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An Argument for Liberty
lib·er·ty /ˈlibərtē/ -- The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life. If one were to singularly view the legislative approach of Democrats as a lens through which to understand the liberal philosophy, it would appear the strains and responsibilities of freedom render the individual incapable of knowing what's best. Democrats go to great lengths to point out their desire is not to demean or unnecessarily constrain the individual, but to recognize that the complexity and dangers of the world we live in make it impossible for the individual to consistently make good decisions. In other words, the individual needs to be protected, dually, from himself and an ever growing deluge of outside threats he isn't even aware of. Republicans, on the other hand, will tell you it's the individual that's important; that the individual, as the base unit of the group, must be empowered and encouraged to succeed if the larger group is to prosper. With great passion, Republicans will champion the individual, arguing the success of the group is best served by legislatively protecting the individual's ability to think and act for himself, while, at the same time holding the individual responsible for his own actions and limiting governmental interference in his life and labor. Through whatever prism you view it, left or right, this all sounds quite noble. Except... it's not. These two vastly different approaches are nothing more than sleight-of-hand, two means to the same end; carefully crafted, well-honed, and time tested ploys, mutually understood and employed by both political parties to cover the entire spectrum of the governed with one singular purpose - to control the largest number of a diverse nation of people by getting them to voluntarily give up their individual freedoms while believing that doing so is in their best interest. Why would they do this? Democrats can't come right out and say, "You don't matter. The group is what's important! Dispel with your independent thinking and step in line. Get with the program, otherwise we can't help you and you’ll end up on the street and ignored." Likewise, Republicans can't come right out and say, "You're free to choose how you live and work, but don't step out of line! Otherwise, we'll put you in jail and ruin your life, or maybe we'll just kill you and be done with it." Some people - like me - wouldn't like either one of those choices very much at all. In fact, if either one of the parties tried to be truthful about their agenda, that party would most certainly lose votes. Lots of votes. Even worse (for the parties, that is), if one party outright exposed the truth of the other, or if both parties were to tell you the truth behind their motives, they might completely lose control of the governed. You know, lose control as in that whole part of the Declaration of Independence that says, Yeah, that’s the part they worry about. So they play the mind games I described above. Equally, and in unambiguous harmony (if you’re paying attention), the two parties work together to earn your votes while keeping you distracted from the truth that you refuse to see: The two American political parties are one and the same. They are the government, they want your consent so that you don’t alter or abolish them, and they are willing to lie to you and deceive you in order to get it. As it is has been since time began, no matter who you vote for, no matter who is in power, they designed the political pendulum to swing only so wide. Well, I've got news for you folks. God (or Mother Nature, or the Aliens, or Karma, or Whatever it is you believe in) gave you free will and a concrete set of human rights. Free will and rights to do with whatever you want and to exercise however you want, with only one restriction - that you do not prevent another person from exercising their free will or their rights. This is the only natural law of human nature. Everything else is either overt control or voluntary altruism, of which I challenge you to determine for yourself which is the more common among humans. The truth is, as an able-bodied, functioning adult if someone says they are going to take care of you; they are angling to control you. If someone says you have a moral obligation to others beyond the
And the only other thing you are required to do? Allow and hold others to do the same.
