosperity and freedoms.
We have a record of standing up for the little guy -- domestically and abroad -- and always responded when asked for help. We respond when a country is attacked and requests assistance: whether the attack be from another country, or from "Mother Nature" and our help is always in the nature of trying to do what is right.
We have a record of admitting wrongs and righting them. When slavery was finally abolished (Thank you, President Lincoln, Republican.), we corrected a wrong that was a shorter duration here than in any other country on earth. In fact, there are still today countries that have slaves of one sort or another and America takes a stand against such a practice.
We have a record of helping the political prisoners and political targets of tyrants and dictators -- except of those currently running America: this administration -- and offering them a place of safety and political freedom to speak as they wish and to stand against their tyrannical government back home.
We have a record of standing strong for what is right, what is good, what is pure and what is best for the people and the people's freedoms.
Never overlook those things -- our actual record on human rights -- when you consider the history of America's human rights record. Until this administration, we were a good nation. We were a nation that tried to do what was best for its people and the people of other countries. We were sincere in our efforts to protect the weak and injured, to help those in need, to promote freedom within our borders and beyond. This administration does its best to reverse all of that. But I hope that it won't last for long. Four years is the most we can take: preferably less with impeachment possible soon.
America was founded on "the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and that ideal has carried us thus far. Let us not now turn back from it and become a nation that follows Hitler's, Stalin's, Mao's and Che's example into that dark night of murder and starvation for the sake of the power of the administration. America -- this administration -- needs to return to its roots and return to our freedoms and turn away from the Marxist/Socialist/Communist hateful ideas of those who have already proven it doesn't work for the people. America's record was good. Remember that. America is a good nation as long as it has good leaders. This administration is not "good leaders": Ronald Reagan was.
Sincerely,
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