We don't need government, or churches, or corporations, or organizations, or anyone else telling us what, when, where, or how we are to live We are born free men and women; capable of deciding what is best for us; capable of allowing others to do the same; capable of existing outside the chains of others’ control; capable of... choice. You own your body and mind. You own your labor and the fruits of it. You own that property which you have gainfully purchased. You possess the rights which you were born with and will die with. What you do with your body, your labor, your property, and your rights is up to you - and no one else. To believe otherwise is to surrender to slavery or to settle for granted privileges which can be given as well as taken. If you are able to think, if you are able to learn, if you are able to work; and you choose to believe others are best suited to take care of (control) you, or you choose to believe you are best suited to take care of (control) others... then you... are a part of... the problem. Slave, or Master, your participation is your acquiescence. Either way, you are no longer freer than you were the day before. Choose freedom. Demand liberty. A list of questions for further thought:
First and foremost, I really became interested in staying on top of current events in order to gain an edge over the masses in terms of a) protecting myself and my family financially, and b) being able to safely, lawfully, and preemptively leave the city ahead of a mass exodus if, God help us, that ever became necessary. This means being able to "see" into the future ahead of others - if only by 48 hours or so. This post is about how I do that, and how you can benefit from it. This desire to be able to "predict the future" led me to begin reading and filtering news in a way I never had before. With practice I became able to surf through a lot of headlines rapidly, dismissing what I call "noise" and honing in on what I view as important. As my skills sharpened I came to understand the vast majority of news is nothing more than noise, yet that's what most people are tuned in to. This makes sense though; the noise is usually what's trumpeted the loudest. So, now that I found myself able to concentrate on what was important - that being those events that would affect my ability to financial and physically protect my family - I began to realize something else. The news is like a jigsaw puzzle; each story is a piece of the puzzle that fits into every other piece either directly or through a series of other interlocking pieces. Taken individually each piece may not seem important, but fit enough of them together and even without the picture on the box you will eventually see the bigger picture revealed. And, just as when you're working on a puzzle, your success is determined by your ability to quickly and accurately identify which pieces you need to be paying attention to versus those that are not immediately important. A recent example is Japan. Yes, there is a tremendous and horrifying amount of human suffering there, and the media has treated us to a feast of heartbreaking stories and photos and videos of the devastation. Sadly, they are only serving up to the people's natural voyeuristic instincts, and yes, even I posted a video of the tsunami in an effort to draw you into my clutches! Certainly as well, our hearts and prayers should go out to those suffering, but the bigger (and admittedly more heartless) question is: How will this affect me? Well, as I have posted many times Japan is inextricably linked to US Treasuries, and US Treasuries are the funding mechanism for US public debt, and US public debt is required for our current levels of US public spending, and our current levels of US public spending is the only thing that's keeping us from plunging into a depression, and in a depression I would likely lose my job. Thus the more "mundane" stories about Japan's financial ability to continue to buy and hold US Treasuries are very important to me. How many people died and cool pictures of a big-ass wave are not (well the wave tearing shit up was pretty amazing when you realize that wave was God in action and His plan seems altogether different than the people's plans in northeastern Japan). See how the puzzle works? Identify noise, filter it out, understand what's important, link the important pieces with other important pieces, and voila! You're predicting the future. Now, a few caveats. For one, time lines are very tricky. It's one thing to have a high degree of certainty that an event will happen, but one thing I've realized is the world moves very slowly. Example: I still say one of the five big US banks will go under as a result of this financial mess. However, I would have thought it would have happened by now - either by a run on the bank's deposits and stocks by outraged customers and investors (the evidence is there folks) or by the hands of justice in civil and criminal courts (which in light of Americans' apathy is what we'll likely have to rely on, which ain't saying much). Of course, none of the TBTF banks has crashed and burned, and it looks like it will be awhile, years maybe, but it will happen, and when it does it may will be catastrophically systemic in the damage it does. Kind of like when a big tree in the forest falls in a windstorm and takes out four more on it's way to the ground - it's an amazing and awesome thing to see if you've never seen it happen, but the result is always the same; a big fucking mess. Thus, I follow the banks to keep an edge on when the ATMs might quit working. We came within hours of just that in 2008; they didn't warn you about it then, so what makes you think they will when it happens again? However, there are a few upsides to events' tendency to unfold slowly; one, it gives you more time to prepare for when the ka-boom does occur, and two, it allows you to watch and make use of trends. Again here I can use the banks' long emergency as an example - they may not go boom tomorrow, but their slow burn means we can expect higher bank fees, lower investment growth, fewer jobs, more regulation, and other knock-on effects that will affect the pocketbooks and wallets of those who are not paying attention. A second caveat is that no one is right all the time. I'm wrong a lot in terms of my "doom and gloom" predictions but honestly, what do I have to lose? Aside from being the boy who cried, "Wolf!" it doesn't cost me anything more than some time to be vigilant and ready to take action. Further, by continuing to simply read I am getting better all the time. I am getting smarter and that makes me more capable. My "missed call" ratio continues to go down, and my warnings become more pointed and accurate. In the end, all it takes is once for me to be right and the dividends of being ahead of the curve will be tremendous. I hope I never receive those dividends, but I'd rather be ready and able to cash them in and be sitting by a campfire somewhere than to be trapped in a city that's tearing itself apart while trying to buy my way out with a worthless currency. |
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No one has ever asked me why I started Lunchtime Leftovers as a daily email, nor how I choose the news I report on, but now that I have a blog I think it's important for the few that are reading Lunchtime Leftovers to know why I choose what to cover and how you can benefit from it.
